Independent Staff Report
WEST HOLLYWOOD — The city’s annual One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival will be conducted on an online virtual platform this year to prioritize health and public safety.
The festival runs for 40 days through June 30.
A select few programs also can be experienced as self-guided solo walking tours or outdoor exhibitions. The 2021 theme for One City One Pride is “For the Record,” LGBTQ stories of the past that have often been hidden or undocumented.
This year’s festival poster was designed by Joan Cox through an open call poster competition which received submissions from around the world. Within the artwork are images from the diaries of Anne Lister, who lived in the early 1800s and wrote a five-million-word diary that described in great detail in code her lesbian identity. Lister’s life was featured in the popular BBC-HBO television drama series “Gentleman Jack.”
“As we continue to celebrate West Hollywood Pride in new and creative ways, I’m thrilled to share the city’s 40 days of One City One Pride with everyone in West Hollywood and with the global community,” West Hollywood Mayor Lindsey P. Horvath said. “A virtual platform this year will help us include everyone in the new West Hollywood Pride, continue to safeguard community health and well-being, and make our next in-person Pride celebration that much more special.”
Individual events include “A Special Women’s Music History: A Celebration of the Betsy York Collection” presented by June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives at 4 p.m. May 27. York distributed and produced music for numerous music labels in New England and Southern California. To RSVP, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/151160295513.
The Lavender Effect Virtual Pride Parade will be held from noon to 2 p.m. May 30, hosted by actor/comic, Alec Mapa. It can be livestreamed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/TheLavenderEffect.
Pride Shining Through, a streaming concert presented by Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles will be held at 8 p.m. June 5 and available for streaming for 48 hours. A suggested donation of $20 is requested. The concert is presented with the support of a grant from the city’s Arts Division. To RSVP, visit www.pride.gmcla.org.
A free virtual panel discussion, “Disarm Hate” will be held at 6 p.m. June 9. For more information and to RSVP for the panel discussion: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qvo-hvPyQuOlXkJ5iTpUWg.
Lovers of poetry can call and request a custom poem June 11-13 through the Pride Poets Poetry Hotline
presented by West Hollywood Poet Laureate Brian Sonia-Wallace. The poetry hotline number is (202) 998-3510.
“LGBTQ History in Comics,” a free virtual panel with readings from comic creators presented by Prism Comics launches at 6 p.m. June 15. The panel can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/wehoarts and www.prismcomics.org.
WeHo Reads will offer “Legacy and Lineage and the Lost Generation” at 6 p.m. June 16. It will feature poets reading and discussing works by mentors they’ve never met alongside their own work. Visit https://wehoreadsrajivjubidare2021.eventbrite.com to RSVP and get a reminder.
The West Hollywood Pride Play Reading Festival, presented by the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, will be held at 2 p.m. June 26 and 27. It features staged readings of six one-act plays June 26, and one featured full length play June 27. It can be streamed at https://www.facebook.com/groups/laplaywrights. QueerWise presents a discussion on queer women at 7 p.m. June 26. It will be livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/queer.wise.
“West Hollywood LGBTQ History Tour,” a collection of short films by acclaimed author and historian Stuart Timmons will be released at 9 a.m. Originally written, produced and directed by Jason Jenn, the tour first dazzled audiences in 2015 as part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the city’s incorporation and continued to be presented in 2016 and 2017.
For 2021, the tour is being recorded as a collection of short films hosted indefinitely on the city’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/wehoarts.
A complete list of this year’s One City One Pride festival events is available at www.weho.org/pride.
