LOS ANGELES - "Happy Pride!"
Those were the words you could hear said over and over and over again along Hollywood Boulevard during the largest and longest-running Pride parade in Southern California, the LA Pride Parade.
"It's a real celebration isn't it?" said actor and longtime political and gay activist George Takei. He was this year's ICON Grand Marshal and this day meant so much to him."Well, it's been a long, long struggle and we still have challenges before us, but we are proud of the achievements that we've made," Takei told FOX 11.
On the curb, you could see how excited fans were about seeing the "Star Trek" actor. One man said, "It's awesome" And, at 87, he is still a star as he rides down Hollywood Boulevard filled with Walk of Fame stars including his own."
Other parade watchers said things like, "He is such an icon!"
"George has been such a champion of our rights for so long and in some ways, he wasn't celebrated in ways that he should have been. So, having George being celebrated means just so much at the Center," said CEO of LA's LGBT Center, Joe Hollendoner.
To Hollendoner, this year's parade, the 54th, is especially important because as he puts it, "We know our community is under attack like never before and so it's so important that we have visibility."
To some here, that's so true.
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"When you walk down the street in a Pride outfit depending on where you are you have to take it off just to stay safe," one spectator told FOX 11. That's why, to many along the parade route, this was a chance to let their hair down, relax and feel safe, primarily because of the sense of community they were feeling on this day.
"It's just nice to be part of a community that just super loving almost everywhere," a parade goer told FOX 11. Another said, "I'm proud of our community. We've been through a lot." Yet another told us, "I feel so much love. Everybody's so happy and just the unity."
If there is an underlying message, it's probably what one woman told FOX 11 as she watched the parade: "To accept everybody as they are; doesn't matter what they think. We love everybody."
And, to George Takei, it's the day for that kind of feeling. "It's Happy Pride!"
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