Grand Marshals

• About Grand Marshals
• Celebrity Grand Marshals
• Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal
• National Organizational Grand Marshal
• Local Organizational Grand Marshal
• Individual Community Grand Marshals
• Honorary Community Grand Marshals
• Past Grand Marshals

About Grand Marshals

San Francisco Pride’s Grand Marshals are the public emissaries of Pride. They represent a mix of individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community. With the help of community input, Pride selects these groups and individuals as Grand Marshals in order to honor the work they have put into furthering the causes of LGBT people.

Public Voting for 2013 Community Grand Marshals

On-line voting has begun for Individual Community Grand Marshal, Organizational Community Grand Marshal, and Pink Brick. Click on the link below to vote:

Community Members may also cast their ballots in-person at the folowing locations:

• Castro & 18th Street on March 30 and April 13 from 2pm-5pm
• Castro & 18th Street on April 6 from 11am-3pm
• Ram Plaza at City College San Francisco on April 4 from 2pm- 5pm
• Bench and Bar (Oakland on April 5 from 7pm-11pm

Celebrity Grand Marshals

• 

  Sarah Silverman

• 

  Dot Jones

• 

  Carmen Carrera

The Gilbert Baker Pride Founders Award

Gilbert Baker

Gilbert Baker created the Rainbow Flag, symbol of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender movement in June 1978. His work as a vexillographer (flag maker) spans 30 years and includes two world records. The Rainbow Flag is an international phenomenon, with millions of people everywhere embracing it as a visibility action.

Baker, born in Kansas 1951, served in the US Army 1970-1972, which stationed him in San Francisco just at the start of the gay liberation movement. His soldier’s story is told in Randy Shilts book, Conduct Unbecoming. After being honorably discharged Baker stayed in San Francisco and taught himself to sew. It was this skill that he put to use making banners for gay and anti-war street protest marches, often at a moments notice, at the behest of his friend Harvey Milk – later elected to office and assassinated Nov 27, 1978.

Milk rode triumphantly under the first rainbow flags Baker made at their debut on June 25th, 1978, for the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. Baker credits Milk for inspiring his work with the message of hope. Early in 2008 Baker returned to San Francisco to recreate the banners and flags he made in the 70's for the Academy Award winning feature film MILK starring Sean Penn.

A committed gay activist, Baker became an industrial artist in residence at Paramount Flag Company, who he credits with giving him the education and opportunity to make the Rainbow Flag known and demanded internationally. When Paramount closed it's doors in 1987 Baker continued creating flag spectacles for the San Francisco Symphony Black and White Ball, rock shows in Golden Gate Park, and fabulous stages and street display’s for San Francisco Gay Pride.

In 1994 Baker Moved to New York City and created a mile long Rainbow Flag for the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riot 1969. Measuring 30 ft. x 5280 ft. and carried by 5,000 people, it broke the worlds record for largest flag. Baker gives speeches and lectures about the Flag and LGBT history in cities large and small around the world. His message is about human rights. Gilbert Baker lives in New York City continuing to evolve the Rainbow Flag.

Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal

Honorable Willie L. Brown, Jr.

Two-term Mayor of San Francisco, legendary Speaker of the California State Assembly, and widely regarded as the most influential African-American politician of the late twentieth century, Willie L. Brown, Jr., has been at the center of California politics, government, and civic life for an astonishing four decades. His career spans the American Presidency from Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush, and he’s worked with every California Governor from Pat Brown to Arnold Schwarzenegger. From civil rights to education reform, tax policy, economic development, health care, international trade, domestic partnerships, and affirmative action, he’s left his imprimatur on every aspect of politics and public policy in the Golden State.

As Mayor of California’s most cosmopolitan city, he refurbished and rebuilt the nation’s busiest transit system, pioneered the use of bond measures to build affordable housing, created a model juvenile justice system, and paved the way for a second campus of the University of California, San Francisco, to serve as the anchor of a new development that will position the City as a center for the burgeoning field of biotechnology. Today, he heads the Willie L. Brown, Jr., Institute on Politics and Public Service, where this acknowledged master of the art of politics shares his knowledge and skills with a new generation of California leaders.

Global Grand Marshal

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo

Selected by the Pride Celebration Committee in May

The Rt. Rev. Bishop Disani Christopher Senyonjo received his M Div in 1966 and his STM in 1967 from Union Theological Seminary, New York. Bishop Senyonjo is perhaps best known for his courageous advocacy on the part of LGBTQ persons in Uganda, where he spent his entire ministerial career prior to his 1998 retirement.

