Photo Album of the 1985 Pride Parade in West Hollywood
- 131 photos measuring 3 ½ x 5 inches with fourteen pieces of ephemera, in a photo album
- Los Angeles, California , 1985
Los Angeles, California, 1985. 131 photos measuring 3 ½ x 5 inches with fourteen pieces of ephemera, in a photo album. Near Fine.. A photo album documenting West Hollywood’s 1985 Pride parade. Eighty-seven photos are of the parade and forty-four are of the photographer’s trip to Ventura with, presumably, her girlfriend. Marchers include feminist lawyer Gloria Allred, The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, Gay Vietnamese of Southern California, actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Judith Light, and drag queen mayoral candidate Kitty Cole. There is also one shot of protestors with signs such as “Repent Arrogant Sinners God’s Judgment and Hell are Coming”. The Times estimated about 8,000 marchers and 50,000 to 150,000 “well-mannered spectators”.[1]
The album also contains a small collection of ephemera, including an admission ticket to the parade, flyers for the “Girls Club” dating service and Papi’s Escandalo club, a condom from The AIDS Project of Greater Los Angeles, and various other events, publications, and so on.
1895 was the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pride in the LA area. The first LA Pride was held on Hollywood Boulevard in 1970, and commemorated the previous year’s Stonewall riot in New York City. The parade moved to West Hollywood, now a notable LGBTQ neighborhood, in 1979.[2]
[1] Daryl Kelley, “Thousands Turn Out for Festive Gay Pride Parade,” Los Angeles Times, Metro, June 24, 1985, 1–2.
[2] Shelby Grad, “From gay bashing to AIDS to same-sex marriage, L.A. pride parade reflects hopes, dreams, and despairs,” Los Angeles Times, June 9, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-pride-parade-los-angeles-history-20190608-story.html.
The album also contains a small collection of ephemera, including an admission ticket to the parade, flyers for the “Girls Club” dating service and Papi’s Escandalo club, a condom from The AIDS Project of Greater Los Angeles, and various other events, publications, and so on.
1895 was the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pride in the LA area. The first LA Pride was held on Hollywood Boulevard in 1970, and commemorated the previous year’s Stonewall riot in New York City. The parade moved to West Hollywood, now a notable LGBTQ neighborhood, in 1979.[2]
[1] Daryl Kelley, “Thousands Turn Out for Festive Gay Pride Parade,” Los Angeles Times, Metro, June 24, 1985, 1–2.
[2] Shelby Grad, “From gay bashing to AIDS to same-sex marriage, L.A. pride parade reflects hopes, dreams, and despairs,” Los Angeles Times, June 9, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-pride-parade-los-angeles-history-20190608-story.html.