Bob’s Farewell Salute Honors Long Beach Pride Founder Bob Crow

Our hearts are heavy, and we are deeply grateful. On Saturday, November 11, 2023, Long Beach Pride invites everyone to come together for “Bob’s Farewell Salute,” a celebration of the life and legacy of our founder, Robert “Bob” Crow, and of the love, advocacy and steady dedication he gave the LGBTQ+ community.

Remembering Bob

Bob was one of the three founders of Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride, Inc. With Judi Doyle and Marilyn Barlow, he sat down at the Executive Suite for the organization’s very first meeting. The first festival and parade, and every celebration on the shoreline since, grew out of that meeting.

He never stopped showing up. In 2013, our three founders served together as grand marshals of the parade. In 2018, Bob was still volunteering for the festival every year, the only founding member still doing so, and that year the Consolidated Association of Pride (CAPI), an association of Pride organizers that Long Beach helped found in 1987, named him its Person of the Year for paving the way for generations of people to live their authentic lives.

Bob also had a gift for seeing who was missing. He felt the festival needed a stage that would bring the Latin community more fully into Pride, and he brought the idea to a board that was hesitant at first. He kept at it, the board agreed to give it a try, and Fiesta Caliente became one of the festival’s most popular stages. True to form, he gave the credit to others, including Jamie Awad, who he said donated his time and often his money to help book talent in those early years.

His name already lives on in our parade through the Bob Crow Community Grand Marshal, an honor named for him.

Bob’s Farewell Salute

We’ll gather at 10:15 a.m. at Bixby Park, 130 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90802. Please come in your vehicles. At 11 a.m., “Bob’s Farewell Float Ride” sets out on the Long Beach Pride float, and the procession will travel west on Broadway toward Third Street, a route that mirrors the path Bob traveled in this community.

The procession ends at Harvey Milk Promenade Park and Equality Plaza, 212 E. Third St., Long Beach, CA 90802, where we’ll hold a tribute and take time to reflect, remember and honor everything Bob gave us.

Afterward, join us for a reception at Hamburger Mary’s, 330 Pine Ave., Long Beach, CA 90802. Guests will be welcomed with complimentary “Bob Burgers,” made in his honor.

Parking is available at the 3rd Street Parking Structure, and the venue is fully ADA accessible. Come as you are, bring a friend and help us send Bob off with the love and pride he spent his life championing.

Media inquiries: info@longbeachpride.com