Pride
pandemic
Transgender
Not Your Average Pride Event
Last weekend, droves of people descended on a 15-acre park in northeast Los Angeles for an afternoon of picnicking, mingling, cheering on drag performances and a puppy costume competition, and more. Known as Dyke Day LA, this annual Pride gathering takes a homespun approach to a month typically packed with corporate-sponsored parties, parades and concerts; one organizer estimated the crowd at about 1,500. Since its first iteration in 2007, it has gone from a scrappy Eastside alternative to the spectacle of West Hollywood’s Pride celebrations to an essential — if unofficial — event on the city’s Pride calendar, open to “dykes of all genders.” (According to the organizers, that means everyone but cisgender men.) The name asserts that a term once widely taken as a misogynistic and homophobic slur can be seen as a positive, liberating label.