The History of OC Pride: A Hard-Won Battle That Few Remember

By Joseph Amster
joseph@gayblade.com

Born of fire and killed by apathy, OC Pride has had a difficult history. The success of this year’s OC LGBT Pride celebration, slated for August 14 in Irvine, will ultimately decide: can OC show its pride?
Although the first Orange County Cultural Pride (OCCP), the name given to the celebration, took place in Santa Ana in 1989, one could argue that the first “pride” event in Orange County was a march down Garden Grove Boulevard on Sept. 7, 1974. A protest march organized by United Gays for Equal Treatment to draw attention to police harassment in Garden Grove drew an estimated 500 participants, some wearing paper bags over their heads to conceal their identities. Although the march was supposed to be confined to the sidewalk, the protestors eventually took to the streets, halting traffic on Garden Grove Boulevard. A rally afterward in the city’s Civic Center drew such community luminaries as Rev. Troy Perry of the MCC, activist Morris Kight and Romona Ripston of the ACLU.
In 1988, OC community activists Janet Avery, Mercury Merilla and Bob Hansen came together to form OCCP, with the goal of producing a Pride festival and parade the next year. After securing permits to hold the celebration in Santa Ana’s Centennial Park on Sept. 9-10 1989, opposition from OC’s religious right community increased, led by Rev. Lou Sheldon and his Traditional Values Coalition. Sheldon’s opposition, which led to his rise to national attention and Oval Office meetings with President George W. Bush, culminated in a boisterous meeting of the Santa Ana City Council where he demanded that the city shut OCCP down. OC’s LGBT community, organized by the Orange County Visibility League, counter-protested, going face to face with members of the religious right, some of whom were speaking in tongues. After the noisy and confrontational protest outside of council chambers, the City Council voted to allow the celebration to proceed.
The atmosphere leading up to the weekend of the Pride festival and parade was heated. Rev. Sheldon continued to rally his forces to oppose OCCP, and his supporters showed up at Centennial Park in droves to protest. OCCP was ultimately attended by an estimated 2,000-9,000 (reports vary from the Orange County Historical LGBT Timeline and OC Weekly vary) participants, who faced a gauntlet of harassment on the way into the fenced compound in the center of the park. Reports from that time (as well as my own recollections) include an airplane flying overhead carrying a banner saying “Sodomites Out of Santa Ana” and “No AIDS In OC!,” protestors throwing nails under the tires of cars attempting to park, dirty diapers and urine-filled balloons tossed at participants and a cheerleader turning cartwheels, cheering “G A Y-Got AIDS Yet?” This open expression of hatred would culminate in the aftermath of the parade, when members of OC’s activist community and members of ACT UP Los Angeles staged a kiss-in. The sight of same-sex couples smooching proved too much for the right-wingers, and a shoving match began, ultimately causing a “mini-riot” that resulted in six arrests and two minor injuries. While most in the festival grounds were unaware of the confrontation, they were soon greeted by the sight of horse-mounted members of the Santa Ana Police Department ringing the fence. The atmosphere was one of fear and anticipation. The police wanted to shut down the festival, but some quick negotiating by attorney John Duran (now a member of the West Hollywood City Council) allowed the celebration to proceed, staving off a full-blown riot. In response to the weekend’s events, the City of Santa Ana later passed a law banning all private celebrations in public parks.
Thanks to the influence of then Laguna Beach City Mayor and University of California Irvine administrator Robert Gentry, OCCP moved to the center of the UCI campus the next year, with a parade held on one of the campus’ streets. Protests were minimal the second year, and eventually would only include the usual “Turn or Burn” sign-wielding protestors one sees at all Pride celebrations. OCCP would continue holding celebrations at UCI in the late summer, but dwindling attendance eventually made the event unprofitable. The last OCCP was held in 2002.
Another Pride event in OC was Laguna Pride Weekend, organized by community activist Doug Reilly, held in 1994 and 1995. The event’s first year was well-attended, but the second year’s attendance and community support were disappointing, resulting in no plans for a third year.
Pride celebrations in OC would not occur again until 2009, when a festival occurred on Aug. 15 at Mason Park in Irvine, attended by an estimated 400 people. The event included a protest march of the recently enacted Prop. 8, which banned same-sex marriages in California.
Will OC’s LGBT community turn out for this year’s Pride, remembering the struggles of the past that made it possible? Time and history will tell.