Thousands of people filled the streets of Hollywood and West Hollywood on Sunday, in a march denouncing racial injustice and supporting LGBTQ rights.
They walked atop an enormous street mural on Hollywood Boulevard, where “All Black Lives Matter†was painted in rainbow colors and the pale pink, blue and white of the transgender pride flag.
Pedro Chavez dances on Hollywood Blvd with numerous demonstrators as George Floyd protests continue in Hollywood.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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They chanted “Prosecute killer cops!†They danced. Nearly all wore masks because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They carried signs: “Racism ain’t a good look, honey.†“Racists, sashay away!†“Less Karens, more caring.â€
The All Black Lives Matter march — held amid the pandemic that has canceled LGBTQ pride parades across the country — was the latest massive street demonstration for racial justice since George Floyd, a Black man, died last month after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
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A protester dances on top of Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during a demonstration by members of Refuse Fascism who are calling an end to the Trump administration on June 20, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Deborah Jay Winams cries after singing a song at a Black Lives Matter Los Angeles rally to call for justice in the fatal shooting of Kenneth Ross Jr. by Gardena police in 2018. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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People participate in the All Black Lives Matter march in West Hollywood on Sunday, June 14. Thousands of demonstrators marched for racial justice and LGBTQ rights. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester waves a rainbow flag on Sunset Boulevard during the All Black Lives Matter march on Sunday. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Thousands hold up signs and march in the All Black Lives Matter solidarity protest on Hollywood Boulevard. The procession started at Hollywood and Highland and moved into West Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Jason De Puy of West Hollywood wears a mask that reads “Black Trans Lives Matter†as people fill Hollywood Boulevard during a solidarity march called All Black Lives Matter on Sunday, June 14. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters hold up signs at the All Black Lives Matter march, which was organized by Black LGBTQ leaders and organizations in place of a previously planned event by the group behind LA Pride. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters march, raising fists and signs in the air, on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood on Sunday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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The Compton Cowboys ride horseback down South Tamarind Avenue, joining thousand of protesters Sunday during the Compton peace ride, which ended at City Hall. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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Houston Rockets star Russell Westbrook speaks to the crowd of protesters and the Compton Cowboys at the end of a peace walk at Compton City Hall on Sunday. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Elijah Estrada, 6, holds up his fist for 8:46, the length of time George Floyd was held down by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, at the conclusion of a peace ride and walk with the Compton Cowboys at Compton City Hall on Sunday. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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A family member of Breonna Taylor, right, is hugged by another woman after speaking to protesters in Beverly Hills Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A woman tries to get between Black Lives Matter protesters and pro-Trump counter protesters during a demonstration at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Regina Scott takes knee next to Johnathan Jasper, brother of slain teen Anthony Weber, during a rally in front of LA City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson’s office Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester yells in front of a Black Lives Matter mural with the names of victims on Fairfax Ave. during a march Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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David Blackgold hugs Huntington Beach police officer K. Wood during a Black Lives Matter protest in Huntington Beach Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A National Guardsman holds a rose given to him by a protester along Fairfax Ave. during a march Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A Black Lives Matter protester blows bubbles by a police line in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester lies on the ground under his horse with his hands behind his back as demonstrators including some on horseback rally in front of LA City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson’s office in Los Angeles Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Tempers flare between Black Lives Matter demonstratiors and pro-Trump counterprotesters in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Black Lives Matter demonstrators raise clenched fist in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Mek Bitul held up a sign with the words, “This Is The Tipping Point!!!†in front of City Hall, joining nearly 1,000 people gathered to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter, in downtown Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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Katyana DeCampos, a citizen of France visiting California, marched with a sign with the words “Anti Racism,†joining nearly 1,000 people gathered to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter, in downtown Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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Zoe Perkins, 4, of Glendale and her mother brought flowers to the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles to protest the death of George Floyd. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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LAPD Chief Michel Moore, left, talks with community leaders outside police headquarters after a candlelight vigil for George Floyd on Friday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A man lays a rose at the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Braydon Deauce White, 4, fist-bumps a National Guardsman at LAPD headquarters Thursday morning. