We’re taking Pride back.Back to our roots.

Pride started as a protest and a promise to show up for each other. That’s the Pride we’re bringing back: rooted in Long Beach, run by our own volunteers, and open to every one of us.

  • 1983The year we started
  • 100%Volunteer-run. No paid staff.
  • Ocean BlvdWhere we march
  • FreeTeen Pride, every year

They didn’t give up then. We’re not stopping now.

In 1983, Judi Doyle, Marilyn Barlow and Bob Crow decided Long Beach deserved a Pride of its own. The next June, five thousand people came out to Palm Island and proved them right.

The road to equality has never been easy. It isn’t now, and it won’t be tomorrow.

We buried friends to AIDS while the rest of the country looked away. We held on through two summers apart during COVID. And we’ve stumbled, sometimes by our own hand.

In 2026, our gates didn’t open. We let our community down, we’ve said so publicly, and we meant it. But our doors are still open.

Pride was never about a perfect track record. It’s about the people who keep showing up to make it right.

Four decades later, we’re still here. Prouder than ever. And we’re not going anywhere.

Our Shore. Our Community.

Two Free Mom Hugs volunteers smiling arm in arm in rainbow tutus and a flower crown beside a pink bounce house
Straight Ally flag · late 2000s

Allies

Moms in Free Mom Hugs shirts. Neighbors on the barricades. Coworkers who show up. Allies don’t have to explain why they’re here. They just have to keep coming back.

Long Beach Bears: six smiling friends in leather harnesses, tank tops and caps at a Pride festival, the Bear Pride flag behind them
Bear Brotherhood flag · Craig Byrnes, 1995

Bears

Since 1972, The Mineshaft has been Long Beach’s bear and leather bar, the place bears, cubs, otters and the people who love them have called home for half a century. Want to meet the family? Start there. Pride weekend is the reunion.

Two friends laughing as they hold a rainbow Pride flag open behind them under palm trees
Bisexual flag · Michael Page, 1998

Bi+

Bi+ people have always been at Pride, and too often asked to explain themselves at the gate of their own community. Not here. Whoever you love, and however that changes, you already count.

Jewels, a Long Beach drag queen, smiling in a platinum bouffant wig and black dress against a red and teal backdrop
Drag flag · Veranda L’Ni, 2016

Drag

Jewels is the Queen of Long Beach: presented the keys to the city and an icon for our LGBTQ+ community, known for her charity work, her activism and her deep ties to the City and the organizations that make Long Beach home.

Two friends laughing in a park, waving rainbow silk fans over their heads
Gay men’s flag · 2019 seven-stripe design

Gay

Until 2020 this was Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride. Gay men marched through the worst of the AIDS years, stood with the AIDS Memorial Quilt aboard the Queen Mary in 1991, and kept dancing on Ocean Boulevard when dancing was its own kind of protest.

Mr. Leather Long Beach in a leather vest and sash, flexing and smiling
Leather Pride flag · Tony DeBlase, 1989

Leather

Leather was out in Long Beach in the ’70s, at the bars and at the protests. Mr. Long Beach Leather traces its roots to 1981, when The Mineshaft sashed one of its first titleholders, and the Leather Expo keeps the tradition loud and proud.

Two friends smiling at a Pride march, wrapped in a rainbow flag, with marchers and signs behind them
Lesbian flag · Emily Gwen, 2018

Lesbian

Two of the three people at the first Long Beach Pride meeting in 1983 were women. Judi Doyle and Marilyn Barlow helped build this from nothing, and lesbians have run its committees, its gates and its stages ever since.

A person with long pink braids, in a blue floral outfit, lounging on a sofa against a rainbow-lit wall
Nonbinary flag · Kye Rowan, 2014

Nonbinary

Nonbinary Long Beach was here long before the forms had a box for it. Now our applications ask for pronouns, and nonbinary neighbors help run the stages, booths and gates that make Pride happen.

A group of friends walking arm in arm and laughing, wrapped in rainbow flags and waving Pride fans
Queer flag · 2015

Queer

Queer is the word our elders took back from the people who threw it at them. It holds everyone the older labels never quite fit, and today it’s the word a whole generation of LGBTQ+ Long Beach uses to name itself.

