San Francisco Pride Grand Marshals represent a wide range of diverse experiences and have made significant contributions to the LGBTQ+ community. With the help of public input, SF Pride selects these groups and individuals in order to honor the work they have put into furthering the causes of LGBTQ+ people.
Here are the 2024 SF Pride Grand Marshals:
Community Grand Marshal Public Choice
Tory Teasley
Tory Teasley is a gifted musician, vocalist, and community activist from Oakland with a strong foundation in music and broadcast communications from Diablo Valley College. Her career launched with a performance of Mozart’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall in 2009, under John Rutter’s direction. Teasley became a principal vocalist for Awon Ohun Omnira, a choir dedicated to preserving ancestral and ritual songs.
Her performances have taken her to venues across the Bay Area, including The Legionnaire Saloon, Penrose, Exploratorium, and Filoli Historic Gardens. She has appeared on American Idol and opened for Grammy-winning artist Fantastic Negrito at the Chapel in 2019.
As a community organizer, Teasley has curated programs like Vocal Sessions at The Marsh Theater and produced the weekly event Happy Are They at the Queer Healing Arts Center. She creates personal soundtracks for events and is an ordained minister with the Universal Church of Light, officiating multiple queer weddings.
She is passionate about music education and has taught through organizations like Music for Minors and Rhythm and Moves. She advocates for music education in underfunded schools, valuing its role in mental development and creativity.
During the pandemic, Teasley transitioned to public service, working with underserved youth at Fred Finch and adults at Bay Area Community Services. She also volunteers with Food Not Bombs, providing meals to the homeless.
Teasley’s unique vocal sound and music releases, including her album Free, Tory: Be Yourself, Love Yourself, Free Yourself, have earned her recognition such as Trans Artist of The Year (2023) and serving as the Grand Marshal for Krewe De Kinque (2023).
Teasley will be performing at Divas & Drinks @ The Academy SF on May 31 and on June 27 at The Exploratorium for the After Dark Series in collaboration with the museum as a resident artist. Follow her on all social platforms and learn more at www.toryteasley.com
Community Grand Marshal Members Choice
Nicole Adler
Nicole Adler is a speaker, host, and human rights advocate for the developmental disabilities and LGBTQ communities.
Since 2014, Adler has been a governor-appointed member of the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, a board member for The Next Step Program, and was recently on the advisory committee for California’s Disability Thrive Initiative, which provides statewide training, support, and resources to Californians of all abilities. Adler partnered with the California Department of Public Health on the announcement of COVID-19 vaccines and co-hosted The Arc of California’s statewide Public Policy Conference.
She is a passionate advocate for inclusion, acceptance, equal rights, mental health, voting accessibility, disability representation in the media, housing rights, and ending the R-word. You can listen to Adler express her views on these topics and more in a series of videos and public speaking engagements on her YouTube channel or website https://nicoleforlove.com/
Community Grand Marshal Organization
CASA-Children’s After School Arts
There is a special kind of magic that can only be found at CASA (Children’s After School Arts.) It is seen through the diverse team of artists/educators who create safe and inspiring spaces where kids can experiment, play, and perform. It is seen through the encouraging and nurturing community where participants can uncover the light that shines within them. It is seen through the support for LGBTQ+ kids, families, and educators. CASA magic invites students and teachers alike to be their authentic selves in all of their intersectional glory.
CASA is an independent, nonprofit after school program with an emphasis on art, social justice, and social emotional wellness. CASA provides a platform for elementary & middle school students to express themselves, and learn about the world, through art and creativity. Perched up high in Twin Peaks at Rooftop School, the literal center of San Francisco, CASA is helping to raise the next generation to be open, curious, resilient, and fabulous!
CASA’s Executive Director, Leslie Einhorn, founded the program in 1996 after being fired from a Bay Area private school for being gay. Her aim was to queer the conventional school setting and build an environment where non-traditional teachers can feel safe and seen, and all kids are celebrated and loved.
Community Grand Marshal Board Choice
Xander Briere
Get ready to meet Xander Briere—a true force to be reckoned with! Born and raised in the Tenderloin, Briere is a disabled queer nonbinary activist with a passion for healthcare as a social justice movement, harm reduction, queer and trans liberation, decriminalization of sex workers, and youth homelessness advocacy.
Their work at the San Francisco Community Health Center is making a real impact in the community, and they are not stopping there. Briere is also a member of the Transgender District’s Community Advisory Council (2023) and a National Youth Mentor with Point Source Youth (2022–present).
But that’s not all—in their free time, Briere takes on the persona of Dirty Dionysus, a drag king who’s all about go-go, burlesque, and plus-sized modeling.
But they’re not just having fun; they are also distributing harm reduction supplies while they are at it. Nightlife outreach is Briere’s way of meeting community members where they are, breaking down barriers to accessing services, and reducing the stigma around harm reduction. They perform with Divine Masc, Queer Fem Parties, and Om Nom Nom Burlesque. They are also Mx. November (2023) for the Bay Area Trans Masc Calendar. Drawing on personal experiences of generational homelessness and housing instability, substance use, and sex work, Briere is driven to give back to the Tenderloin community in any way they can.
Get ready to be inspired!
Community Grand Marshal Board Choice
Rebecca Rolfe
Rebecca Rolfe is a community activist who has worked on issues of social justice and equity for over forty years. She is passionately committed to creating an environment where inequities based on gender, race, economic status, and sexual orientation are addressed effectively. She credits her commitment to community activism to her mother, who taught her the importance of commitment to community, a strong sense of justice, and the individual’s power to make a difference.
Prior to her appointment as Executive Director, Rolfe served as the Center’s Deputy Director for four years. Prior to her arrival at the center, she worked at San Francisco Women Against Rape (SFWAR) for over sixteen years, starting as a hotline counselor and ending with an eight-year term as Executive Director.
Rolfe has been active locally and statewide working to create public policy, programs, and coalitions that support LGBTQ rights and community and/or address issues of violence against women and/or support LGBTQ rights.
Community Grand Marshal Board Choice
Xavier Davenport
Xavier Davenport is a San Francisco native who has dedicated his career and life to the advancement of Black and Brown LGBTQ community members. His efforts began with years of HIV activism/advocacy work with organizations like Peter Claver, Bay Area Young Positives, Asian Health Services, and others.
Davenport continues his work by centering his focus on Black and Brown trans identities through trans activism/advocacy. He wanted to fill a need by creating Pyramid Kings, which contains online and in-person groups and resources for trans masc individuals to get the support and resources needed to embark on their individual journeys through mentorship
(https://www.pyramidkings.org/).
Davenport has utilized other avenues to ensure Black trans masculinity is represented by appearing in Out Magazine, Elliot Page (book campaign), and he is one of the founders of the Oakland Trans March, the Bay Area Trans Masc Calendar, and other projects that shed light on LGBTQ+ community issues while delivering powerful messages to trans youth.
San Francisco Pride Beacon of Love
Published on May 23, 2024
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