Long Beach Pride 2017 Pays Tribute to the Orlando Pulse 49

Before the first entry steps off down Ocean Boulevard on Sunday, May 21, 2017, Long Beach will pause to remember. On May 4, 2017, Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride announced that this year’s Pre-Parade Show will be a tribute to the Orlando 49, joined by two survivors of the Pulse nightclub, Brian Reagan and Milan D’Marco.

The tribute begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Parade Grand Stand, on Ocean Boulevard between Junipero Avenue and Cherry Avenue.

Remembering Pulse

On June 12, 2016, 49 members of the LGBTQ+ community were killed in an attack inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. LGBTQ+ people around the world learned the news with horror and grieved together. It was both the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter and the deadliest incident of violence against LGBTQ+ people in United States history.

In 2017, Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride pays tribute to the lives lost and honors those who survived. Brian Reagan managed Pulse Nightclub for three years and is an LGBTQ+ activist working for equality and sharing a message of love around the world. Milan D’Marco was a dancer and entertainer at Pulse for more than three years.

We are very much honored to join Long Beach Pride and the LGBTQ+ Long Beach community for this special tribute. … As a survivor, that terrible day has forever changed me as a person. As a member of the international LGBTQ+ community, I know now more than ever that it is my duty to encourage love in all lives so that we all can heal together to prevent such atrocities against the human race.

Brian Reagan, Pulse survivor

A Lasting Memorial

As the one-year mark approaches, the onePULSE Foundation is preparing to unveil plans for a permanent memorial, announce a national Board of Trustees and establish a significant fund. Its goal is a sanctuary of hope that honors the 49 lives taken, the 68 people injured, and the first responders and healthcare professionals who treated them.

The fund will support construction and maintenance of the memorial, community grants to care for survivors and victims’ families, endowed scholarships for each of the 49 angels and, in time, a museum showcasing artifacts and stories from that day.

Remarks and Music

The tribute will include remarks from Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride, California State Senator Ricardo Lara, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and Long Beach Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce. Senator Lara is the Grand Parade Marshal of the 2017 parade, and Councilwoman Pearce receives this year’s “Whitey Littlefield” Community Bridge Building Award.

Men Alive, an all-male gay chorus, will perform. Through music, the chorus unites men’s voices to entertain, inform, bring healing, joy and friendship, and build bridges with the public at large.

Pulse is close to the hearts of our festival performers, too. Ty Herndon, who headlines our Country stage on Sunday, contributed his vocals to “Hands,” a single released as a musical tribute to the victims of the Pulse nightclub.

Parade Day Schedule

• 8 a.m.: The Shoreline Front Runners Pride Run begins on Junipero Avenue at Ocean Boulevard and follows the beach path.
• 9:30 a.m.: The Orlando 49 tribute at Parade Central, on Ocean Boulevard between Junipero Avenue and Cherry Avenue.
• 10:30 a.m.: The parade steps off at Ocean Boulevard and Lindero Avenue, with more than 150 entries.

At Parade Central, community favorite Jewels and the brother and sister duo Isa and Josie Rached, part owners of The B Room Barber Shop in downtown Long Beach, will host from the grand stand.

Street Closures on Ocean Boulevard

• 5 a.m.: Redondo Avenue to Lindero Avenue
• 7 a.m.: Lindero Avenue to Cherry Avenue
• 8:30 a.m.: Cherry Avenue to Alamitos Avenue and around the curve to Broadway

The 34th Annual Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival takes place May 20 and 21, 2017, at Marina Green Park. Please join us on Ocean Boulevard that Sunday morning, so we can remember the 49 together. Details are at longbeachpride.com.