On Friday, June 16 and Saturday, June 17, the Los Angeles LGBT Center will once again host Trans Pride LA (TPLA), an annual celebration that celebrates the trans and nonbinary community.
The festivities, including the inaugural Trans Town Hall, will take place at the Center’s Village at Ed Gould Plaza and Anita May Rosenstein Campus in Hollywood. Admission is FREE all weekend. TPLA is proudly presented by Angel City FC.
Trans Pride LA 2023 will kick off on Friday, June 16 at 5 p.m. with the inaugural Trans Town Hall, curated and hosted by Raquel Willis, the activist and author of the forthcoming The Risk It Took to Bloom.Speakers include Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr, members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, actor Laith Ashley, actress Trace Lysette, RuPaul’s Drag Race alums Kylie Sonique Loveand Miss Peppermint, journalists Shar Jossell and Thomas Page McBee, athletes Chris Mosier and Cecé Telfer, the Trans Chorus of LA, and more.
“It’s been an honor to curate the Trans Town Hall with the Los Angeles LGBT Center,” said Raquel Willis. “Trans people and our stories are being grossly misrepresented by the media and a white supremacist movement that seeks to erase us. The Trans Town Hall will continue Trans Pride LA’s proud tradition of uplifting our community and centering our truths.”
In addition to a welcome reception and dynamic live performances, the Trans Town Hall will include two hours of thought-provoking panels engaging national and local activists, the Center’s health providers and frontline staff, and nationally renowned transgender figures in conversations that tackle this crisis head-on.
This year, Trans Pride LA has taken on a very specific urgency. With over 500 pieces of anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in our country, we are seeing a dramatic escalation of transphobic rhetoric—some of it calling for drastic measures, including the removal of children from their parents’ care and the criminalization of transgender health care.
Trans Pride LA will continue on Saturday, June 17 at 12 p.m. with the Trans Pride Festival, featuring food, workshops, market and resource vendors, live entertainment, and a family activity area. Workshops include Advocacy 101, Queers Connect by Venus In Aquarius Events, Creación De Espacios Seguros Desde Una Perspectiva Holística (En Español), Resilience Through Art, and a self-defense workshop.
“The Center’s hallmark Trans Pride LA is about the indisputable freedom of community; to be free of judgment, labels, restrictions and celebrate our siblings in ways that galvanize our movement,”” said Gina Bigham, program manager of the Center’s Trans* Lounge and event organizer. “This is what Pride is all about.”
For a full schedule of events or to RSVP, visit https://lalgbtcenter.org/transpride23.
