West Hollywood Agrees To Pay For L.A. Pride Security Costs

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA -- The city of West Hollywood has agreed to pay the entire security cost for this year's L.A. Pride festival and the accompanying Resist March.

The City Council voted unanimously Monday to sponsor the 47th annual Christopher West's L.A. Pride. In approving the security cost, which is estimated to be close to $1 million, councilman John D'Amico said there was no other choice.

"We are a city that believes in exactly what this march and this festival and Christopher Street West represents," he said. "We want to do it. Since we want to do it, we need to pay the cost of doing it, the cost that we would pay which is public safety.”

The Christopher Street West Association, the organization that puts on the Pride event, previously announced that it would forego the annual Pride Parade in favor of the Resist March on June 11. Resist Marches are scheduled nationwide on June 11, in the similar vein as the hugely successful Women's Marches in January. An estimated 250,000 to 500,000 people are expected to participate in the march locally.

The Pride festival, however, will continue as usual on June 10 and 11 in West Hollywood Park.

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