{"id":435899,"date":"2026-08-18T03:39:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T03:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/435899\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T03:39:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T03:39:00","slug":"photos-a-sexy-joyful-oakland-pride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/435899\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: A sexy, joyful Oakland pride"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oakland Pride came early for the gals, gays and theys this year, with thousands of members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies flocking to Downtown Oakland for the Oakland Pride Parade and Festival on Sunday. The daylong event has taken place on Labor Day weekend in the past. This year, the event celebrated its Sweet Sixteen with an extensive slate of performers across four stages and a new Sexy Town zone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a wave of anti-trans legislation across the country, this year\u2019s theme, \u201cCelebrating Pride, Power, and People,\u201d felt like a necessary community response. From dance parties at the Mighty Real stage to DJ sets from David Harness and Oakland\u2019s Charles Hawthorne, to performances by R&B singer and songwriter Amerie and a massive crowd for Mexican popstar Fey on the Latin stage, the celebration lasted long after the morning parade wrapped up at midday. Gerardo Gama was one of the superfans who packed in to catch Fey; holding up a drawing he made of the pop diva, Gama told The Oaklandside that he\u2019d listened to her music since he was a young boy.<\/p>\n

Some of the liveliest action unfolded at Sexy Town, the festival\u2019s new 18+ addition, which featured a dyke arm wrestling contest, sapphic-centered wrestling matches from Lez Wrestle, and a rather epic twerk- off hosted by Sally Lim\u00f3n.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good time to celebrate love and to be around people that are like me, to be honest,\u201d Jalisa Smith, who attended the festival with her partner Heaven Fountaine and a dozen friends, told The Oaklandside.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is for locals,\u201d Smith said. \u201cLike, you was born and raised here, come to Pride, celebrate your gay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Attendees cheer on a twerk competition at the Oakland Pride Festival, Aug. 16, 2026. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Mexican popstar Fey performs on the Latin stage at the Oakland Pride Festival, Aug. 16, 2026. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Gerardo Gama holds a drawing of Mexican popstar Fey, as the singer performs on the Latin stage. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Ricky Castellanos watches Fey perform. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Thousands of people line the streets of Downtown Oakland during the Oakland Pride Festival, Aug. 16, 2026. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"La Vicky hosts the Latin stage at the Oakland Pride Festival, Aug. 16, 2026. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"R&B singer and songwriter Amerie, known for her 2005 single \u201c1 Thing,\u201d headlines the main stage at the Oakland Pride Festival. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Gio Miller, right, wins a match during the dyke arm wresting contest at Sexy Town during the Oakland Pride Festival, Aug. 16, 2026. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Baby Milf and Hahpi Ow-ur face off in a wrestling match during the Lez Wrestle Sexy Town takeover at Oakland Pride Festival, Aug. 16, 2026. Sexy Town was the festival\u2019s 18+ activation featuring dancers, wrestling and more. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Dancers perform on a platform in front of the Latin stage at the Oakland Pride Festival, Aug. 16, 2026. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Deejay Byrd dances as Steven Kelly DJs on at the Mighty Real stage during the Oakland Pride Festival. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Sally Lim\u00f3n hosts a twerk competition at Sexy Town. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Zahra Drevitch, owner of Queer Fem Parties, performs at Sexy Town. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Fernando Vasquez, center, dances at the Latin stage during the Oakland Pride Festival. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Jalisa Smith, center, with her partner and friends at the Oakland Pride Festival, Aug. 16, 2026. \u201cI just I just think it\u2019s a good time to celebrate love and to be around people that are like me,\u201d Smith said. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

“*” indicates required fields<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oakland Pride came early for the gals, gays and theys this year, with thousands of members of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2434,143,145,144,89976],"class_list":["post-435899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-lgbtq","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-oakland-pride"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}