{"id":95134,"date":"2026-06-07T23:10:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T06:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=95134"},"modified":"2026-06-07T23:10:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T06:10:52","slug":"pride-scandals-flow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2026\/06\/07\/pride-scandals-flow\/","title":{"rendered":"Pride Scandals Flow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cA lot of celebrities are expected to be at the
\n<\/em>Garden on Monday…This would be the first time
\nTrump has appeared at a court in New York
\nsince being convicted of 34 felonies…
\nYou\u2019d think Trump <\/strong>would be rooting for the
\n<\/em>Spurs, right?  It\u2019s what got him out of Vietnam.\u201d 
\n\u2013 Jimmy Kimmel <\/strong>has some fun with El Presidente\u2019s expected
\nappearance at Game Three of the Knicks\/Spurs NBA Finals.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Picture it \u2013 West Hollywood, 2005.  I was hosting LA Pride <\/em><\/strong>for the umpteenth time when controversy reared its ugly head.  There were threats of protests over the choice of Grand Marshal, Paris Hilton<\/strong>.  People felt the honor was being given out solely to capitalize on Hilton\u2019s show The Simple Life<\/em><\/strong> and get mainstream media coverage (which is exactly what happened).  The situation was slightly diffused by also naming Hilton\u2019s mom Kathy <\/strong>as a Co-Marshal.  And here we are, 20 years later, with Kathy Hilton being protested after being named Grand Marshal.  The discussions started when Indigenous Pride LA <\/em><\/strong>cancelled their participation in the event due to Hilton\u2019s connection with Donald Trump<\/strong>.  \u201cMany within our Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer, and Indigenous LGBTQPAI+ circles feel this year\u2019s Grand Marshal choice does not align with the values, lived experiences, and spirit of Pride we seek to uplift.\u201d  I have so many questions \u2013 starting with when, oh when, will we stop adding letters to our community?<\/p>\n

The protest picked up steam.  Days before the event, Hilton withdrew.  \u201cI am honored to have been considered for this recognition and appreciative of the support I have received from members of the community that means a great deal to so many people.  Pride is, and always will be, about celebrating and uplifting LGBTQ+ voices, experiences, and achievements.\u201d  The carefully crafted statement goes on to list her long association with various AIDS charities.  And WeHo Pride <\/em>replaced her with…NO ONE!  \u201cAs Pride has always belonged to the community, after thoughtful discussions, the City of West Hollywood, the WeHo Pride <\/em>production team, and Kathy Hilton have determined that the 2026 WeHo Pride Parade <\/em>will not designate a Grand Marshal Icon honoree.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In the aftermath, the iconic Lady Bunny <\/strong>weighed in: \u201cMay I suggest that next year, WeHo Pride <\/em>actually take pride in their community and choose a local volunteer who\u2019s toiled for years donating their time to a beloved LA charity?\u201d  Good idea \u2013 many cities have a Grand Marshal and Honorary (or Celebrity) Grand Marshal.  While I\u2019m mentioning Bunny, she had some concerns about my recent report on her being cancelled from a crocheting gig in Fort Lauderdale (look it up).  She felt it was not clear when I said she once went after me on stage, that the incident was all in fun, which it was.  And when I reported that she wanted Kamala Harris <\/strong>to be more liberal, that was incorrect \u2013 she wanted Kamala to be more progressive.  Consider it cleared up.  Make no mistake, I LOVE Bunny!<\/p>\n

\"colorbar1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pride conflicts are not isolated to the west coast.  The Boston Public Library <\/em>announced it would no longer be hosting a Trans Period Pride<\/em><\/strong> event.  What is \u201cTrans Period Pride\u201d?  I\u2019m so glad you asked.  According to the organization, \u201cthis event is for biologically female people who gender identify as male, who still menstruate.  This is not for trans women (born male).\u201d  And we wonder why some members of the heterosexual community get confused!  The event at the BPL was not cancelled.  It was moved to another venue that is not \u201ccity-owned\u201d.  It gets better.  \u201cCatered dinner will be provided and free period underwear will be given to all attendees!\u201d  I\u2019m speechless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cA lot of celebrities are expected to be at the Garden on Monday…This would be the first time Trump has appeared at a court in New York since being convicted of 34 felonies… You\u2019d think Trump would be rooting for the Spurs, right?  It\u2019s what got him out of Vietnam.\u201d  \u2013 Jimmy Kimmel has some<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95143,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95134\/revisions\/95143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}