What is a weho gay
Pride Starts Here!
WeHo Pride is the City of West Hollywood’s LGBTQ+ Pride celebration.
For decades, West Hollywood has been home to one of the largest annual Pride celebrations in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of people each June.
WeHo Pride 2025
Thursday, May 22 – Monday, June 30
WeHo Pride 2025 kicks-off on Harvey Milk Day, May 22, with a particular event. WeHo Pride Weekend will take place from Friday, May 30 through Sunday, June 1 with OUTLOUD at WeHo Lgbtq+ fest, the WeHo Pride Road Fair, the Women's Autonomy Festival and Dyke Parade, WeHo Pride Parade, and much more!
This year's WeHo Pride Arts Festival will take place from Friday, May 23 through Sunday, May 25 with various events and programming.
Throughout the 40 days from May 22 to June 30, there will be society group events at various locations.
WeHo Pride offers something for everyone, be sure to check out the events page for more details!
Friday Night at OUTLOUD
Friday, May 30
WeHo Identity festival Presents Friday Night at OUTLOUD is free to the public and requires an RSVP to secure complimentary tickets, as event capacity is limited.
Past performers include Kesha, A
How West Hollywood Became LA’s Fabled And Flawed Diverse Haven
Keep up with LAist.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
West Hollywood as a nucleus for LGBTQ+ culture in Southern California is practically set in stone.
The buzzing nightclubs filled with thumpy house music, packed bars and other flashy WeHo attractions have drawn thousands of people over the years, to visit and survive . It's impossible to overstate its impact on the identity.
But the urban area wasn’t always complete of rainbows. Let's see how it transformed over the years.
Early kingly shows
During the Prohibition era, speakeasies became a popular way for gay-coded entertainment.
During the “Pansy Craze” between the tardy 1920s and initial 1930s, drag shows (before they had that name) were gaining underground popularity. Jimmy’s Backyard, one of Hollywood’s first openly gay bars that opened on New Year’s Eve in 1929, along with B.B.B.’s Cellar, were popular destinations for LGBTQ+ people and the Hollywood famous.
Listen: When LA's Gays
Pride Starts Here!
For decades, West Hollywood has been home to one of the largest annual Lgbtq+ fest celebrations in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of people each June.
WeHo Pride 2025 kicks things off on Harvey Milk Day, Thursday, May 22, 2025, with a fabulous event. Then, we’ll lead June Pride Month celebrations with WeHo Pride Weekend from Friday, May 30, 2025, through Sunday, June 1, 2025, including a free weekend Highway Fair, the ticketed OUTLOUD at WeHo Pride music festival and Friday Night at OUTLOUD, the annual Dyke March and Women’s Freedom Festival, the annual WeHo Pride Parade, and much more!
Entertainment venues in West Hollywood’s Rainbow District along historic Route 66 will produce a number of special Pride events, and there will be community group programming, too! Come get your kicks at #WeHoPride.
Important Dates
WeHo Pride Kick-Off
Thursday, May 22, 2025
WeHo Pride Weekend
Friday, May 30 - Sunday, June 1, 2025
- WeHo Pride Street Fair
- Friday Night at OUTLOUD
- OUTLOUD at WeHo Pride
- Women's Freedom Festival
- Dyke March
- WeHo Event Parade
WeHo Pride Arts Festival
Friday, May 23 - Sunday, May 25, 2025
- Various ev
WeHo Became A Gay Mecca. Here’s The History Behind That (And Other Headlines)
Keep up with LAist.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
A night out on Santa Monica Boulevard in WeHo is almost a right of corridor for us homosexual folks in L.A.
I remember my first time in 2012. I was amazed to see how folks expressed delight — some in drag, others in simple clothing — while hearing Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” blast throughout The Abbey. It was a moment for me: a then-not out homosexual guy.
For the Homosexual community, these spaces are sacred because there aren’t that many places to call our retain. But WeHo wasn’t always the queer mecca it is now.
The gays move west
The history of how West Hollywood became a lgbtq+ (and non-queer at this point) destination dates back to the Prohibition era. During the “Pansy Craze” in the late 1920s, Diverse people gathered at speakeasies mostly in the Hollywood area. It was illegal to drink endorse then, but it was also illegal to be queer . (Private, consensual lgbtq+ sex was illegal in California until 1