LA Pride has announced its 2021 pride theme this year called “Thrive With Pride”. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the infamous Los Angeles Pride parade in West Hollywood was cancelled, which would have been its 50th anniversary, and in its place a protest march was held on June 14th for All Black Lives Matter. 

Christopher Street West (CSW), producer of the annual LA Pride, announced the All Black Lives Matter protest march on its website. 

“Out of recognition and respect to the years of work and action of Black LGBTQ+ leadership and community organizers, Christopher Street West and LA Pride will no longer co-organize the All Black Lives Matter march,” the announcement says. “However, they are in full support and stand unapologetically in solidarity with efforts to dismantle racial (in)justice, systemic oppression, institutional barriers, police brutality and discrimination of all kinds.”

However this year the focus of Pride has shifted to a celebration of resilience and overcoming odds in the midst of a pandemic with a theme that reflects that focus called “Thrive With Pride”.

On May 6th LA Pride announced a list of events for the upcoming Pride season on its website. The events will include a free streaming concert presented by TikTok, the Thrive with Pride Celebration one-hour special on ABC7, and LA Pride Makes a Difference, a new, month-long calendar of events focused on volunteering and community service around Los Angeles.

According to LA Pride’s website this years theme was chosen, “not just to highlight health and wellness as we slowly emerge from the pandemic, but more notably, to underscore the belief that thriving is an act of social justice within the LGBTQ+ community, especially for our underserved or overlooked members. When we live with a sense of belonging, confidence, security, and self-worth, we’re not just surviving, we’re thriving!”.

“To thrive means to flourish and progress despite the circumstances. Pride this year is a moment for you to stop and breathe,” said Sharon-Franklin Brown, CSW Board of Directors President. “It’s a moment to remember you’re not just surviving one of the hardest years in recent memory, but growing into your truth. If we as a community can come together, even for a moment, to realize we’ve broken down some barriers put on us, it’ll strengthen our resolve to continue tearing more down for those to come after us.”

All LA Pride 2021 events will use the hashtag #ThrivewithPride.

On Thursday night June 10th English singer song-writer Charlie XCX will kick off LA Pride 2021 with a free Thrive with Pride Concert, live streamed exclusively on TikTok from a fabulous LA location. 

Charli spent last year working on new tracks by sharing and collaborating with her fans on Zoom. The resulting new album, How I’m Feeling Now received critical acclaim, and singles in her signature “hyper-pop” style are getting well over one million views online.

Rounding out the show, up and coming LGBTQ+ artists from across genres will be making their LA Pride concert debuts.

On Saturday June 12th at 9pm LA Pride’s broadcast partner, ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles will air a one-hour primetime special. 

Hosts Ellen Leyva and Brandi Hitt will be joined by Karl Schmid and Eric Resendiz as they present the best of LA Pride’s LGBTQ+ Los Angeles community. Trans profiles, celebrity shout-outs, spotlights on LA Pride’s 2021 Honorees, a special Pride performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles from the Getty Center, and more. 

For the entire month of June, CSW will be partnering with Big Sunday, an organization that produces hundreds of events every year for people of all backgrounds and demographics to get together and work on all kinds of service projects, to create “Pride Makes A Difference”. 

“Pride Makes A Difference” is a 30-day calendar of events focused on volunteering, community service, and opportunities to donate time, goods and money to worthy causes that benefit the LGBTQ+ community, and Los Angeles nonprofits.

Pride Makes a Difference will have its own website with calls-to-action in the areas of food insecurity, housing insecurity, mental health and wellness, and abuse. A list of selected local organizations will be available to choose from, as well as event details, fun group opportunities, and sign-up forms. CSW intends to make Pride Makes a Difference a permanent part of its Pride programming going forward.

For more information visit LA Pride at https://lapride.org/la-pride-2021-events-announced/