Under the theme “Rise with Pride,” more than 60 people from across the Diocese of Los Angeles joined the L.A. Pride celebration June 14, including a pre-parade service of Holy Eucharist celebrated by Bishop-elect Antonio J. Gallardo L.
“We’re walking together as a community remembering who we are, where we come from, and the God who created us, so we can walk with pride,” Gallardo L. told the gathering. “No one should make us feel any less than we are. We have the body and blood of Christ to strengthen us for the walk.”
Before offering his comments after the Eucharist, Gallardo L. opened the mic for service participants to share their pride experiences, starting with All Saints, Pasadena, lay leader Lori Kizzia, who was marking her 50th L.A. Pride parade having first marched in 1976. After Kizzia, six additional speakers commented on ways in which The Episcopal Church strengthened them in the process of coming out and expressing their full God-given identity.
With its parade route along Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, the L.A. gathering was a highlight among more than a dozen other local and regional Episcopal Church pride gatherings across the six-county diocese, including the June 7 West Hollywood celebration in which more than 40 members of All Saints’, Beverly Hills, participated.
Thomas Diaz – chair of the Bishop’s Commission on LGBTQ+ Ministry and a lay leader at All Saints in Pasadena – led the team coordinating arrangements for L.A. Pride. “We loved sharing The Episcopal Church with L.A. Pride,” Diaz told The Episcopal News, “not only highlighting who we are as Episcopalians, but also living into our baptismal covenant by striving to respect the dignity of every human being. L.A. Pride offers us an opportunity to embody God’s love in public and celebrate the beautiful diversity of our communities.”
Diaz added that further information will be posted soon regarding the sale of Pride T-shirts customized by the Bishop’s Commission.
