The People's Choice
Record Vote For Diversity by Community in Grand Marshal Poll
A record number of people have voted for diversity in the San Francisco Pride Parade Grand Marshal election. The number of people voting rose from 1,455 in 2000 to 2,486 this year. Pride President, Cecilia Chung said:
"I am thrilled to see the increase in community participation in the process and I'm glad to see the diversity represented. We have set a new bench mark and look forward to setting even higher standards in the years ahead."
The Pride Committee met on 04.19.01 to receive the results and ratify the selection made by the community. In the individual category, the top five; Assemblymember Carole Migden, Duane Cramer, Supervisor Mark Leno, Dr. Carol Queen and "Mama" Sandy Reinhardt were ratified as grand marshals. All five polled more than 300 votes. Explaining the rationale behind selecting five marshals, Pride Executive Director, Teddy Witherington, said :
"When the Board studied the results it was clear that the community had voted for diversity and the top five, between them, received over 50% of the total votes. Respecting that diversity and wishing to ensure that the majority of the votes cast were counted, the Board were happy to confirm the choice of the people"
The opportunities to vote were greatly expanded this year with over fifteen polling sites. In addition, there was voting by mail via ballots printed in the LGBT media. The remaining nominees in the individual category were all confirmed as honorary marshals of the Parade.
In the celebrity category the top five; Sharon Stone, Elizabeth Taylor, Hilary Rodham Clinton, Bill Clinton and Nell Carter, all polled over 300 votes each and were ratified as grand marshals, subject to their confirmation that they will attend the event. Commenting diplomatically, Chung said:
"We hope that they all attend, but realistically, we realize that some of those who head the poll in this category may have conflicting engagements."
Unlike the individual category, where a wider choice is sometimes inevitable to reflect the diversity the people wish to see, the tradition in the organization category is to ratify a single organization. This is the case this year and the Board ratified the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Inc., as Organization Grand Marshal. The Sisters were second in the poll in 1999 and third last year. Sister Kitty Catalyst (Mistress of Archives) said:
"We think it's a queerific honor to be named the organizational grand marshals of the Parade. As an extra bonus, anyone who touches the hem of our habits on the Parade route will have all their stigmatic guilt turned into mere fluff before the eyes of the goddess."
The full results of the poll appear below.
The San Francisco Pride Parade and Celebration takes place this year on June 23/24. Last year the event attracted an audience of over 750,000 people. The event theme is Queerific.
ENDS
For further information please contact Teddy Witherington at (415) 864 0831
2001 Grand Marshal Election Results
| Individual Category |
|
| Ranking |
Nominees |
Total |
| 01 |
Carole Migden |
697 |
| 02 |
Duane Cramer |
383 |
| 02 |
Mark Leno |
383 |
| 04 |
Dr. Carol Queen |
375 |
| 05 |
Mama Sandy Reinhardt |
322 |
| 06 |
Cleve Jones |
224 |
| 07 |
Patrick Califia-Rice |
217 |
| 08 |
Linda Evans |
211 |
| 09 |
Felicia Elizondo |
192 |
| 10 |
Veronika Cauley |
170 |
| 11 |
Diane Felix (Chili D) |
118 |
| 12 |
Faisal Alam |
113 |
| 13 |
Christian de la Huerta |
112 |
| 14 |
Theresa Sparks |
84 |
| 15 |
Dana Rivers |
53 |
| 16 |
Russell Davies |
43 |
|
|
|
|
Total Votes
|
3, 697 |
|
|
|
|
Celebrity Category
|
|
| Ranking |
Nominees |
Total |
| 01 |
Sharon Stone |
546 |
| 02 |
Elizabeth Taylor |
529 |
| 03 |
Hilary Rodham Clinton |
489 |
| 04 |
Bill Clinton |
426 |
| 05 |
Nell Carter |
381 |
| 06 |
Amy Tan |
239 |
| 07 |
The Kinsey Sicks |
202 |
| 08 |
Jesse Jackson |
201 |
| 09 |
Danny (MTV Real World) |
151 |
| 10 |
Liz Smith |
144 |
| 11 |
Richard Hatch |
120 |
| 12 |
Jan Wahl |
101 |
| 13 |
Hong Suk Chon |
75 |
| 14 |
John Dye |
58 |
|
|
|
|
TOTAL VOTES
|
3, 662
|
|
|
|
|
Organization Category
|
|
| Ranking |
Nominees |
Total |
| 01 |
Sisters of Perpetul Indulgence |
492 |
| 02 |
Project Open Hand |
447 |
| 03 |
LYRIC |
366 |
| 04 |
Breast Cancer Action |
361 |
| 05 |
Harvey Milk Institute |
319 |
| 06 |
Black Brothers Esteem Prog. of SFAF |
300 |
| 07 |
Larkin Street Youth |
252 |
| 08 |
Positive Resource Center |
248 |
| 08 |
GLBT Historical Society North. Cal |
248 |
| 10 |
Afro-Solo |
240 |
| 11 |
Lyon-Martin Health Services |
207 |
| 12 |
Cheer San Francisco |
179 |
| 13 |
Tessie's Tenderloin Holiday Dinners |
129 |
| 14 |
Luna Sea |
128 |
| 15 |
Raising Colors |
58 |
|
|
|
|
Total Votes
|
3, 974 |