About 35,000 revelers gathered Sunday morning to celebrate and show pride in Long Beach’s gay and lesbian community with a parade along Ocean Boulevard under rainbow-colored banners.

Music and boisterous commentary could be heard echoing from a microphone at parade central at Cherry Avenue and Ocean Boulevard from Ron Sylvester, chairman of the The Center; Wendy Morales, a lesbian entertainer at The Executive Suites and Velvet Lounge in Orange County; Mark “Markie” Magdaleno, a community advocate; and Jewels, who produces and hosts a number of events throughout Southern California.

A number of businesses also came out to support the cause and wave their rainbow flags, including sponsors Wells Fargo, the Port of Long Beach, Charter Communications and many others.

Roy Hanna, general manager of Mobul in Long Beach, and Deborah Benson, came to walk in the parade for the first time.

“We have a lot of gay customers, and a lot of them told us we should be in the parade,” Benson said.

The store was there to advertise, but to be clear, Benson added: “We’re here more to have to fun.”

Attendees came in all varieties of colorful costumes and undergarments. One man wore a pair of tight gold shorts with the phrase “Free Hugs” scrawled on his bare chest; another woman donned a green Mohawk with a medallion dangling at the end of a string of Mardi Gras beads that said, “Kiss me.”

Participants even dressed up their pets in rainbow-colored tutus and collars.

Parade floats included bedazzled double decker buses, semi trucks festooned with balloons, marching bands with baton twirlers in tie-dyed shirts, and of course, plenty of politicians riding in expensive convertibles.

Long Beach’s first gay mayor, Robert Garcia, and Jose Luis Solache, Lynwood’s first openly gay mayor, were among the parade’s 10 grand marshals.

“I’m proud and honored to be the Grand Marshal this year,” Garcia said earlier in a statement. “It’s great to be able to host so many visitors to Long Beach and to celebrate our diversity and our respect for equality. We really have one of the best Pride events in the country and it strengthens our community and our economy.”

Manuel Martino, one of many who came just to watch, said for him the event is a combination celebration and rally.

“I’m here to rally for same sex marriage,” he said.

Many indeed held signs remarking on the politics of the day, including a slew of states – 36 in all now – where same sex marriage is now legal. A spirit of still-more-to-be-done was also prevalent, including one transgender woman holding a sign that said, “Don’t Hate Me.”

Gay-friendly churches also got into the fun. Bob Kaylayjian, float director at First Congregational Church, Long Beach, said the congregation has participated now for 23 years.

“We love to support social justice,” he said. “We’re at the corner of Third and Cedar, which we like to call the corner of Arts and Justice.”

Businesses downtown along Pine Avenue, including Hamburger Mary’s, added seating and staff for the expected post-festival and parade crowd and decorated their entrances with colors of the rainbow.

This is the 32nd annual festival and parade, which is the city’s second largest event with an expected 80,000 attendees over two days. The theme of this year’s event was Color Our World with Pride.

There was a heavy police presence along the route of the parade, which stretched from Linden Avenue west to Alamitos Avenue along Ocean Boulevard. The festival on Shoreline Drive continued into the afternoon, with a performance by Patti LaBelle headlining the entertainment for the day.