WEST HOLLYWOOD – About 100 people gathered at North Crescent Heights and Santa Monica Boulevard Sunday morning, for an ad hoc Pride Walk organised by the publisher of the Los Angeles Blade, Troy Masters, which also included more than a dozen members of the Southern California Motorcycle Contingent for Equality.

Though he had called for a simple no sponsor, non-permitted and organic march in an April editorial and again in early June in the paper and also created event posts on social media, only 120 or so people expressed an interest.

“I was having a little bit of trouble getting Pride Walk off the ground so I thought to myself, I need some lesbians,” said Masters to the delight of the crowd after being honored by West Hollywood City Council member Sepi Shyne for organizing the walk.

The City of West Hollywood and the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce commissioned a number of business activities and turned Robertson Boulevard into a festival atmosphere, but there was no plan for a march for the first time in more than 50 years.

“Pride Walk was intended to make sure that did not happen, Covid be damned,” Masters said.

Marna Deitch, a Southern California Motorcycle Contingent for Equality leader and a social media organizer of Pride Walk, kicked off and led the walk with more than a dozen bikers, leading about 75 walkers with her motorcycle contingent.

“We wanted to be there “to show our pride openly and honestly and receiving the love back from the people in the street is the best.  Seeing more of that over the decades keeps me optimistic to continue our fight, our Pride,” said Deitch.

Though the LASD presence was not requested, deputies showed up anyway at which point Deitch and Masters negotiated marcher’s access to the streets with the Commander of LASD West Hollywood substation, Lt William Moulder. The march was unpermitted and unsanctioned by the City of West Hollywood, however, Moulder allowed the bikes and the marchers to slowly navigate their way through the traffic along Santa Monica Blvd., escorted by several LASD units.

The spirit of the crowd was very matter of fact, with lots of socializing and flag waving, responding to the honking of car horns and the cheers and applause of bystanders on the sidelines.

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Mary Jo Godges and Rene Sotile, the Emmy award-winning filmmaking team (and married couple) marched at the front of the crowd with Masters, holding a simple rainbow banner that read “Come out and Join Us” “WeHo Pride Walk” “#WeHoPrideWalk.” Sotile is also a member of West Hollywood’ Lesbian and Gay Advisory Board.

Among the walkers, which included WeHo City Councilmember Sepi Shyne, were several members of the Lesbian and Gay Advistory Board, LGBTQ and AIDS non-profit executive directors, business owners and activists, but the event was intentionally low-key and there were no speeches planned and no rally in advance.

At one point, Alex Mohajer, an actor, author, artist, and LGBTQ+ activist, gave a marching speech that reminded walkers of the history of Pride marches, walks and parades.

And it was even educational-  Mohajer and Masters joked at the intersection of La Cienega and Santa Monica that “we should have a die-in right here.”  “What is a die-in,” asked a young woman.  Mohajer explained that in many instances over the years “it’s what we had to do to express our rage and get their attention.  And we are not at a place yet that is safe.

A young lesbian couple expressed astonishment upon learning that Pride marches and walks once included die-ins. “I never heard anything about that. That’s amazing.” 

“Stonewall was a riot, and 52 years later it’s more important than ever that LGBTQ+ people remember our own history of activism and dissent. Our fight is not over, and I’m proud to march today in honor of those who came before us in the fight for equal justice,” said Mohajer, who is also a candidate for President of the Stonewall Democratic Club.

Photo Credit: Project Angel Food ED Richard Ayoub, (Right) with unidentified participant

Richard Ayoub, Project Angel Food Executive Director said “When I walk in the pride parade every year there’s always at least one person in the crowd who, is a Project Angel Food client, and mouths to me “Thank you. And although this walk was much smaller it had the sane impact— a client expressed his gratitude in a quiet and respectful way. This was the perfect way to cap pride month.”

“Only the Weho LGBTQ community can come together like this last minute and have the showing and support that it did,” Ayoub added.

The march continued along Santa Monica Boulevard to Robertson where the crowd gathered for a group photo.

As the first West Hollywood Pride Walk came to a conclusion in a parking lot across from the Abbey on Robertson, Masters stepped onto the “Born This Way” mural and kept his remarks brief. “I have a 4-word speech to give:  Thank you for everything.”

VOORHEES TOWNSHIP, NJ. – Graduation Day for 18-year-old Bryce Dershem was the highlight of his high school career that had been marked by overcoming serious obstacles in his life’s journey to that point, which included coming out as queer, a battle with suicidal thoughts and impulses, as well as the eating disorder anorexia nervosa.

