The parade, being held on June 5, will also honor LGBTQ+ icon JoJo Siwa as WeHo Pride’s Next Gen Icon
West Hollywood, CA, May 26, 2022 – On Sunday, June 5, the City of West Hollywood will host the inaugural WeHo Pride Parade, which is free for all to attend. The parade will begin at 12:00 p.m. from Crescent Heights Boulevard and will make its way west along Santa Monica Boulevard to the City’s Rainbow District. The City of West Hollywood has named Janelle Monáe as WeHo Pride’s Grand Marshal Icon and JoJo Siwa as WeHo Pride’s Next Gen Icon.
“The City of West Hollywood is thrilled to be producing #WeHoPride for our community this year,” said City of West Hollywood Mayor Lauren Meister, “and our amazing icons – Janelle Monáe and JoJo Siwa – truly reflect the core values of our city. Pride celebrations have always been more than festivals or parades. Pride events give the diverse LGBTQ community a place to advocate for equality as well as a place to celebrate exactly who they are – exactly who they were meant to be. As our icons join parade contingents rolling down Santa Monica Boulevard on Sunday, June 5, West Hollywood will give #WeHoPride Parade participants and spectators from around the world a safe space and a loving, accepting home. At this moment in history, with women’s rights and LGBTQ rights under attack, our icons stand as proud, outspoken beacons of light and hope for a better tomorrow. West Hollywood has been the home of the largest Pride celebration in Southern California for nearly four decades. We’re looking forward to continuing that tradition this year for WeHo Pride. I can’t wait for our city to be filled with all the colors of Pride as we welcome the global community to our historic Rainbow District, filled with LGBTQ bars, clubs, restaurants, and retail shops. Come celebrate Pride with us in West Hollywood! Pride starts here!”
“The City of West Hollywood is a community of choice for a diverse mix of members of the LGBTQ community. This year’s inaugural WeHo Pride Parade will raise visibility with diverse voices – Janelle Monáe and JoJo Siwa – each of whom are being honored for using their platform to advocate for the community,” said Jeff Consoletti, Founder & CEO of JJLA, Executive Producer of WeHo Pride. “This year’s WeHo Pride Parade will showcase and celebrate the diversity that West Hollywood embraces.”
This year, Janelle Monáe will be honored as the Grand Marshal Icon for the inaugural WeHo Pride Parade for continuing to inspire the world with her incredible artistry and advocacy. Monáe is a renowned American singer, songwriter, producer, rapper, author and actor. She has become an icon for queer people of color by illuminating the community’s most important conversations about identity and being true to who you are. She has received numerous award nominations and has won multiple awards for her music, including eight Grammy nominations. Monáe made her theatrical film debut in two high-profile productions: Hidden Figures and Moonlight. In 2019, Monáe won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist. In April 2022, Monáe published her book, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories from Dirty Computer, which became a New York Times bestseller. She will soon star as icon Josephine Baker in De La Resistance, which is also produced under her Wondaland banner. In addition, Monáe recently wrapped production for Netflix’s Knives Out 2, headlined the dramatic thriller Antebellum and starred in the second season of Amazon’s critically acclaimed series Homecoming. Along with her film and television work, Monáe officially announced her non-profit, Fem the Future, which provides young women and girls the resources and support they need to overcome the challenges associated with upbringings in under-resourced communities of color. Fem the Future aims to expand their world of opportunities by supporting and creating after-school and summer enrichment activities that increase exposure and access to a variety of careers.
JoJo Siwa will also be joining the parade as WeHo Pride’s Next Gen Icon. Siwa is a global superstar, entrepreneur, singer, television and film star, New York Times bestselling author and social media sensation. In 2021, Siwa came out as gay to her millions of fans on social media and inspired a generation of young LGBTQ+ community members and their allies. Siwa has over 66 million followers on social media and over 3.7 billion views on YouTube. In 2020 she was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. She has bridged a fan following across a broad demographic by promising and delivering on her messaging of “positivity, self love, inclusivity and acceptance.” Siwa’s newest TV venture finds her on the judges panel for Season 17 of “So You Think You Can Dance,” alongside, “SYTYCD” alum tWitch, and “Glee” star Matthew Morrison. Facebook Watch will be following alongside JoJo at WeHo Pride as part of its docuseries-format JoJo Goes. JoJo Goes will premiere on Facebook Watch this summer and made available to watch with friends on Watch Together via Messenger and Instagram video calls. On June 14th Siwa will be hosting P&G and iHeartMedia’s Can’t Cancel Pride, a fundraiser for the LGBTQ+ community celebrating visibility and inclusivity for all.
