"With just days before the LA PRIDE celebration, I am truly honored to take part in a community-based organization dedicated to the betterment of humanitarian issues. Last weekend, at the Honoree Brunch for the 2008 Christopher Street West LA PRIDE Honorees, it was incredible to celebrate the accomplishments and life long dedication of deserving individuals who fight on behalf of "OUR AGENDA: Love. Equality. PRIDE." on a daily basis. In the face of difficulty, prejudice and oppression, we as a community continue to rise above unfavorable circumstances and uphold the promise of a greater future. The progress of the Pride movement can be seen in the recent California Supreme Court ruling in support of LGBT Marriage, where Chief Justice Ron George wrote for the court's majority, "Our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation." This is a monumental accomplishment towards acknowledging the deserved rights of the LGBT community.

These articulated sentiments from the highest legal authority in the State of California, may not have come forth because they are "popular" or "political", but because they are true and they are just. Every human being should have the right to personal happiness, to love whom they choose, or build a family free from the archaic prejudice of sexual orientation. All around us, more and more of our brothers and sisters are gaining freedom to experience Pride in their daily lives among their families, friends, co-workers and neighbors.

I invite everyone to recognize what we have accomplished together by attending the LA PRIDE Festival to be celebrated, entertained and honored. Come out to enjoy the colorful community presentation of the LA PRIDE Parade and Live Broadcast. Take part in observing those we have lost and those who cannot be here today during the Silent Celebration at 12:00 Noon on Sunday June 8th. While there is much work to be done, this event is for you, passed down for 38 years in the hands of community driven volunteers, so that we may all enjoy a greater sense of personal esteem, equal freedom and a global acceptance of all."

In Pride,

Rodney Scott

President

Christopher Street West

Also,

a moment of silence... This year, a silent celebration will take place along the LA PRIDE Parade Route, where everyone will take part in a moment of silence to honor those who are no longer with us. At 12:00 noon PDT on June 8, 2008, the parade will stop, and the crowd will be asked to fall silent to remember the individuals who bravely fought for the rights of the LGBT community, the hundreds of thousands we have lost to HIV, AIDS, Breast Cancer, and Prostate, Testicular or Colon Cancer, and ALL of our loved ones who have passed on. It is hoped that the silent celebration message reaches far beyond the LA PRIDE Parade and that people all over our city, state, nation and world take part in this historical experience to honor our loved ones who are now gone.