NYC Pride, the nonprofit group that produces New York City’s Pride March, has announced its grand marshals for the annual celebration this June.
They include the actress Dominique Jackson, best known for her role on the show "Pose," drag queen Peppermint, comedian Bowen Yang and Bernie Wagenblast, known as “the voice of the MTA."
Activists from the group Gays Against Guns will additionally serve as a fifth grand marshal.
“Our Grand Marshals have blazed trails and opened doors in entertainment, media and advocacy,” NYC Pride’s new Executive Director Im Lynde said in a release. “Their visibility alone is worth celebrating, but they are fighting for opportunity, support and safety for our entire LGBTQIA+ community.”
The NYC Pride March is the biggest such march in the world, with more than 2.5 million spectators and 75,000 marchers expected. It will take place on the last Sunday in June, as it does every year, in commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, which launched the modern queer rights movement in the United States. This year's parade is on June 28.
The first Pride March was held by the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee in 1970, a year after Stonewall. It is now the world’s longest-running LGBTQIA+ demonstration.
The event’s official theme this year is “For All of Us,” in reference to a quote widely attributed to activist and Stonewall veteran Marsha P. Johnson: "There is no pride for some of us without liberation for all of us."
NYC Pride said that at a time of increasing attacks against trans and nonbinary people, the theme recalls queer trailblazers and centers the struggle for the rights of "the most marginalized among us."