Other parade participants joining the WeHo Pride celebration include the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Micky’s West Hollywood, Free Mom Hugs, Raise a Child, Women’s Equal Rights Legal Defense and Education Fund, Hamburger Mary’s, Covenant House California, KTLA, Asian Pacific Gays & Friends, Project Angel Food, Jet Blue, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Stonewall & West Hollywood Beverly Hills Democratic Clubs, DTLA Proud, Los Angeles LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, Stache, WeHo Times, The Abbey Food & Bar, Rocco’s WEHO, Heart and American Airlines.
The WeHo Pride Parade celebrates the history of the LGBTQ movement and showcases the community’s diversity with a colorful array of parade entries. KTLA is the official broadcast sponsor of WeHo Pride. Tune into KTLA on Sunday, June 5 at 1:00 p.m. to watch the WeHo Pride Parade. For more information about WeHo Pride weekend, visit www.weho.org/pride.
For decades, the City of West Hollywood has been home to one of the largest Pride celebrations in the nation. Hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ people and allies from across the region and around the world make West Hollywood their regular destination during the Pride season. The City of West Hollywood is home to the “Rainbow District” along Santa Monica Boulevard, which features a concentration of historic LGBTQ bars, clubs, restaurants, and shops, and serves as a community hub as Pride celebrations take place in and around West Hollywood Park.
WeHo Pride Weekend will take place Friday, June 3, 2022, through Sunday, June 5, 2022, in and around West Hollywood Park, located at 647 N. San Vicente Boulevard. It will include a free WeHo Pride Street Fair representing a diverse array of LGBTQ community groups as part of visibility, expression and celebration. WeHo Pride Weekend will feature OUTLOUD: Raising Voices, the award-winning three-day LGBTQ+ concert series produced by JJLA at West Hollywood Park. WeHo Pride Weekend will also host the annual Dyke March and the new Women’s Freedom Festival on Friday, June 3, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. The Dyke March will step off and return to the corner of Robertson and Santa Monica Boulevards. The Women’s Freedom Festival will take place immediately following the Dyke March at the #WeHoPride Street Fair stage and will feature emerging LGBTQ and BIPOC women and non-binary musicians, comedians, poets, and activists.
OUTLOUD: Raising Voices is the marquee attraction for WeHo Pride, the City of West Hollywood’s first, self-produced Pride celebration. OUTLOUD champions LGBTQ+ musicians and the community. The ticketed concert features three full days of incredible live music starting Friday, June 3, from 4:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m., Saturday, June 4, from 12:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m., and Sunday, June 5, from 12:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. The music festival kicks off WeHo Pride Weekend with a stellar lineup including headliners MARINA, Lil’ Kim, Years & Years, and Jessie J. Guests can enjoy food and beverage areas, craft cocktails and beer gardens, photo opportunities, surprise appearances, and world-class stage production. For tickets and more information on OUTLOUD: Raising Voices, please visit https://weareoutloud.com/.
About the City of West Hollywood and WeHo Pride
For nearly four decades, the City of West Hollywood has been home to one of the largest Pride celebrations in the nation. This year marks the City’s inaugural WeHo Pride.WeHo Pride Weekend (June 3 – 5) will include a free WeHo Pride Street Fair representing a diverse array of LGBTQ community groups as part of visibility, expression, and celebration; the ticketed OUTLOUD: Raising Voices Music Festival; the Women’s Freedom Festival; the Dyke March; and the inaugural WeHo Pride Parade on June 5. The WeHo Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival (May 22 – June 30) formerly known as the One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival, will take place during 40 days at various locations throughout West Hollywood, along with selected online programming. Additional information about #WeHoPride will is at www.weho.org/pride.
Since its incorporation in 1984, the City of West Hollywood has become one of the most influential cities in the nation for its outspoken advocacy on LGBTQ+ issues. No other city of its size has had a greater impact on the national public policy discourse on fairness and inclusiveness for LGBTQ+ people. The City consistently tops lists of “most LGBTQ+ friendly cities” in the nation. More than 40 percent of residents in West Hollywood identify as LGBTQ+ and three of the five members of the West Hollywood City Council are openly gay. The City has advocated for nearly four decades for measures that support LGBTQ+ individuals and the City is in the vanguard of efforts to gain and protect equality for all people on a state, national, and international level. #WeHoPride @WeHoCity
About OUTLOUD: Raising Voices
OUTLOUD: Raising Voices, created by Jeff Consoletti, set to debut as a live event, launched in 2020 as a ten-episode series on Facebook in lieu of Pride Celebrations happening in cities across the country due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, quickly becoming of the first major virtual LGBTQ+ showcases. Since its debut, OUTLOUD garnered over 1.4 billion media impressions and won several industry-topping awards including multiple SHORTY Awards for Best Use of Facebook and Best Use of Twitch, a MARCOM Award & a Cynopsis Digital Award for BEST LGBTQ Series. Follow @OfficiallyOUTLOUD#WeAreOUTLOUD. http://weareoutloud.com
