Vanessa Romain: Yes, it was right then and there that when I came to Long Beach they were just starting the Center in Long Beach, and it was a real rickety old building in the corner down a side street. So let me ask you, so the LGBT center of Long Beach got started in 1977, so it just started right before it sounds like you moved to Long Beach. Duran: Yeah, that’s how you and I first met in the early eighties. Vanessa Romain: And that became a big issue. It was a very strong force when the AIDS virus broke out for the men’s community, the women pulled together and had fundraisers constantly because it was something that our community was facing, and the women weren’t being affected as much by it for ourselves but for our brothers that we had met through the community. And they were primarily a lesbian organization to help other women talk about some of the issues, coming out issues and issues involving women in the community.
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Is that right? Sometime in the mid seventies? Duran: SCWU got started, I think, in the mid seventies. There were a lot of school teachers and professors that was involved with the Southern California Women for Understanding, but they didn’t want people to know that they were out or they were lesbians. And then we had our little private parties and we didn’t do much out in the community because a lot of the women from SCWU, many were Caucasian, I would say 99% were Caucasian, and they didn’t want people to know that they were out. Very much closeted people because back in those days people didn’t come out, and so we were meeting in people’s homes and had little rap groups where we would talk about things that would interest us. And that’s where I met Judy Doyle and many of the other women in the community. What was there was Southern California Women for Understanding, SCWU.
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Vanessa Romain: There was no Long Beach pride. Duran: Early eighties, so in the early eighties I don’t think there was any Long Beach Pride in the early eighties. Vanessa Romain: I would say I was 24, 22, 24 years old, so that must have been back in the early eighties. Duran: What year was that? What year was that you move moved into Long Beach, if you remember? I met them in Long Beach and Long Beach became my home. After growing up in South Central, I went on to move to Long Beach after a number of years of commuting to Long Beach to go party, to enjoy friends and meet new people. So, I’m real specific of where I grew up. Well, I was born in Los Angeles at the Japanese American hospital and I grew up in South Central Los Angeles, which they call Watts now, but it’s South Central and I still fuss at the commentators when they say it’s South Central and it’s not South Central. And so, just tell me a little bit about how Vanessa got started, where you were born and raised. I think when people think of Long Beach they think of Judy Doyle, they think of you, the late Mary Martinez, people like that. So Vanessa, you are associated, I think, primarily with the community of Long Beach, California. In this two-part profile, Duran speaks with Vanessa Romain, who served more than 25 years on the board of directors at Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride and served multiple terms as the organization’s president.
#When is the gay pride parade in long beach series#
and June 12, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.Introducing ‘Lavender Pen’ by John Duran, a series of interviews with pioneering and iconic LGBT figures across Southern California. The Groundlings Theatre, 7307 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles The Groundlings celebrate Pride Month: "The Gale," A Ferociously Queer Night of Improv Ocean Front Walk from the Venice-Rose Avenue Parking Lot to Windward Avenue
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Santa Monica Place, 395 Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica Los Angeles celebrates Pride in June (and all year long!) Save the date for our upcoming Pride events and stay tuned for incredible surprises! #venicepride #cityoflosangeles #pridecelebration /fisZZMh7OC- VENICE PRIDE February 10, 2022
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LGBTQ+ Pride Night at Dodgers Stadium: Dodgers vs. The Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica Place will be illuminated in all the colors of the rainbow thanks to tens of thousands of colorful LED lights strung over the popular pedestrian mall, allowing visitors to bask in the love light. Hollywood Boulevard will dazzle with the premiere of a new light program that will illuminate a 0.6-mile stretch of one of the most iconic streets in the world in an array of reinvigorating color and brilliance. between between McCadden Place and Vine Street. #lacountyfair at /UYgkfOd3Ym- Out On The Mountain May 12, 2022 Buy your $13 discounted tickets (includes dance party for those 18+).