Long Beach Post Captures the 2019 Pride Parade in Pictures

On the evening of the 36th Long Beach Pride Parade, May 19, 2019, the Long Beach Post published a photo story from Ocean Boulevard. With images by Sarahi Apaez and others, it showed what so many of us remember about that morning: gray skies, wet pavement and nobody going home early.

The 36th annual Long Beach Pride Parade began with some light rain, Sunday morning, but that did nothing to dampen the spirits of participants and spectators who were proud to wave the rainbow flag.

Long Beach Post

A Flag Stitched by Many Hands

The Post singled out one entry in particular. More than 100 volunteers carried a 112-foot quilted rainbow flag down the route. It came out of a collaboration between Argentinian textile artists, the Museum of Latin American Art and the Long Beach AIDS Food Store.

the biggest ever to grace Long Beach Pride

Long Beach Post

We love what that flag stood for. Artists from another country, a Long Beach museum and an organization that has fed neighbors living with HIV for decades all put their hands on the same piece of fabric. Then a hundred people lifted it together. It is hard to think of a better picture of community.

The Post also placed the day in context. That year the parade and festival marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, and the parade closed out two days of events organized by Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride. The gallery that followed was full of familiar sights: floats, roller derby skaters, dogs dressed in rainbow colors, and neighbors cheering from the curb.

Looking back at these photos still makes us smile. Thank you to the Long Beach Post and its photographers for keeping that morning on record, rain and all.

Read the full story at Long Beach Post.