Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural District

10/22/2026

Presented by

Fall is just around the corner, and we are excited to bring the Lakeshore community together for another fun-filled Candy Crawl & Harvest Festival! We would love for your business to participate and help make this year’s event a huge success.

Candy Crawl & Harvest Festival
Saturday, October 24th | 10:00 AM–12:00 PM

How the Candy Crawl Works

- 10:00 AM: The event kicks off at Lakeshore Baptist Church with a Harvest Festival on the church green.
- 11:00 AM: The Halloween parade leaves the church and heads toward the corner of Mandana and Lakeshore, officially beginning the Candy Crawl on the west side of Lakeshore Avenue.
- The Route: The trail continues down Lakeshore toward the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, crosses the street, and proceeds back up the east side of the Avenue, finishing at Lakeshore Baptist Church.
Other activities include:
- Crafts and games
- A selfie stand with a Mira, Zoey, and Rumi from KPop Demon Hunters photo backdrop
- A freshly made corndog lunch served by the Lakeshore Baptist community
- Cupcake decorating
We hope to see you there.

10/22/2026

Dear Community Care Partners,
We’re excited to invite you to a free presentation of the CA Immigrant Health Series, hosted by the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center in partnership with the California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network.
📅 October 24th
🕒 3:00 PM
📍 Oakland LGBTQ Community Center – 3207 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland, CA 94610
This presentation will provide an opportunity for community members, HIV health care workers, service providers, and community-based organizations to learn more about immigrant health in Oakland and throughout California.
Participants will explore ways to support:
Immigrant justice
Health equity
LGBTQ+ inclusion
Access to culturally responsive health and support services
We especially encourage HIV health care workers, case managers, outreach workers, health navigators, and community service providers to attend and share this opportunity with colleagues and community members.
Registration is free:
Register here: bit.ly/OAKLANDlgbtq26
We hope you’ll join us for this important conversation and help strengthen our collective support for immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities. 🌈

10/15/2026

CONDE NAST TRAVELOR READERS CHOICE RANKS OAKLAND AS A TOP 10 BIG CITY IN THE UNITED STATES.

For two years in a row Conde Nast Travelor has ranked Oakland as the #1 Best Food City in the United States. This year, two Bay Area cities made the Readers Choice list of Best U.S. cities. San Francisco ranked #2 (behind Chicago) and Oakland ranked #6 giving the Bay Area region a reason to celebrate on both sides of the Bay!.

Oakland punches above its weight in the food and culture department because it is home to California's most racially diverse population and one of the seven most diverse cities in the nation. The natural beauty of Oakland with its rolling hills, giant redwood trees, mild mediterranean climate, vibrant music and arts scene, and close proximity to San Francisco, Berkeley, the Bay and Pacific Ocean, only add to its appeal.

Oakland is the birthplace of the Black Panther Party and despite aggresive gentrification, Oakland is still home to the 2nd largest Black population in California next to Los Angeles. Oakland also ranks as having one of the highest percentages of LGBTQ+ residents among major U.S. metropolitan statistical areas according to the Williams Institute.

Thank you Conde Nast readers for recognizing what we already knew, Oakland is hella dope!🌈
Visit Oakland

10/15/2026

10/15/2026

Lake Merritt Wildlife Refuge 150th Anniversary -- A Tribute to S...

10/15/2026

Corrina Gould, spokesperson for the Confederated Village of Lisjan ...

10/11/2026

In September, cultural district board member George Jeffery Smith III suggested that we add more lights to Moore Hope Plaza.
Jeff Myers shared the idea at the cultural district committee meeting and cultural district member Christie James immediately stepped up to provide a generous donation to illuminate Moore Hope Plaza with a pink triangle of lights. Christie James will be spinning at Pink In The Plaza Saturday, November 14th from 4pm-7pm.
www.lakeshorelgbtqculturaldistrict.org

10/05/2026

MUNICIPLE GOVERNMENT DESIGNATED LGBTQ FLAG INSTALLATIONS ONLY FLY IN A FEW U.S. CITIES.

While some states including Texas and Florida, have banned pride flags, only a few cities in the U.S. have permanent municipal government flag poles that are designated to fly giant LGBTQ+ flags year- round.

Surprisingly most of the queerest cities including Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Seattle and Atlanta, don't have municiple flag poles that fly giant LGBTQ+ flags as symbols of inclusion throughout the year.

It should be noted that 4 of the 6 cities listed here are in California and 2 are in New York. Oakland is the only city on this list that flies the progressive rainbow flag year-round.

Here are the 6 U.S. cities permanently designated, flag poles that fly giant sized LGBTQ+ rainbow flags year-round in the order of their installation:

1. SAN FRANCISCO -
The original rainbow pride flags were first raised in San Francisco on June 25, 1978 at United Nations Plaza and then removed after the San Francisco Freedom Day Parade that year.
The permanent installation of the iconic 100 foot flag pole and giant rainbow flag at Harvey Milk Plaza in the city's Castro district was first installed and raised in November 1997, at the corner of Market and Castro.

2. FIRE ISLAND NY - Fire Island has multiple permanent giant rainbow flag installations. The first was unfurled in June 1994 billowing over the water.
More recently in May 2026, the community dedicated a new 60-foot tall Pride flag mast atop the historic Cherry Grove Community House and Theater.

3. San Diego raised their first giant permanent rainbow flag atop the 65 foot flag pole in Hillcrest in July 2012, located on the median at the intersection of University Avenue and Normal Street.

4. NYC- The 20ft flag pole and rainbow flag was first raised within the Stonewall monument in Christopher Park in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, outside the Stonewall Inn in 2017.
Unlike the other cities on this list, this rainbow flag shares the flag pole with the U.S. flag.

The Trump administration instructed the National Park Service to remove the flag from the federal flag pole in February of 2026. The federal government reversed its position in April 2026, to resolve a lawsuit that challenged the removal as discriminatory. A reinstatement agreement was made and the National Park Service (NPS) committed to restoring the Pride flag to the official federal flagpole alongside the U.S. flag and the NPS flag, ensuring it will remain permanently except for routine maintenance.

5.OAKLAND - Oakland raised its permanent giant rainbow flag atop a 50 foot flagpole in November of 2024, at the corner of Lakeshore Ave. and Lake Park Ave. in the Moore Hope Plaza
in the city's Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural district. Oakland is the only city on this list that raised the "rainbow progressive flag".

6. PALM SPRINGS - Palm Springs raised its permanent installation of their giant rainbow flag atop a 65 foot flag pole at the intersection of Arenas Road and Indian Canyon Drive in the city's Arenas District in November 2025.

www.lakeshorelgbtq.org

10/04/2026

Sip, Paint & get spooky with us! 🎃

Join us Saturday, October 24 from 6–9 PM at The Peach for a night of art, music, costumes, and community.

Hosted by Meeka Starr, featuring artist Derrick Bell, with music by DJ Gera Mendez. Plus, prizes for the top 3 costumes!

10/03/2026

LE***AN LOUNGE WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 14

Save the date and pull up to Obelisco Restaurant for a Wednesday happy hour to relax, connect and vibe with women who love women in the district.

Featuring Good music. Good Food. Good Drinks. Good People. Good Vibes.

Sounds and vibes curated by
Kurren$i
& BlackWoman


📍
3407 Lakeshore Ave

🕑 5pm-9pm.

Come hang out and enjoy Good music, Good drinks, Good food, and Good people.