Three Long Beach Gray Panthers marching with signs reading Senior Pride, Gay and Gray: We Won’t Go Away, Pride Is Ageless and Equality Is a Human Right
Original Pride flag · Gilbert Baker, 1978

Seniors

We owe everything to our elders. They marched when marching cost jobs, families and lives, and without their activism LGBTQ+ Long Beach would not be what it is today. The Senior Serenity Zone is how we pay homage: a place to rest, dance and be thanked.

A person in a black hat and sunglasses holding a sign that reads Trans Rights Are Human Rights, with trans flags drawn on it
Transgender flag · Monica Helms, 1999

Trans

Trans women of color stood on the front line at Stonewall, and trans people still take the first hits. Every November the transgender flag rises over Long Beach City Hall, and every Pride, trans Long Beach leads the way.

A teen at Pride in heart sunglasses and black lipstick holding a small Pride flag beside a ring light
Progress Pride flag · Daniel Quasar, 2018

Youth & Teens

Long Beach’s LGBTQ+ youth are the future of this community, and they’re already shaping it. We look to them for inspiration, make room for their voices and bring them with us on every step forward. Teen Pride, free with a school ID, is only the beginning.

Don’t see yourself here? Tell us.Some of the programs we run today started because someone emailed and asked, “What about us?”Get Involved
Straight Ally flag · late 2000s

For our allies

Moms in Free Mom Hugs shirts. Neighbors on the barricades. Coworkers who show up. Allies don’t have to explain why they’re here. They just have to keep coming back.

Bear Brotherhood flag · Craig Byrnes, 1995

For our bears

Since 1972, The Mineshaft has been Long Beach’s bear and leather bar, the place bears, cubs, otters and the people who love them have called home for half a century. Want to meet the family? Start there. Pride weekend is the reunion.

Bisexual flag · Michael Page, 1998

For our bi+ community

Bi+ people have always been at Pride, and too often asked to explain themselves at the gate of their own community. Not here. Whoever you love, and however that changes, you already count.

Drag flag · Veranda L’Ni, 2016

For our drag community

Jewels is the Queen of Long Beach: presented the keys to the city and an icon for our LGBTQ+ community, known for her charity work, her activism and her deep ties to the City and the organizations that make Long Beach home.

Gay men’s flag · 2019 seven-stripe design

For our gay community

Until 2020 this was Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride. Gay men marched through the worst of the AIDS years, stood with the AIDS Memorial Quilt aboard the Queen Mary in 1991, and kept dancing on Ocean Boulevard when dancing was its own kind of protest.

Leather Pride flag · Tony DeBlase, 1989

For our leather community

Leather was out in Long Beach in the ’70s, at the bars and at the protests. Mr. Long Beach Leather traces its roots to 1981, when The Mineshaft sashed one of its first titleholders, and the Leather Expo keeps the tradition loud and proud.

Lesbian flag · Emily Gwen, 2018

For our lesbian community

Two of the three people at the first Long Beach Pride meeting in 1983 were women. Judi Doyle and Marilyn Barlow helped build this from nothing, and lesbians have run its committees, its gates and its stages ever since.

Nonbinary flag · Kye Rowan, 2014

For our nonbinary community

Nonbinary Long Beach was here long before the forms had a box for it. Now our applications ask for pronouns, and nonbinary neighbors help run the stages, booths and gates that make Pride happen.

Queer flag · 2015

For our queer community

Queer is the word our elders took back from the people who threw it at them. It holds everyone the older labels never quite fit, and today it’s the word a whole generation of LGBTQ+ Long Beach uses to name itself.

Original Pride flag · Gilbert Baker, 1978

For our seniors

We owe everything to our elders. They marched when marching cost jobs, families and lives, and without their activism LGBTQ+ Long Beach would not be what it is today. The Senior Serenity Zone is how we pay homage: a place to rest, dance and be thanked.

Transgender flag · Monica Helms, 1999

For our trans community

Trans women of color stood on the front line at Stonewall, and trans people still take the first hits. Every November the transgender flag rises over Long Beach City Hall, and every Pride, trans Long Beach leads the way.

