Long Beach Pride
Known as one of the nation's best -- and most unsung -- LGBT celebrations, Long Beach Pride touches down this weekend. A short drive or light-rail ride from L.A., Long Beach is an increasingly hip city run by a gay Latino mayor, and its Pride celebration is just as diverse as its residents. Out Empire star, and singer, Jussie Smollett will entertain the crowds on Saturday night, while legendary drummer Sheila E. is on deck for Sunday evening. There's also a Country Stage, Dance Stage, Fiesta Caliente Stage, and Urban Soul Stage, and a parade through downtown on Sunday. Get all the details here.
Deadpool 2
The sequel to the 2016 X-Men universe action-comedy is receiving strong reviews (even though it co-stars transphobe T.J. Miller). Aside from the rapid-fire jokes and thrilling action sequences (which actually cost the life of a stuntwoman), the film also has an added attraction for LGBT moviegoers, aside from Ryan Reynolds: the first queer characters in a Marvel universe film. Negasonic Teenage Warhead, featured in the first Deadpool, has a girlfriend this time around -- Yukio, a chain-wielding mutant. More, please! Deadpool 2 is out now.
Panel: Los Angeles LGBT History
Learn about Los Angeles's LGBT history -- including the Black Cat protests (pictured), which predated the Stonewall riots by a year and gave rise to The Advocate -- this Saturday at a panel moderated by Lucas Grindley, president of Pride Media, The Advocate's parent company. The event will be held at the ONE Archives, the largest repository of LGBT materials in the world, located at the University of Southern California Libraries, 909 W. Adams Blvd. Panelists will be Gregorio Davila, writer and director of the documentary film L.A.: A Queer History; Jennifer C. Gregg, executive director of the ONE Archives Foundation; and Alexei Romanoff, an LGBT activist and participant in the Black Cat demonstrations against police harassment. There will be a reception from 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m., followed by the discussion from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., and a tour of the ONE Archives from 5:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. Seating is limited, so RSVP to Lauren Gossett at (213) 239-2025 or email her at lauren.gossett@citi.com (Citi Private Bank and Citi Pride Network Southern California are event sponsors).
Book Club
Some of our favorite actresses get together for Book Club, a comedy about four lifelong friends who find reading Fifty Shades of Grey to be a life-changing experience. Diane Keaton plays a recent widow, also named Diane; Jane Fonda is Vivian, who enjoys commitment-free liaisons; Candice Bergen is Sharon, divorced years ago but still not over it; and Mary Steenburgen portrays Carol, whose marriage has become blah. The starry cast also includes Andy Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss, Don Johnson, Alicia Silverstone, Ed Begley Jr., and Wallace Shawn. Directed by Bill Holderman from a script he wrote with Erin Simms, Book Club is in theaters nationwide today.
Celebrate Pride in L.A. With GLSEN
GLSEN -- a nonprofit that supports LGBT youth in K-12 schools -- is hosting a Pride fundraiser for its work in Los Angeles. Dress in festive attire and raise a toast with celebs like Lance Bass, Jason Collins, Rosario Dawson, Tommy Dorfman, Gigi Gorgeous, and Robbie Rogers at the Sunset Tower Hotel on Sunday, June 3. It's for a good cause! Find tickets at glsen.org.
Die, Mommie, Die!
Writer, actor, comedian, and premier Chloe Sevigny impressionist Drew Droege currently stars as the faded movie actress Angela Arden in a production of Charles Busch's ode to melodrama and noir, Die, Mommie, Die!, at the Kirk Douglas Theater in Culver City, Calif. Die, Mommie, Die!, which draws from camp classics like Bette Davis' Dead Ringer, is a short run -- it finishes Sunday! Get tickets here, and hear Droege discuss the production on Advocate.com.
Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury penned his dystopian classic, Fahrenheit 451, in 1953. But its themes of censorship and resistance to tyranny are timelier than ever. HBO has adapted the work in a new film starring Michael B. Jordan as protagonist Guy Montag, the "fireman" whose job is to burn books -- until he begins to question why. Watch it Sunday.
