On Sunday morning, Maria Heaven Espinosa was rushing down Hollywood Boulevard, clutching her sash and crown, next to a friend wearing paper wings. She needed to catch a float.
The 32-year-old transgender woman and human resources business partner, who was crowned Miss LA Pride a few weeks ago, was in Hollywood on Sunday, joining thousands of marchers and revelers in the 54th annual LA Pride Parade, one of the oldest celebrations of LGBTQ+ culture in the United States.
“I was inspired by the transgender women I saw growing up,” Espinosa said, “so I’m happy to be someone that I looked up to and admired, and I hope to inspire the younger generation as well.”
Despite the gloomy June weather, the colors of the rainbow shone along Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Boulevard, with parade-goers securing the best spots starting as early as 8 a.m., three hours before the parade was scheduled to start.
Storefronts were adorned with banners representing various LGBTQ+ groups, including rainbows, transgender and pansexual flags, and a dinosaur atop Ripley’s Believe It or Not was wrapped in a colorful scarf and oversized heart-shaped glasses, holding a sign that read “Power in Pride,” while anthems to queer icons like Donna Summer and Madonna blared.
Parade director Mariella Spirelli said about 5,000 people are expected to take part in this year’s parade, including LGBTQ+ icon and former “Star Trek” actor George Takei and Los Angeles’ first female and first openly active fire chief, Christine Crowley. About 100,000 people are expected to attend the parade, Spirelli said.
Espinosa described her friend Karina Kendrick, who wore angelic tissue-paper wings and white furry calf boots, as her “transgender mother” who helped her transition when she was 18.
Kendrick, a 37-year-old hairdresser, pointed to her wings and said she was dressed as a “trans angel”.
“I felt that according to the Bible angels are neither male nor female, so I incorporate that into my costumes,” she said.
This year’s Pride events, which kicked off in West Hollywood last weekend, are taking place in the shadow of a political battle over the rights of transgender young people in California schools. Last month, an initiative that would have required schools to notify parents of a child’s change in gender identity and restrict access to gender-affirming care failed to qualify for the November ballot.
Supporters have vowed to try again in the future, with Sacramento Democrats introducing legislation to ban such policies and California Attorney General Rob Bonta suing conservative school districts that have implemented similar measures in 2023.
A recent national poll by the Los Angeles Times found significant increases in support for same-sex marriage, same-sex parenting, and efforts to protect queer people from workplace discrimination, but also found that Americans are less supportive of transgender and non-binary people.
Spirelli said that while Sunday’s Hollywood march was originally intended as a celebratory event, organizers and participants never forgot its focus on the civil rights movement.
“The parade is a celebration but also started as a protest, and we’ve never lost that essence, keeping it celebratory while making it a safe space for the community,” she said. “We encourage groups to make it clear that this is a First Amendment parade so they can express what’s most on their mind each year.”
The crowd of onlookers erupted at about 11 a.m. when a group of bikers called the Motorcycle Brigade for Equality began the parade, revving their engines, honking horns and waving rainbow flags.
Passengers aboard the Trans Latina Coalition float were decorated with pale blue, pale pink and white flowers and balloons, had transgender flags painted on the sides and wore quinceaƱera dresses in celebration of the organization’s 15th anniversary.
The air filled with bubbles as the pop-rock group Pinktastic Plastics, dressed in matching costumes, sped by in a bright pink Volkswagen Beetle, and employees at Mel’s Diner ran outside, hooting and whistling, as a float carrying a group of men dancing in Speedos passed by.
Gina Kampa, 56, arrived early from Palm Springs to secure a prime spot. With rainbow socks, a Progressive Pride flag and matching sunglasses, Kampa channeled Taylor Swift in a custom T-shirt reminiscent of the one Swift wore in her music video for “22.”
Kampa, a Pride Parade regular since 2006, stressed that the event is about celebrating the freedom to come out and remembering the fight for LGBTQ+ rights dating back to the Stonewall riots.
Kampa says she grew up in a strict Christian household, and when she told her mother she was a lesbian at age 18, she was accused of being “possessed by the devil.” She didn’t fully come out until she was 34, after her mother died.
Kendrick, who medically transitioned at age 18, remembers a more difficult time when resources for transitioning were scarce and medical care was often obtained on the black market. She believes acceptance of transgender people will eventually increase, but expects backlash and fear-mongering to continue for the time being.
Until then, Espinosa said she has a message for haters: “We will keep fighting, we will keep being proud, we will keep being visible, we will keep showing up and leading the way.”