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Allison Bracy of Fontana hugs daughter Brielle Bracy, 10, while attending a rally in Riverside on Thursday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester drapes himself with a flag during a demonstration in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Gustavo R. Ramirez of Pomona kneels in front of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. statue in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters at Moonlight State Beach in Encinitas. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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Crowds gather in downtown L.A. to protest the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. At 9 p.m., for exactly 8 minutes and 46 seconds, protesters shone lights into the sky. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters dance on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles as a march attracted thousands of people. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Thousands of protesters gather at the Los Angeles Civic Center. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Thousands of protesters gather at the Los Angeles Civic Center. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Thousands of protesters gather at the Los Angeles Civic Center. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Stephen Chang, 32, left, of Silver Lake, with an American flag draped over his head, joins other demonstrators at the intersection of Spring and Temple streets in downtown Los Angeles, as they protest against L.A. Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey and also demand justice in the death of George Floyd. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
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Miles Miles, 8, left, and Memphis Miley, 6, center, of Newport Beach, join protest against racism in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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Protester Vailing high-fives National Guardsmen as they march through Hollywood to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters march through a residential neighborhood in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters walk through a residential neighborhood in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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A L.A. Sheriff’s deputy watches as protester Annik Chung holds a sign while cheering on marchers along La Brea Ave. in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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Mustafa-Ali, 27, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, joins other demonstrators as they protest on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
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Paul Villalobos, 28, from Oakland, joins other demonstrators as they protest on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
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A huge crowd gathers in downtown Los Angeles to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors march through downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors march through downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors march through downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Riverside County Sheriff Lt Chris Durham tries to calm nerves after hundreds of demonstrators that marched to the police station protest the death of George Floyd in Moreno Valley. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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In a sign of peace, protesters reach out to Riverside County Sheriff deputies, who were there to enforce an 8pm curfew during a demonstration to protest the death of George Floyd’s in Moreno Valley. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Hundreds of demonstrators block traffic as they march down both sides of Balboa Blvd. to protest against racism in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters march through West Hollywood to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd during march on Wednesday. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters march through West Hollywood to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd during march on Wednesday. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Bando Kev prays along Hollywood Blvd. in front of the National Guard and near TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A couple promote peace on Highland Ave. in Hollywood as protesters continue to demonstrate. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Makenzie Anderson, 2, rides on her father, Shawn’s shoulders as they join hundreds of protesters marching throughout downtown. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Marcus Owen, yells out chants for George Floyd as hundreds of protesters gather outside City Hall in a daylong protest. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Hussain Sharif, left, Mari Drake, and Thomas Rosado chant as they ride along with hundreds of protesters at a downtown demonstration. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Hundreds of protesters march throughout downtown ending with many arrested for curfew violations. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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“Hands up. Don’t shoot,†say hundreds participating in a march against the of George Floyd on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice onTuesday. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
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Members of the California National Guard flash peace signs after protesters had marched by in support of Black Lives Matter in Venice. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters shoot hoops while taking a break from marching against the death of George Floyd by police on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice on Tuesday. The basketball hoop was attached to the front of a bus that followed the protest for a while. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
