Santa Cruz celebrates 50 years of Pride Tuesday night with Pride Illuminight and Rainbow Procession event

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) - Santa Cruz Pride is kicking off its 50th year celebrating the LGBTQ+ community on the Central Coast. This year marking not only an significant anniversary, but also important moment as people the need to stand up for LGBTQ+ rights.

For the first time ever, the Santa Cruz County Government Center was brightly lit in rainbow colors Tuesday night to mark the start of Santa Cruz Pride.

The theme of this year's event is "Riding the wave of progress, no going back."

“There's a tremendous LGBTQ+ community that developed starting in Santa Cruz County in 1975 and has just continued on since then," Santa Cruz Pride Chair Rob Darrow said.

In 1975, the inaugural Santa Cruz Pride began as a small gathering in San Lorenzo Park.
50 years later, the 2025 event began with the Pride Illuminight and Rainbow Procession starting at the County’s Government Center.

Among the speakers at the lighting, Queer Youth Leadership Award Recipient and Pajaro Valley High School Senior, Izabella León.

“Being queer and trans shouldn't be as hard as it, as hard as it is, the blame discrimination we face just for being ourselves is utter nonsense. Unfortunately, there isn't an end in sight, but where there is hatefulness, there will always be people that will stand and fight for justice," León said.

Santa Cruz County District 5 Supervisor Monica Martinez is the first out lesbian to hold a supervisor seat in the county. She emphasized the importance of standing up, amid the current political climate in Washington D.C.

“These efforts are designed to create fear, to silence our stories, and to strip people of the right to exist safely in public," Supervisor Martinez said.

Several of the speakers emphasizing the importance of visibility and action. Those attending Santa cruz pride say it’s not only a celebration, but a call to action for the future.

“I won't be around 50 years from now, but people today who will be here for the 50th anniversary will, and we expect them to carry the torch forward, so to speak, in a variety of ways, to really get to the point where there's complete equality and justice for LGBTQ+ people," Rob Darrow said.

The main pride parade and festival will be taking place Sunday, June 1. You can find more information on all of this year's festivities on the event's website.