The 47th Annual San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration and Parade will be held on June 24 and 25, 2017. The Parade/March is Sunday, June 25, in the heart of downtown San Francisco beginning at 10:30 am. A two-day Celebration and Rally is scheduled from Noon to 6:00 pm on Saturday, June 24, and from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday, June 25, at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza and surrounding neighborhood.
San Francisco Pride recently announced initial programing for the 2017 Main Stage. Maysam Sodagari, a legal immigrant from Iran, and a PhD in chemical engineering, who has been living in the United States for the past nine years, is scheduled to speak at the Celebration/Rally. U.S. Customs officials detained Sodagari during the executive order that temporarily banned people from seven predominantly Muslim countries, and all refugees from entering the United States. More speakers addressing critical issues facing LGBTQ communities are being planned for both Saturday and Sunday.
In solidarity with the resistance movement that has been building momentum since the Women’s March in January, the San Francisco Pride Board of Directors—along with long-time activist Cleve Jones and one of this year’s Community Grand Marshals, Alex U. Inn—will lead this year’s Parade/March with a resistance contingent. This contingent will stand in defiance to the policies and actions of the current Administration that threaten the most vulnerable members of our community and undermine the hard-fought victories we have secured in our fight for equal rights.
San Francisco Bay Times congratulates the 2017 Community Grand Marshals and Awardees, in recognition of their contributions to the LGBTQ movement. As SF Pride Executive Director George Ridgely, Jr., said: “Our Community Grand Marshals and Honorees are true reflections of LGBTQ communities in the Bay Area and their contributions are powerful examples of leadership and creativity.”
COMMUNITY GRAND MARSHALS
Chris Carnes
Community Grand Marshal, Selected by Public Vote
Chris Carnes is a Bay Area LGBTQ activist, fundraiser, event producer, and philanthropist.
San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus
Community Grand Marshal, Organization, Selected by Public Vote
For nearly 40 years, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus has served as an international standard bearer for a powerful mix of extraordinary musical excellence and mission-driven activism.
Alex U. Inn
Community Grand Marshal, Selected by the San Francisco Pride Membership
Alex U. Inn (Carmen Alex Morrison), a Bay-Area resident for more than 35 years, is an advocate for justice and equality, fighting for their rights and the rights of others, and speaking truth to power.
Amy Sueyoshi
Community Grand Marshal, Selected by the SF Pride Board of Directors
Amy Sueyoshi is an educator, activist, and leading scholar in queer Asian American history. Her work addresses Orientalism, cross-dressing, and interracial desire.
Danielle Castro
Community Grand Marshal, Selected by the SF Pride Board of Directors
Danielle Castro, Project Director of Community Based Research for the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health at the University of California, San Francisco, is a transgender community advocate who creates positive change through her work.
Dr. Marcy Adelman
Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal, Selected by the SF Pride Board of Directors
Dr. Marcy Adelman is a widely-respected psychotherapist and pioneer in the field of lesbian and gay aging.
HERITAGE OF PRIDE AWARDS
Brett Andrews
Heritage of Pride—10 Years of Service Award—For those organizations, individuals, or other entities that have contributed at least ten years of consecutive service to the LGBTQ community
Brett Andrews is the CEO of Positive Resource Center (PRC), a 30-year-old San Francisco-based nonprofit organization providing culturally appropriate legal benefits counseling and employment services to people disabled by mental health conditions or HIV/AIDS.
El/La Para TransLatinas
Heritage of Pride—Pride Freedom Award—For outstanding contributions to advancing civil rights and freedom for LGBTQ people
Founded in 2006, the mission and vision of El/La Para TransLatinas is “to work to build a world where translatinas (transgender Latinas) feel they deserve to protect, love, and develop themselves.”
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Heritage of Pride—Pride Community Award—For outstanding service to LGBTQ communities
Founded in 1977, the National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, legislation, policy, and public education.
COMMEMORATION AWARDS
Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits
Gilbert Baker Pride Founder’s Award—For those who have made a significant and historical impact on the LGBTQ community and the movement for LGBTQ rights
Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits exists to restore and recover the role of Two-Spirit people within the American Indian/First Nations community by creating a forum for the spiritual, cultural, and artistic expression of Two-Spirit people.
Subhi Nahas
José Julio Sarria History Maker Award—Awarded to Bay Area people who make extraordinary changes in the way society views the LGBTQ community
Subhi Nahas is a human rights activist and Syrian refugee. He is founder and Board Chair of the spectraproject.org; co-founder the first LGBTQ Syrian magazine, Mawaleh; and co-founder of a support group for LGBT refugees in Turkey.
Maria Zamudio
Teddy Witherington Award—Recognizing those individuals who have contributed a longstanding, large body of work to the LGBTQ community
Maria Zamudio is a queer Mexican immigrant femme housing rights organizer with Causa Justa :: Just Cause, organizing mostly Latinx working class tenants in San Francisco.
Blackberri
The Audrey Joseph LGBTQ Entertainment Award—For those who have made a significant and historical impact, or left an indelible impression on the LGBTQ community and the movement for LGBTQ rights, through their artistic expression, or through their contribution within the entertainment industry
Blackberri is a self-described artivist; a songstylist, songmaker, poet, writer, photographer, health educator, and community advocate.
More comprehensive biographies, photos and information about this year’s Community Grand Marshals and Honorees can be found at sfpride.org/grand-marshals
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