Long Beach Pride festival collapsed hours before opening — then the blame game started

One of California’s largest and most storied Pride celebrations unraveled in spectacular public fashion this weekend after the City of Long Beach abruptly canceled the annual Long Beach Pride Festival just hours before it was set to begin, igniting a bitter and public feud between city officials and LGBTQ+ organizers over safety, politics, and the future of Pride itself.

The collapse of the festival in one of the country’s most LGBTQ-friendly cities stunned community members across Southern California and quickly escalated beyond a logistical dispute into a fight over who gets to define and steward queer civic life at a moment when LGBTQ+ communities nationwide already feel politically cornered.

Long Beach officials announced Friday evening that the three-day Pride Festival would not be permitted to proceed because organizers allegedly failed to provide the critical safety and operational documentation required for approval. The decision came less than an hour before Teen Pride festivities were scheduled to begin.

The city-backed Pride parade, however, will continue Sunday as planned.

For decades, Long Beach Pride has stood as one of the crown jewels of the national Pride calendar, drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees annually and serving as both a political gathering space and an economic engine for queer businesses, artists, and nonprofits.

Then came the public blame campaign.

Related: ‘Gayest’ Congressman Robert Garcia & Maine Gov. Janet Mills target Trump at LGBTQ+ leadership conference

In a statement posted late Friday, Long Beach Pride President Tonya Martin, who goes by “Lez Prez,” accused city leaders of abandoning LGBTQ+ residents during a dangerous political moment for queer Americans.

“Long Beach Pride is deeply disappointed by the City’s decision to cancel the Long Beach Pride Festival, a long-standing community institution built by volunteers, sustained by love, and rooted in the belief that every person deserves to live openly, safely, and with dignity,” Martin wrote on Instagram.

“This decision comes at a moment when LGBTQ+ people are facing escalating attacks from the current federal administration and from political forces across the country,” Martin wrote. “At a time when our community is being targeted and made vulnerable, Long Beach should be doing more to protect and uplift us.”

Martin also challenged Long Beach’s progressive self-image.

“Inclusion is not proven when it is easy,” she wrote. “It is proven when leaders choose to stand with vulnerable communities when they need support the most.”

But by Saturday evening, the city had mounted an aggressive rebuttal.

In a public statement, officials laid out a detailed account of what they described as repeated failures by organizers to provide required permitting materials. The city said completed applications for festivals of that size are typically due 65 days in advance, and that staff had continued working with organizers “in the hours leading up to the scheduled start of the event” to salvage the weekend.

According to the city, organizers still had not submitted approved structural plans for the stages and trusses, approved electrical plans, detailed security plans, or sufficiently detailed site plans that identify critical infrastructure locations.

Related: Getting personal with Robert Garcia, who’s been leading the Democrats' release of the Epstein files

The city also disclosed that officials had attempted to rescue portions of the festival by offering alternative venues, including the Long Beach Terrace Theater and Bixby Park. Under those proposals, alcohol sales and fenced festival grounds would not have been permitted because of the compressed timeline, but city officials said events still could have gone forward.

Mayor Rex Richardson even offered to privately raise up to $50,000 to support replacement programming, according to the city. Long Beach Pride declined the options, the city said.

While Long Beach Pride historically operated both the parade and festival, the city repeatedly emphasized that it now directly funds and manages the parade after stepping in several years ago when organizers could no longer support its operation.

“What was originally intended as a one-time commitment to support the organization as it reorganized has now continued for a third consecutive year,” the city said Saturday.

Later, the city announced a replacement Pride event at Bixby Park with the name “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!”

The free event on Sunday will feature DJs, drag performances, live music, and appearances from local performers, including Delta Work.

“Long Beach Pride weekend goes on. The spirit goes on,” Richardson said in the announcement.

The city’s Saturday evening statement notably contained no mention of reconciliation efforts with Long Beach Pride. Instead, officials highlighted replacement programming, additional transit services, public restroom installations, and city support for bars and restaurants handling increased crowds.

Across the United States, Pride organizations are confronting rising security costs, political backlash, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, shrinking sponsorship dollars, and increasing operational burdens.

Gay U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat and former Long Beach mayor who now represents the area in Congress, attempted to strike a more reflective tone.

In a public statement, Garcia called the cancellation “gut-wrenching” and praised the festival’s founders and volunteers for creating a movement that “saved lives, launched political movements, and created space for millions to enjoy the diversity and strength of the Long Beach LGBTQ+ community.”

“There are many outstanding questions about the festival that need to be answered,” Garcia wrote.

But he also urged residents not to let the festival's collapse eclipse the broader meaning of Pride in the city.

“Pride is more than just a Festival,” Garcia wrote. “It’s an incredible parade down Ocean Boulevard, a Dyke March, protests, and countless parties."

Garcia added, "We owe it to our community elders to fight on and keep Pride alive."