As Dershem stood behind the podium looking out over his classmates, parents, and attendees at the June 17 ceremony of the Eastern Camden County Regional School District Eastern Regional High School, on its football field, he opened his address asking the audience to take a seat, then he congratulated his class, thanking the parents and community.

He then he dove into the preamble finally switching to the core of his address by saying, “After I came out as queer freshman year, I felt so alone. I didn’t know who to turn to […].” It was at this point in the recorded videos that within seconds of Dershem uttering those words, visible in the background you can see a school official later identified as principal, Dr. Robert M. Tull Jr., walk behind the riser the podium was located on and suddenly Dershem’s mic was silenced.

A school district employee is seen setting up a ‘new’ microphone after which Dershem continued telling NB10’s Long that he recited the rest of his speech from memory.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Dershem related that after the gradution ceremony a faculty member whose child had passed away by suicide told him that “my speech had just meant so much to her, and she really wished [her child] had gotten to hear it, too.”

“I thought, ‘This is the one person — this is the one person that I made feel less alone in that audience.’ That was everything for me,” Dershem said to the Post.

A spokesperson for the Eastern Camden County Regional School District told media outlets including NBC 10 that the district has a policy which restricts the contents of a student’s address.

“All student speakers are assisted in shaping the speech, and all student speeches — which are agreed upon and approved in advance — are kept in the binder on the podium for the principal to conduct the graduation ceremony,” Robert Cloutier, the Eastern Camden County District Superintendent said.

Speeches are vetted weeks in advance the District told NBC10. According to Dershem, his acknowledgment of his LGBTQ+ identity in his address was removed by Tull and other school administrators, with Tull warning him that “my graduation speech was not my therapy session.”

He told NBC 10 that the day prior to graduation he was ordered to remove all references to his LGBTQ+ identity, receiving treatment for mental health issues. “They didn’t want me to say that I was queer, because they said it would exclude people in the audience.”

“I did feel censored,” Dershem said. “I felt as though they were trying to regulate the message I was going to say and take away the parts of my identity that I’m really proud of.”

WATCH: WCAU NBC 10 Philadelphia

WATCH: Bryce Dershem, Valedictorian Address – Eastern Regional H.S 55th Commencement

WASHINGTON — Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley were among those who helped raise the Progress Pride flag at the State Department on Friday.

Sherman noted it is the first time “a flag recognizing the LGBTQI+ community will fly over State Department headquarters.” Sherman also pointed out the so-called “lavender scare” during which upwards of 1,000 State Department personnel lost their jobs because of their sexual orientation.

“Our mission is to serve the interests of the United States and to promote American values around the world,” said Sherman. “Our ability to stand up for human rights, for democracy and for justice overseas is utterly dependent on the actions we take here at home. As much as progress we have made, as we are celebrating today, we still have to work to do to guarantee equality for LGBTQI+ people in our workplaces, in our schools, at the Department of State, in our government and in our society.”

“We raise the Progress flag today as a signal to people everywhere that the United States is firmly committed to doing that work and for fighting for LGBTQI+ people at home and everywhere,” added Sherman. “We raise this flag in recognition as well as the countless civil service and foreign service officers, locally employed staff, contractors, even us appointees, past and present, who have worked to change the State Department, the country and the world for the better.”

Abercrombie-Winstanley, who Secretary of State Antony Blinken appointed as the State Department’s first chief diversity and inclusion officer in April, in her remarks noted her two children are gay. Abercrombie-Winstanley also reiterated her commitment to help ensure the State Department’s workforce becomes more diverse.

“We lead the department’s efforts to ensure that the workforce of the United States State Department comes to look like the country which we lovingly represent,” she said. “We must finally ensure equitable career outcomes for all of our employees.”

Jeff Anderson, president of GLIFAA, an association of LGBTQ employees of Foreign Service agencies, opened the ceremony.

“Today we are flying this Progress Pride flag for many people and in doing so we are remembering and honoring those who serve and have served our country with honor and dignity and we are inspiring a new generation of public servants to enter their doors, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation,” he said.

The ceremony took place less than five months after President Biden signed a memorandum that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ rights abroad.

Blinken in April announced the State Department will once again allow U.S. diplomatic institutions to fly the Pride flag. State Department spokesperson Ned Price a few weeks later told the Los Angeles Blade that decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations is one of the five priorities for the White House in its efforts to promote LGBTQ rights abroad.

The White House on Friday announced it named Jessica Stern, executive director of OutRight Action International, a global LGBTQ advocacy group, as the next special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ rights abroad. Stern is among those who attended the flag raising ceremony.