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Several hundred protesters take a knee and hold their fists in the air during a moment of silence to honor George Floyd during a peaceful protest march from Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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A woman stands next to an image of George Floyd as hundreds participate in a march against the in-custody death of Floyd in Venice. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
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Terrence Burney, 36, left, and Commander of the LAPD Operation West Bureau Cory Palka, right, talk together peacefully in front of Getty House in Hancock Park. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors gather outside Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Hancock Park house as they continue to demonstrate against police brutality. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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Jessica Jordan takes a knee as she joins other protesters at Sunset & Vine in Hollywood on Tuesday. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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A young woman reacts to a group chant, while gathered with a couple hundred people to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter, near the Manhattan Beach Pier. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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Jayse Garcia, 27, of Los Angeles takes part in a demonstration in Hollywood. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters sit in front of National Guardsmen closing Sunset Blvd at Vine Street in Hollywood. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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Mira Ercingoz,16, from Palos Verdes, center in red hat, holds a poster with an image of George Floyd alongside protesters in Manhattan Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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Demonstrators take a knee during protests in Hollywood on Tuesday. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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A mother and daughter pass protestors in Hollywood. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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Several hundred protesters gather to demand justice for George Floyd at the Manhattan Beach Pier Plaza Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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Janie Hill,15, from Lawndale, receives a hug from a friend, following an emotional discussion with a Manhattan Beach Police officer, at the conclusion of a protest in Manhattan Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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LAPD Cmdr. Gerald Woodyard takes a knee with clergy members from the Los Angeles area as they participate in a march and demonstration outside LAPD headquarters in Los Angeles. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti walks out to address protesters and clergy members outside LAPD headquarters on Tuesday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Several hundred protesters take a knee and hold their fists in the air during a moment of silence to honor George Floyd during a peaceful protest march from Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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The spirited crowd on Sunday was huge, diverse and young.
Jolie Ruffin, 24, of Leimert Park, wore a blue surgical mask and carried a sign that read: “To be a Black queer woman in Amerikkka is a triple threat ... and NOT in a good way.†This was her first-ever protest.
“I’m a Black, bisexual woman in America,†she said. “It’s intimidating to men especially ... I’m hurt that Black people want to live their lives, and their lives are taken from them.â€
Hollywood Boulevard was closed to traffic, and there was little police presence. A portrait of Floyd flashed on a screen outside the legendary TCL Chinese Theatre. On the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a white woman with a rainbow flag draped over her shoulders blew bubbles as she passed David Hasselhoff’s star, and a Black man passed with a cardboard sign that said, “Black Trans Lives Matter.â€
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Greg Austin, 31, said the massive turnout was evidence of a desire for change that’s been building for years amid high-profile police shootings across the country.
“We’re not saying that every cop is bad. We just wish they would follow a different method,†said Austin, who is gay and Black. “This is an eye-opener for everyone.â€
Eyvonne Leach stood on Hollywood Boulevard, wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt and a pair of feathery, rainbow-colored wings.
As a Black lesbian, Leach, 40, of Inglewood, said she’d had to fight doubly hard against discrimination. It was rare, she said, that she got to make a statement for both parts of her identity.
“You have to put your Blackness first,†she said. “My lesbianism, that comes later. Being Black and a woman in America, it is really tough.â€
Leach said she believed that because Americans were forced to put their lives on pause during the pandemic, they could not ignore Floyd’s death and the racism the country has always struggled with.
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“I believe this is the universe working,†she said. “People are tired. If we weren’t forced to stay in the house, we wouldn’t have seen what happened. ... It would have been another killing, another Black killing.â€
“It brings my heart much joy,†she said of the march.
The All Black Lives Matter march, though, came about amid controversy.
Critics said they believed organizers appropriated the Black Lives Matter cause in order to hold a “mini Pride†after festivities for the 50th anniversary of LA Pride were suspended because of the pandemic.
The march was announced June 3 by Christopher Street West, the organization that produces LA Pride, as a solidarity march with Black Lives Matter.
But the Black Lives Matter Los Angeles group never endorsed the event, and numerous leaders within the Black LGBTQ community said Christopher Street West — long criticized for being too white and too corporate — did not communicate with them before announcing it.
“With Christopher Street West, you don’t get to go from 0 to 10. This moment for Black Lives Matter is not going to exclude the white gay community and all their years of mistreatment and anti-Black behavior,†said Jasmyne Cannick, a political strategist and longtime Black LGBTQ activist.
