A festival ‘about being who you are’

There was a booth selling Salvadoran pupusas a few steps away from one promoting adoption. Around the corner were lemonade stands, nestled a few feet away by a strip of kiosks educating the public about sexually transmitted diseases.

And counselors talking to a young man about avoiding domestic violence rivaled dance music for his attention.

That was the scene Saturday at the L.A. Pride Festival in West Hollywood, where food and fashion mixed with social services for the gay community, along with highly visible themes expressed on T-shirts, buttons and fliers: same-sex marriage and equal rights.

“The main point we’re trying to get across is that all we want are the same rights as the neighbor living down the street,” said Rodney Scott, president of the Christopher Street West Assn., an outreach program for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community that produces L.A.’s annual pride celebration. “But I think it’s getting better for us.”

Scott said one sign of progress was the passage last week of AB 43, a bill in the state Assembly to legalize same-sex marriage. The measure was approved 42 to 34 with less contentious debate than similar legislation spawned in the past.

“I think Californians get the diversity of the state,” Scott said. “The only person getting in our way of passing a bill is our governor.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar same-sex marriage bill passed in June 2005, saying that, although he believes gay couples deserve “full protection under the law,” signing it would have reversed a 2000 voter-passed initiative declaring marriage to be the union of a man and a woman.

Also last week, the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations released its annual report on hate crimes, which found a slight rise last year in the percentage of such incidents aimed at homosexuals. The report said that although hate crimes fell 6% overall in 2006, those targeting homosexuals rose from 15% of the total to 17%.

“There is still a lot of fear that resonates with people who don’t understand gay people,” said Jim Robbins, 35. “Events like Pride help show that we’re not monsters or anything really threatening. We need these festivals to show that we’re not just what TV shows us to be.”

In Hollywood news last week, openly gay “Grey’s Anatomy” star T.R. Knight was asked back to the hit ABC program. But his co-star Isaiah Washington, who at this year’s Golden Globes stated a slur while denying that he had earlier used it against Knight, was not.

“What he said was a mistake, but I have to believe that he recognized that hate speech was wrong,” Scott said, adding that celebrities have helped push gay issues to the forefront, for better or worse.

Within the last 12 months, a roster of high-profile celebrities has come out: Knight, former ‘N Sync member Lance Bass, actor Neil Patrick Harris and former professional basketball player John Amaechi, who will be the grand marshal of this year’s gay pride parade today. His February announcement made him the first NBA player to publicly acknowledge he is gay.

“Every time a celebrity, a teacher or a truck driver comes out, it changes the perception of our community,” Scott said. “It’s awesome to have him join us.”

Today’s 37th annual parade will start at 11 a.m., running west along Santa Monica Boulevard from Crescent Heights Boulevard to Robertson Boulevard.

Aside from the social and political messages, the festival was still a festival, with families and couples relaxing and eating on benches scattered throughout the park.

“It’s nice to just hold your partner’s hand in public here and fear no hatred or disgust toward you,” said Jose Rivera, a 23-year-old from Louisiana who was lounging on the grass listening to music with his boyfriend. “Pride is just about being who you are.”

francisco.varaorta@latimes.com