The 45th annual L.A. Pride event brought throngs of people into West Hollywood last weekend for a celebration of the region's LGBT community that was off-the-hoook. On Saturday, Santa Monica Blvd.'s bars and restaurants overflowed with big, joyous crowds. On the festival grounds, inside West Hollywood Park, thousands danced and roller-skated as DJs pumped the jams and pop stars hit the stage. Kesha was the big draw of the day; Fans crammed onto a field to try and catch a glimpse of her nighttime set. Also popular were sets from Tinashe and the "Throw Back Diva Show" featuring '90s dance stars Thea Austin (Snap!) and Crystal Waters. 

We talked to 14 Pride attendees about their experiences at this year's event. (All images and words by Liz Ohanesian/Myspace.) 

Sean Terrell, 25; Bri Summers, 24

Homebase: West Hollywood, California

What brings you out to Pride today? 

Sean: To be fun and festive and enjoy the people. 

Bri: And to be proud.

Did you skate here? 

Bri: Yes 

Sean: We almost died skating here. 

Bri: There are lots of hills, West Hollywood is so hilly and these things only have so many stoppers. 

Did you try out the rink inside? 

Bri: Yes, it's a little too small though.

What's your favorite song to roller skate to today?

Bri: They were playing so many disco diva, like Donna Summer, all the good disco songs. Skating and disco goes hand in hand.

 

Angel Puente, 26; Javier Mondar, 22

Homebase: Los Angeles, California; Santa Monica, California

What brings you out to Pride today? 

Angel: I just wanted to walk my dogs and be in the atmosphere, to be honest. It's not every day that you get to see and be around so many gay people. It's nice. 

Javier: I'm working today. I worked earlier. I just got off.

You worked in the festival? 

Javier: Yeah.

What are you doing there today? 

Javier: HIV Testing.

Can you tell me about your dogs?

Angel: This is Prince, he's a giant schnauzer and Apollo is a German shepherd husky. They're going to be five this year, so they're pretty fun. Their complete extremes. [Apollo's] chill, [Prince] is hyper. He gets really excited. They're a lot of fun. I take them out on the bike. I spend a lot of time with them. They're like kids to me, not pets. I love them.

How do your dogs like Pride?

Angel: I don't know, actually. [Apollo] usually gets pretty nervous around loud noises, but inside, he was pretty calm. I think [Prince] likes it. He gets to see a lot of other dogs. Usually, it's just me and them. 

What's been your favorite thing about Pride today? 

Angel: I've only been in there for maybe 10 minutes, then I came back out with him, so just enjoying the day. It's my day off.

How do you like working at Pride? 

Javier: It's fun, good music. It wasn't wasn't work. I was dancing to music and testing people.

 

Alexander Mendoza

Homebase: Hollywood, California

What are you doing at Pride today?

I'm distributing flyers for a clinic, for medical marijuana.

Do you do that often?

This is kind of an experimental thing. I want to help my friend's business take off and I'm a really good salesperson, so I figured I would come out here today and help them since there's an event going on in West Hollywood.

How long have you been here today?

I've been here for about three hours. We're from Hollywood, so we're right there.

What do you think of Pride so far?

I didn't go in. I've just been walking around handing these out. I would say it's crowded. There are a lot of people.

Does that make it good to flyer? 

Hell yeah, there's a lot of people and I just hand them out like candy because everyone has a medical card.

 

Meghan, 21; Sergio, Sergio, 22

Homebase: West Los Angeles, California; South Central Los Angeles, California

What brings you to Pride this weekend?

Meghan: To celebrate.

Have you been to Pride before?

Meghan: Last year.

Sergio: I haven't. This is my first time.

What was it like for your first time?

Sergio: It was very interesting. I was just quiet and observing to see what it's like. It's real cool. She invited me.

Meghan: I made him come. He wanted to come.

What was your favorite thing about Pride?

Meghan: The people.

Did you meet new people?

Meghan: Not really.

Sergio: I met her friends. Everybody was so nice.

 

Tory Tanaka, 25; John Jackson, 33 

Homebase: Huntington Beach, California

What brings you to Pride today? 

Tory: Kesha. I'm here for the glitter shit show. I just want to be here for the hot mess. Hot mess couture! 

How long have you been here so far? 

Tory: I've been here for a few hours. We're going to get drinks and then we're coming back for Tinashe and then we're going to see Kesha.

Have you seen anything really exciting at Pride yet? 

Tory: The roller rink. That roller rink is amaze! We were on it for a good while. I've never rolled in my life. He's a professional roller. Today was my first day and I was really excited. I didn't fall. 

John: It was really your first day? 

Tory: Yeah.

John: That's so amazing. You did such a good job.

 

Symphoni Sykes, 28

Homebase: Los Angeles, California

What brings you out to Pride today? 

Why not? 

What have you seen here so far?

There's so much going on at Pride. You see, if you're an adult, you see sex acts and porn, there's tons of flags, there are tons of happy people and rainbows. It's awesome.

What's the "Hugged by a Mormon" sticker for?

You get to hug a Mormon. They're like, 'hey, I'm Mormon, want to hug me?' Okay, cool. You hug them and you get a sticker.

Where are you off to now? 

I think I'm going to go home for a little bit. 

Are you coming back tomorrow? 

Yeah.

 

Peekaboo Jenkins, 25

Homebase: Koreatown, Los Angeles, California

What brings you out to Pride today? 

I was actually taking a few pictures myself and blogging today for my YouTube channel and my Instagram.

What's your YouTube channel?

Peekaboo Jenkins.

What's been the best thing you've seen at Pride so far? 

The diversity. This is my first official going to Pride and taking a look at everyone, versus me being just with my friends and just being with my crowd. I got to see everyone. I was like, oh my gosh, there are so many different looks, so many different personalities. It was great, just seeing a whole different world in one little space. 

Are you coming back tomorrow? 

Yes, I'll be filming and taking pictures again for the parade.

 

 

 

Justin Pope, 24; Benjamin Wilson, 38

Homebase: Newport Beach, California; Santa Ana, California 

What are you looking forward to seeing today at Pride?

Justin: Kesha. I want to see her dance. I want to see Kesha and I think Tinashe is playing, too.

What's the best thing you've seen so far?

Benjamin: Skating.

Justin: Him, skating.

 

Angel Amezquita, 21

Homebase: La Habra, California

What brings you out to Pride?

I came last year and it was really fun, but last year I was 20. This year, I'm 21, so, I mean, put two and two together—for the alcohol and the good time. I like the music. Everyone brings good vibes, so why not? I'm here for a good time.

What's the best thing you've seen here so far?

The dominatrix, where you go and you get to get spanked. That's my favorite part.