Cannick, 42, noted that the separate, annual Los Angeles Black Pride, founded in 1988, was created in large part because Black LGBTQ people had endured so much racism from LA Pride and within West Hollywood, which is mostly white. Cannick also criticized Christopher Street West for last year getting rid of its hip-hop stage, which she said was both a safe space for Black people and a paid gig for Black artists.
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Christopher Street West also was denounced for trying to organize the “solidarity†march collaboratively with the Los Angeles Police Department at the same time protesters nationwide are decrying systemic racism within law enforcement and pushing to defund the police.
On behalf of Christopher Street West, event producer Jeff Consoletti had submitted a special-event permit application to the LAPD citing LA Pride’s “strong and unified partnership with law enforcement.â€
“Your support of this peaceful gathering is the key to its success and continues a LA tradition of support, advocacy and the peaceful right to protest for all,†Consoletti wrote.
Under pressure, LA Pride said it would no longer organize the march and apologized.
A newly formed group, Black LGBTQ+ Activists for Change, or BLAC, whose board is composed entirely of Black LGBTQ people, organized Sunday’s All Black Lives Matter march. But critics said it was still too closely tied to LA Pride, because BLAC board member Gerald Garth is the Christopher Street West board treasurer, and BLAC board member Brandon Anthony is an LA Pride event producer.
In an interview, Garth, 37, said that while “it started very rocky,†the goal of the All Black Lives Matter march was to “amplify and highlight the Black LGBTQ experience.â€
“My whole life, I have experienced racism and homophobia,†Garth said. “I’m Black. I’m 6 foot 4. Dark skin and 240 pounds. There’s a certain perception people have when they hear certain identity markers. There’s often a point where people need to check themselves.â€
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Jeffrey King, founder of In the Meantime Men’s Group, a South L.A. outreach organization for Black LGBTQ men that supported the event, said the conflict showed a generational divide. King, 61, said that while younger Black LGBTQ people may feel more comfortable attending LA Pride than in years past, there are “deep-rooted scars†among older people because of the racism they experienced.
“It was clear Pride was never for us,†King said. He had drinks poured on him, was aggressively and inappropriately touched and had difficulty entering event venues, he said.
But King said he recognizes that many of the young Black LGBTQ people he works with have “different lived experiences†and that he supports what the All Black Lives Matter march represented. He said he has often felt he had to forgo the fight for LGBTQ rights in favor of fighting for equality of Black people.
“The Blackness comes first, and everything else follows,†he said. “If someone sees me walking down the street, there will be no question I’m a Black man, but they won’t always know the otherness of who I am.
“Most of us are taught to be certain ways for survival ... and we learn those very early in life. It’s rare that you will find a large number of us who will prioritize being gay or our sexual identity, expression, who we love, over our Blackness.â€
On Sunday, Ammie Robinson, 37, of Huntington Park, walked down Sunset Boulevard with her girlfriend, Kimiko McCarthy, 31. Robinson said that as a Black and queer person and as a woman, she had a “triple whammy†when it came to fighting for her rights. Discrimination exists even within the LGBTQ community, she added.
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“Sometimes, there’s not space for Black people,†she said. “You’re fighting for space in your own community.â€
McCarthy carried a cardboard sign that read, “Hey WeHo Black Queers Exist!!! #MakeSpace.†She said she had just spoken with a friend, another queer woman, who did not attend the march because she didn’t feel comfortable there as a Black person.
“I respect that,†McCarthy said. “I told her I’d let her know how it goes. I heard about this weeks ago, and of course I wanted to be here to represent both sides of who I am.â€
Hailey Branson-Potts is an enterprise reporter on the State Team who joined the Los Angeles Times in 2011. She reports on a wide range of issues and people, with a special focus on Northern California and the Central Coast. She grew up in the small town of Perry, Okla., and graduated from the University of Oklahoma.
