Laguna celebrates LGBTQ pride with beach party
Residents and visitors flocked to Laguna Beach’s historically gay beach Sunday for a daylong party to celebrate the city’s history as an LGBTQ-friendly enclave.
Hundreds filled the beach at Camel Point — known locally as West Street Beach — for music, games and other festivities.
For the record:
11:50 a.m. June 3, 2019This article originally stated incorrectly that the party was Saturday. It was held Sunday.
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Craig Cooley, president of Laguna Beach Pride 365 and one of the organizers of the weekend’s LGBTQ Pride events in town, said West Street Beach has drawn visitors from all over the world for decades.
“We thought, ‘What do we have as a pride festival that’s different than any of the others?’ ” Cooley said. “We have this beach that’s ladies and guys, and it’s been very popular for all these years.”
The beach party was the final event in a three-day lineup for LGBTQ Pride weekend.
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“There’s a wave of pride coming back,” Cooley said, noting that the Laguna Beach City Council voted two weeks ago to raise the rainbow flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ community, on the flagpole and parking meters outside City Hall.
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