HOLTVILLE — Oct. 6 through 10 was the fifth annual observance of PRIDE Week in Imperial Valley, with a number of events celebrating the LGBTQ+ community through talks, shows and culminating in a parade Saturday, Oct. 10, from the Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center on Ross Avenue through various El Centro neighborhoods.
On Friday night, Oct. 9, the IV LGBT Resource Center and its sponsors staged a “drag and talent” show at the Barbara Worth Country Club convention center in Holtville featuring members of “Queens of the Imperial Valley” and “Corte Imperial de la Corona de Borbon y Vizcaya de Mexico A.C.” and winners of the “Show Us Your Pride” talent contest.
The show was also billed in memory of Marilyn Cazares, a transgender woman who was murdered in July.
Performers included Jamie Arangure, Johanna Monreals, Frannya Tuchman, and Mimi Hope, among others.
Several of the participants in the Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center’s PRIDE Week “drag and talent” show gather on stage at the end of the performance to show their gratitude Friday, Oct. 9 at the Barbara Worth Country Club convention center in Holtville. The free event was livestreamed and was one of several events marking the fifth annual Imperial Valley PRIDE Week. | CORISSA IBARRA PHOTO 
Performer Mimi Hope kicked off the Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center’s PRIDE Week “drag and talent” show Friday, Oct. 9 at the Barbara Worth Country Club convention center in Holtville. The free event was livestreamed and was one of several events marking the fifth annual Imperial Valley PRIDE Week. | CORISSA IBARRA PHOTO 
Johanna Monreal of San Diego vamps for the live and online audience during the Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center’s PRIDE Week “drag and talent” show Friday, Oct. 9 at the Barbara Worth Country Club convention center in Holtville. The free event helped celebrate the fifth annual Imperial Valley PRIDE Week. | CORISSA IBARRA PHOTO 
Rosa Diaz, director of the Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center, says a few words of welcome to the center’s “drag and talent” show Friday, Oct. 9 at the Barbara Worth Country Club convention center in Holtville. The free event helped celebrate the fifth annual Imperial Valley PRIDE Week. | CORISSA IBARRA PHOTO 
Willis Resendez Roy, director of Corte Imperial de la Corona de Borbon y Vizcaya de Mexico A.C., a Mexico-based LGBT charity, speaks during the Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center’s PRIDE Week “drag and talent” show Friday, Oct. 9 at the Barbara Worth Country Club convention center in Holtville. The free event was livestreamed and was one of several events marking the fifth annual Imperial Valley PRIDE Week. | CORISSA IBARRA PHOTO
This story is featured in the Oct 15, 2020 e-Edition.