Progress Pride flag · Daniel Quasar, 2018

For our youth & teens

Long Beach’s LGBTQ+ youth are the future of this community, and they’re already shaping it. We look to them for inspiration, make room for their voices and bring them with us on every step forward. Teen Pride, free with a school ID, is only the beginning.

Community Calendar

What’s happening in
our Long Beach community.

Our events, plus the ones our friends are throwing: the Center, local bars, nonprofits, the City. Hosting something for the community? Send it our way and we’ll help get the word out.

Events & Outreach

Share your event

Preview
01How can we help?
What would you like?
02Your event

This is what people will see on the card. Watch it come together in the preview.

03Date & place
Only for events that run more than one day.
For a series, enter the first date above and the pattern here. It replaces the date line on the card.
04Host & tickets
Shown on your event page. An organization inbox, not a personal one.
The card’s button opens this. No link? We’ll make your event its own page on our site.
05Event image

A photo or your flyer. It leads the card and your event page.

Event image
  • Best: landscape, 1600 × 1200 px (4:3)
  • Minimum: 1080 px wide
  • Flyers welcome: tall and square images show in full
  • Please no alcohol brands or logos in the image
06About you

Just for our team, never published.

Questions? events@longbeachpride.com
The Long Beach Pride 2026 festival main stage standing unused on an empty lawn at dusk, rainbow flags at the edge of the field
2026 festival reimbursements

We made a promise, and we’re keeping it.

The festival we planned for May 15–17 didn’t happen, and we’re sorry. We made mistakes and we own them. Most of what you paid us had already gone into producing it.

We’re paying people back in batches as money comes in: entertainers, sponsors, vendors and ticket holders. Fundraising and new partners will help us cover the rest. If you haven’t been reimbursed yet, submit a claim and our board will review it.

We’ll keep going until everyone is paid, and we’ll share our progress in the Newsroom.

Paid out so far

$85,321.95

Entertainment
$37,299.00
Sponsors
$22,500.00
Ticket holders
$14,496.45
Vendors and booths
$11,026.50

As of November 9, 2026

Disney marchers carrying giant balloon letters spelling Disney down Ocean Boulevard Marchers walk beneath a giant rainbow flag held overhead, arms raised, in warm evening light
Long Beach Pride Parade

The Long Beach Pride Parade

Four decades of floats, marching groups and Grand Marshals on Ocean Boulevard, broadcast live on NBC4 and Telemundo 52. Watch the old broadcasts back to 2008, and meet the people we’ve asked to lead it.

Produced by

Long Beach PrideandCity of Long Beach
Get Involved

Pride is a group project.

The gates, the stages, the food drive: it’s all people like you. Start with one shift. If you like it, stay. Some of our board members started exactly that way.

Start Here

Become a Volunteer

Work a festival shift, a food drive or a flag raising. No experience needed, and it’s the first step toward membership.

Our Sponsors and Partners

Thank you to the
people who fund this.

Stages, floats, security, porta-potties: none of it is free, and none of it happens without these partners. If your business wants a spot on this wall, sponsorships start at $250.

  • Bank of America
  • Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center
  • HAUS XXIV
  • Honda
  • LA Kings
  • Port of Long Beach
  • Downtown Long Beach Alliance
  • Long Beach City College
  • Long Beach Transit
  • meetLB
  • Metro
  • Republic Services
  • ViiV Healthcare
  • Water Replenishment District
  • DK Realty Group · Deb Kahookele
  • Men’s Health Foundation
  • Serve
  • Channel Q
  • iHeartRadio
  • Long Beach Business Journal
  • Long Beach Post
  • NBC4
  • Telemundo 52
  • The Fight Magazine
  • Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal
  • City of Long Beach
  • Councilmember Cindy Allen
  • Councilmember Roberto Uranga
  • Councilmember Tunua Thrash-Ntuk
  • Mayor Rex Richardson
  • Supervisor Janice Hahn
  • Mosaic PAC
  • TransLatin@ Coalition
Long Beach Pride Socials

Tag @lbpride. We repost.

Post your Pride, from the parade to the block party, and tag @lbpride. Our favorite shots end up right here.

Pick your stage

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Festival dates, ticket drops, parade news and community events, plus a heads-up when we’re short on volunteers.

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