Madoc.us: LA Pride Photos

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Pride

Specifically, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender Pride. I have been to a number of such Pride Days and Pride Weekends. Mostly here in Southern California but elsewhere too. I have pictures of Pride Celebrations and Festivals from my DC days but mostly the photos here will be of my experiences since landing in San Diego. Most recently is the Los Angeles Pride of 2001. As I scan in photos from previous Pride celebrations I'll be posting them here as well.

LA Pride 2001

I have been to the Los Angeles Gay Pride Celebration for just about every year that I have been here in California. My first trip up to LA as an adult was for Pride Weekend. I helped out with the "Mr. Southern California Drummer" contest held the Friday of that weekend and then was footloose and fancy free to enjoy what LA had to offer for the next two days. It didn't disappoint! Over the years I have been to LA's Pride march and festival many times. The visuals are always amazing and the festival is always a lot of fun. I usually bring my camera along and bring back a lot of great images. LA is like that. Appearance is everything in that city and for the boys in WeHo (West Hollywood) it is even more so.

Where other gay communities in other cities might indulge themselves with electrolysis hair removal, the WeHo men have to have "laser hair removal." I don't know if it is any better at producing utterly hairless and smooth skin but it sure sounds better! I have also noticed that the lookism and body fascism is more intense in LA & WeHo than anywhere else save but for South Beach. In fact, the pressure is so intense that even the little Filipino & Asian boys are muscular. Not huge mind you, but pumped and defined. That is an odd thing to see and reflects just what the going standard is in that town - and that standard can be brutal.
But it also can be....

FABULOUS!

I don't know who this finely muscular man is and nor do I know how much that head dress weighs (ten, twenty pounds?) but he truly did look FABULOUS in this outfit (what little there is of it!) Aside from having an awesome body and a fantastic outfit he also knew how to work it. I'm surprised he managed to make it into the Festival at all as he was constantly being asked to pose and had to strike it up with each encounter!

Frixion

These two had to be seen to be believed. Great bodies, handsome faces, and butts to die for! Wrapped tightly around each check were a pair of go-go shorts that each had the word "Frixion" curved along those heavenly cheeks. I've no idea what "Frixion" is (a lube is my bet) but this pair sure made great advertising with this unique product placement!

A Typical Crowd Scene

A Typicial Crowd Scene

This was the scene at the Festival come late Sunday afternoon. I was looking north when I took this shot of the eastern side of the Festival ground. That is the Techno stage in the distance. The crowd was thicker on this side and the places to sit in the shade watching it was more numerous. Lots of eye candy!

Eye Candy

	I don't know what it is about LA men. Perhaps it is the "Endless Summer" mystique which inspires the expectation that all SoCal guys are buff beyond buff. In any event some of the best butts in the world can be found in LA. Particularly out and about during LA Pride. Here is just one example among many I saw that day!

A matched set!

I spied these two handsome men as they were watching it all go by.

Aside from being very colorful, very eye catching, and very incongruous, those sarongs must have been very comfortable in the Summer's heat out there on Santa Monica Boulevard. So the were practical too!

I am a sucker for handsome Longhaired muscular men. Asian, Pacific Islander and American Indian handsome Longhaired muscular men in particular. ;P

I saw this fine man the previous night as he strode along Santa Monica Boulevard ahead of me. I was struck first by his gorgeous mane of long black hair. It doesn't show in this picture but that mane goes down well between his shoulder blades.

Next I noticed the rest of the package and admired the effort it took to bring himself into this shape. He is a tall man and visually very impressive otherwise.

He also was ahead of me and a fast walker! I never did catch up to him before he disappeared up one of the side streets above Santa Monica.

So I was rather pleased to catch glimpse of him as we rode along on the Avatar float in the parade.

Very nice indeed!

The Parade & Avatar

The Truck.

Riding in the Avatar float was fun. This year wasn't the first time I rode with those guys but it did enable me to get some interesting photos of the world as it passed by below us.

Sometimes I would hop off the truck to get a better picture of the action going on at street level.

Another day with the Leather Contingent!

That is Tiger on the right there with the flogger having a good ol' time. She was fun to
watch as she did a good job keep up with the truck - especially when you consider the
heels she was wearing! I sure hope she used some good sunscreen that day!

Framed!

The Avatar boys had set up two St. Andrew's crosses on the flatbed. They then set a men into each and headed off for the road.

I found that the legs of one of the men provided and nice way to frame my shots from that side of the truck.

We have some of the most interesting toys!

Case in point are these finger talon rings. I had seen these things before but always just one ring at a time. Gene here has a handful - literally!

These are pretty cool implements. They are designed to go over the entire finger and have pivots for each knuckle. Sort of like a prosthesis.

Aside from looking really cool the also have a very sharp point on each end.

It was also one quick way to dispose of all those balloons and have some fun too!

Tommy

Another Avatar man. There aren't may ways that you can enjoy the day, be comfortable, and wear your leathers. Tommy here found at least on of them.

He's got on a pretty cool piece of "wearable art." Those leather shorts are titled "The Fire Down Below." I'm not sure where he got them or if he had them custom made. You can ask him yourself though: Tommy.

Got to love those Sisters!

The "Sisters of the Perpetual Indulgence" that is. I'm not sure which particular Sister this is here in the center of this image but it is obvious that she is a practical one. Her "summer habit" must have been much cooler to wear with its floral print than the standard black habit. Then again, I'm not sure what the "standard habit" of these Sisters actually is.

Just as a clarification, that festive parasol does not belong to George. He was just
holding it for the Sister as she shifted her basket of condoms from one hand to
the other. No, really. I mean it. Honest.

Having Fun With The Absurd

I almost lost it with this!

Gahd damn! Why didn't I think of this?!!

Can you imagine the money and the fun the guy had who came up with this one?

Sumo Wrestling in Inflatable suits! This was hilarious to watch and looked like a blast to do. Utterly absurd and completely ridiculous. Which is exactly why it looks so much fun and made for some great pics.

I stumbled onto this while walking around the Festival. This was over in the "12 Step" Clean & Sober section and I heard just too much laughter to ignore so, over I went. I'm glad I did. I got there just as the last pair of "Inflatable Sumo Wrestlers" were getting done with their bout. That meant I got to watch these two from the start. It was funny to see. These are two pieces suits. There is a wrap around inflatable bladder which the participants put on first. This gets inflated by an oversized "hairdryer" air blower thing. Then they pull on and strap tight the outer layer which covers them from the neck down. Lastly are these crash helmets that have bits of a wig glued on to them.

The "combatants" then face off across the wrestling mat. They then followed the ref's instructions in stamping one leg after the other, shouting "Hoouh!" with each stamp, before coming to blows at the ref's whistle. Damn but this was funny to watch. The suits weigh next to nothing but make moving around awkward as all hell. Everyone, the two in the suits included, was having a good laugh at how silly it all was.

Just to prove that style is not dead, here is this latest example of it applied to the automobile!

A Pinto no less!

An awfully shiny Pinto too!

What an amazing amount of work this thing represents. It was displayed as part of a gay car club's booth. I guess they wanted to show anyone interested that you can be gay, drive a car, and be over the top in style too!

If you would like to know more about me, then ask me directly. Just click on my email address here:
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In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed your "stay" at this site. Check back again to see what new images I have added. Until then, stay well, play hard, play safe, and have fun!

Madoc

This page was last updated on: 05 July 2001

Unless otherwise noted, all photographs and images on this page are copyright protected property of Madoc Pope. If you would like to use any of my images you must contact me first before you do so.

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