NYC LGBTQ Pride March is “defiantly different”
While California is preparing for their march for the year, New York is set with the NYC LGBTQ Pride March that’s dubbed “defiantly different.”
The organizers of the NYC LGBTQ Pride March have also announced their Grand Marshals, with Billie Jean King, Lambda Legal, Tyler Ford, and Kenita Placide to spearhead the march on June 24.
NYC LGBTQ Pride March: ‘Defiantly different’
The NYC Pride March will take place along 5th Avenue and will focus on the birthplace of the LGBTQ movement.
Focusing on the theme of “defiantly different,” the Pride March will have four Grand Marshals covering the diversity of the fight raised by LGBTQ movement for equal rights.
For example, Billie Jean King is the tennis icon and advocate for social change and equality who was named “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century by Life Magazine.
Meanwhile, Lambda Legal is the oldest and largest legal organization in the US fighting for full recognition of the civil rights of the LGBTQ community.
An Associate Editor at Condé Nast’s them, a next-generation LGBTQ community platform. Tyler Ford is an agender advocate, writer, and speaker.
Last but not least, Kenita Placide is OutRight Action International’s Caribbean-based Advisor and the Executive Director of the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE).
“This year’s selection of Grand Marshals, bring forth the very essence of what it means to be ‘Defiantly Different’ in social and political unrest,” said NYC Pride March Director Julian Sanjivan.
“King, Lambda Legal, Ford, and Placide are defiantly brave, defiantly unique, and defiantly a share of our wondrous LGBTQ+ community,” Sanjivan said.
Details of the upcoming NYC LGBTQ Pride March
Now on its 49th year, the NYC LGBTQ Pride March will start at noon on June 24 at 16th Street and 7th Avenue on Manhattan.
The march will proceed through the West Village and Midtown to pass by the historic Stonewall Inn, and finish at the 29th and 5th Avenue.
For those interested in joining the march, they can register until May 1, 2018 here.
The first March was held in 1970 and this event has become an annual demonstration of LGBTQ civil rights.
Aside from the March, there will be more than 15 different Pride events spanning the last two weeks of June, from from June 14-24.
For example, pop icon Kylie Minogue will be this year’s headliner at the Pride Island for the Dance on the Pier. This event is on June 24 at Pier 97 of the Hudson River Park.
“With the success of last year’s Pride Island, we are thrilled to bring back our music festival in a two-day format,” said Pride Island director Jose Ramos.
Also on stage will be DJ Grind, Ralphi Rosario, and Corey Craig. The Pride Island event will start on June 23 and will have Tove Lo, Big Freedia, Lizzo, Dawson, Simon Dunmore, and Sasha Velour performing.
“This year’s theme is about showing our power, squaring our shoulders in the face of adversity, and continuing to sculpt that magnetic bond within the LGBTQ+ community and our allies,” said Pride co-chair David Studinski.