Los Angeles Blade Recaps a Million Moments of Pride in 2019

A week after our 36th celebration, the Los Angeles Blade ran a photo recap by Roman Navarrette. Published May 24, 2019, it looked back at “A Million Moments of Pride,” the May 18 and 19 weekend that honored the 50th anniversary of Stonewall and our city’s commitment to its LGBTQ+ community.

The Blade described a downtown festival full of live music, community activations and food from local businesses. It also noticed something we work hard for every year: how many kids were there, at both the parade and the festival.

a destination for people of all ages to celebrate and mingle with each other as they kicked off SoCal’s first Pride of the season

Los Angeles Blade

141 Entries on Ocean Boulevard

On Sunday, the Blade counted 141 parade entries of marchers and float riders. The rain held off for most of the morning and arrived just before the parade wrapped up. According to the outlet, nobody let it slow the celebration.

The recap also featured AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which it called a yearly supporter of the event. AHF expanded its presence at the 2019 festival with well over a dozen employees and volunteers. Miguel Stevens-Ortiz, associate director of quality and operations for the organization’s Public Health Division, told the Blade why the weekend means so much to him. He said that 12 years earlier, the man who is now his husband, Ru Stevens-Ortiz, an educator with LA Unified, asked him to be his boyfriend.

We now are the proud parents of 11-year-old triplets and every year we march with them in the parade, here at Long Beach.

Miguel Stevens-Ortiz, to the Los Angeles Blade

That is the kind of story that keeps us going. A couple who met in our community now marches down Ocean Boulevard with their three children every May. Those are the moments the 2019 theme was talking about.

We thank the Los Angeles Blade for capturing them, and AHF and every family who joined us in 2019.

Read the full story at Los Angeles Blade.