Waving their rainbow flags proudly! Allies like Melissa McCarthy and Christine Quinn joined LGBTQ+ icons such as Tinashe and Niecy Nash-Betts for 2023 pride celebrations.
Lance Bass kicked off coverage of the West Hollywood Pride Parade on June 4 by discussing what the month means to him. “There’s many things I think of with pride. One, celebration of who we are, how far we’ve come [and] honoring the ones that came before us so we are able to do this,” the singer, who has been married to Michael Turchin since 2014, explained during a KTLA’s parade broadcast.
He continued, “But the temperature right now for the LGBTQIA community right now is very hostile. So pride is a protest. It started as a protest and it’s still a protest. So, as you see, there’s a lot of people standing up for what is right and protesting for what they believe in.”
Stars who identify as straight show their support for the queer community as well. McCarthy was honored as an “ally icon” during the WeHo event.
Meanwhile, Quinn, a former star of Netflix’s Selling Sunset, shared a special message before riding in the California parade.
“A phoenix rising from ashes of hate, a vibrant rainbow after the storm of intolerance. Shedding our masks, unveiling our souls resplendent in their true colors. An echo of freedom disrupting centuries of silence,” the reality star wrote via Twitter. “Today, we’re seen and celebrated. Today, our masks are off, our love is loud. A performance adorned with the nuances of who we wish to be, who we are, and the distance between. After all, isn’t everything we all do just a form of drag? 
.”
She wasn’t the only reality star at the June 4 event. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars and besties Garcelle Beauvais and Sutton Stracke carried matching rainbow fans while being driven in a Sutton Concept convertible.
While West Hollywood was 2023’s first major star-studded pride parade in the U.S., the celebrations will continue throughout the summer. New Orleans and Los Angeles are scheduled for the second weekend of June while Chicago, and Portland will be the third weekend of the month. New York City and Nashville pride celebrations will happen during the last Saturday and Sunday of the month.
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Scroll down to see the stars celebrating pride in 2023:
