How To Celebrate Pride Month In Long Beach

LONG BEACH, CA — Pride Month starts Sunday and continues through June, with several ways in Long Beach to participate in the celebration of LGBTQ culture, rights and identity.

Although Long Beach's Pride Festival was held earlier this month, there are still several upcoming activitieshighlighting LGBTQ culture, including Pride Month Stories & Craft at the Brewitt Neighborhood Library. There, attendees can hear stories that celebrate love, identity and community.

Other events include:

• Pride Night at the Aquarium of the Pacific on Friday, June 13. Tickets can be purchased here.
• An Allyship Workshop at the Brewitt Neighborhood Library on Saturday, June 14.
• Teen Crafternoon on Friday, June 20, where attendees will get to create tie-dye pride t-shirts at El Dorado Park.
• Long Beach Pride Bar Crawl on Saturday, June 21. For more information and tickets, click here.
• Show Your Pride Arts & Crafts at Harte Neighborhood Library on Wednesday, June 25. Attendees will get to create festive pride accessories such as buttons and bracelets.

Pride Month occurs during June in deference to the Stonewall Uprising, a tipping point in the struggle for equality among people who identify as LGBTQ. New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969. Such raids were common, but patrons fought back, resulting in days of violent clashes across Greenwich Village.

The observance started as Gay Pride Day on the last Sunday in June but soon grew to the point that June calendars around the world became packed with Pride parades, parties, workshops, symposiums and concerts.