LOS ANGELES — Ahead of Sunday's Los Angeles Pride Parade, the City Council celebrated Friday by unveiling a new Pride-themed exhibit at City Hall, hosting a brief drag performance in the Council Chambers and then recognizing three nonprofits that uplift the LGBTQ+ community.

Drag performer ChiChi Charlas began Friday's Council Chambers events by giving a minute-and-a-half lip-sync performance of Selena's "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" and Lipps Inc's "Funkytown."

Then City Councilwoman Traci Park — who led the council's LGBTQ+ recognition the last two years — passed the torch to council newcomer Ysabel Jurado, who is openly queer, and Jurado welcomed the nonprofits Latino Equity Alliance, REACH LA and the Los Angeles LGBT Legal Service Center.

"This year's theme, Building Community Through Collective Power, couldn't be more timely," Jurado said. "Across the country, we're witnessing coordinated attacks against the LGBT+ community, particularly trans youth and queer communities of color.

"These attacks are designed to silence us and divide us. Hate has become louder. Homophobia, transphobia and bigotry are being amplified from the highest levels of power, but Pride has always been a radical act of resistance, and today is no exception."

The councilwoman presented representatives from each of the three nonprofits with certificates.

REACH LA was founded in 1992 by a coalition of artists and activists in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis, and it continues to serve as a beacon of support. The organization provides several services to the LGBTQ+ community such as sexual wellness services, HIV/STI treatment navigation, mental health counseling, harm reduction and substance use support, housing navigation, among others.

Greg Wilson, chief operating officer for REACH LA, said the recognition meant a lot to the organization, adding that it served as a "reminder of how impactful the work is that we do, how necessary the services and resources are, and how imperative is it that we do not allow our voices or visibility to be silenced, dissolved or dismissed."

The Latino Equality Alliance was founded in January 2009 in direct response to the passing of Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that revoked marriage rights for same-sex couples.

Alliance members opened their first community center in Boyle Heights, and later in the city of Bell. These centers provide programs and services to the Latino/a/x LGBTQ+ community.

"The message I want to give today, especially for our youth, we do work with and to our families. I know we're experiencing a lot of hardship today, not as much hope as we want, but LEAH was founded because of some great challenges we faced in the LGBT community," Eddie Martinez, executive director of LEA said.

He added that the challenges before us Friday will require some amount of "good trouble."

"Do it with a lot of love and kindness, and we will have victory at the end of this moment," Martinez said.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center Legal Services Program provides free and low-cost legal assistance to thousands of LGBTQ+ individuals across LA County. The program also offers support in immigration, housing, employment, name and gender marker changes, anti-discrimination protections and services for survivors of violence and abuse.

Monica Valencia, the center's attorney manager for community legal clinics, said the recognition celebrates who they are and what can be built together.

"So throughout holistic legal services work, we do the quiet work behind closed doors that doesn't always make the headlines, but I can assure that in every name change, in every asylum win, in every legal clinic or know- your-rights presentation, and every protection order that we get granted, it's in those quiet victories that we build a stronger, safer and more proud Los Angeles," Valencia said.

Each council member also recognized one or two leaders in their respective districts who support the LGBTQ+ community and related causes. 

Earlier in the morning, Park led a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil this year's Bridge Gallery art exhibit, "Pride in Print: LGBTQ+ Lives Through Literature." Joining Park was her honoree, The Rainbow Book Bus, as well as Jurado, Department of Cultural Affairs General Manager Daniel Tarica and City Librarian John Szabo.

At the center of the celebration was The Rainbow Book Bus, a rolling, rainbow-covered bookmobile that has traveled across the county, giving away more than 8,000 banned LGBTQ+ books to youth, parents, educators and community centers in states where access to queer stories are under attack.

Designed by queer artists India Torrez and Paco May, and transformed into a mobile technicolor library by trans architect Lucas Amador, the bus is both a cultural statement and a lifeline, according to Park's office.

"When the Rainbow Book Bus pulls into a community, it's not just handing out books — it's delivering hope, dignity, and connection," Park said in a statement. "In a time when books are being banned and identities erased, this mobile library affirms the right of every young person to be seen and heard."

The Los Angeles Pride Parade and Pride Village are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Sunday. The parade route will run along Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue, traveling north on Highland, then east on Hollywood Boulevard and south on Cahuenga Boulevard back to Sunset.