In his early career, Bishop Senyonjo was one of the translators of the Bible into the Luganda language. This translation is now used throughout Uganda across denominational lines. From 1974 until 1998, Senyonjo was the Diocesan Bishop of West Buganda at Masaka. He completed a D Min. at Hartford Theological Seminary, which was key to his understanding of marriage and human sexuality: two areas which would define his later career. Following his retirement from the bishopric, Senyonjo began counseling services for singles and married people. His counseling services for LGBTQ people began in 2001. In 2010, he founded St. Paul's Reconciliation and Equality Centre for LGBTQ/Straight Alliance. Bishop Senyonjo has been a keynote speaker at multiple international human rights conferences, including two at the United Nations in 2010. These two conferences helped to reinstate language protecting LGBTQ people against "extra-judicial" killings. He has been recognized by the California State Assembly for his leadership on LGBTQ issues and was named one of Huffington Post's Ten Most Influential Religious Leaders for 2010. Bishop Senyonjo's courageous stand against anti-LGBTQ bigotry in Uganda was the subject of a profile in Religion Dispatches in February 2011. He is Executive Director of the St. Paul’s Reconciliation and Equality Centre, Kampala and will be visiting the United States from June 13th to July 30th. For more information on his complete tour, please contact Rev. Canon Albert Ogle, President of the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation at (949) 338-8830 or at aogle@stpaulsfoundation.com.

Organizational Community Grand Marshal

ACLU of Northern California

Selected by community vote in March

The ACLU of Northern California has been working to protect and expand equal rights for LGBT people for decades. The ACLU-NC stepped in when police were still raiding gay bars in the Bay Area. We fought the Briggs Initiative, a measure to ban gay people from teaching in California public schools. And we fought discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS from the early days of the epidemic. In recent years the ACLU-NC helped Rochelle Hamilton take on her school district in Vallejo after teachers and school staff harassed her because she is an out lesbian. We passed Seth’s Law to help protect California students from anti-LGBT bullying. And we challenged Prop 8 in state court. The ultimate goal of our LGBT rights work is a California free of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This means a state where LGBT people can live openly and with dignity, where their identities, relationships and families are respected, and where there is fair treatment on the job, in schools, housing, public places, and in government programs. The ACLU-NC is incredibly proud and honored to be the Community Organization Grand Marshal for SF Pride 2012.

Individual Community Grand Marshals

Edaj

Individual Community Grand Marshal

Selected by the Pride Board in May

Edaj is a versatile artist whose career as a choreographer, producer, emcee and DJ, began in 1991 while serving in the USAF in Okinawa Japan. In 1996 she made her debut in San Francisco where she has become an influential entertainment specialist throughout the Bay Area. Her most memorable performances were as co-choreographer /dancer for Club Q from 1996 - 2000.

Her most celebrated performance is at MANGO, where she has amazed and delighted patrons since 1997. From 2002 – 2010, she was Executive Producer of the Women’s Stage at San Francisco Pride. She ensured there was a space for women at the celebration and showcased a diverse, multi-talented global representation of the women’s community on the stage. Her work with supporting and empowering women through artistic expression stretches across the nation and internationally through her company, Mizdj Creations. She is an advocate for the women's community and constantly lends her expertise toward establishing opportunities for women to excel in the arts.

Rebecca Prozan

Individual Community Grand Marshal

Selected by SF Pride’s members in April

Rebecca Prozan: Rebecca Prozan is the Director of Community Outreach for the District Attorney’s Office where she is creating a community relations model based on her seventeen years of experience as a Community Organizer, Prosecutor, and Neighborhood Leader. In 1995, Rebecca cut her teeth as an Organizer for Willie Brown’s campaign for Mayor. Following his victory, Rebecca worked as the Mayor’s liaison to the LGBT Community, where she secured funding for LGBT non-profits, advocated for LGBT representation on commissions, and organized the first LGBT civil ceremonies. Since that time, she managed Kamala Harris’ bid to become San Francisco’s first African-American, and first female, District Attorney and worked as a Legislative Aide to Supervisor Bevan Dufty. In 2004, Rebecca joined the District Attorney’s office where she eventually launched the Neighborhood Prosecutor and Community Courts program under current District Attorney George Gascón.

Rebecca was elected as a 2008 Obama Delegate and has received leadership awards from the FDR and Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Clubs. In 2010, Rebecca ran for District 8 Supervisor by waging a non-ideological, common sense campaign. Rebecca currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Castro Country Club. She and her wife, Julia Adams, were married in 2008 and are residents of the Castro, along with their rescue dog Mika.

Sister Roma

Individual Community Grand Marshal

Selected by community vote in March

2012 marks Sister Roma’s 25th year as one of the most continuously active, outspoken and highly visible members of the San Francisco's Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence. She has dedicated half of her life to serving the San Francisco LGBTQI community as an activist, fundraiser, public speaker, hostess/Master of Ceremonies, columnist, talk show host, and an arguable San Francisco gay icon. Since taking her vows, Roma has been on the front lines in the war against HIV and AIDS, homophobia, and hate crimes as the creator of the Stop The Violence Campaign. One of San Francisco’s most colorful and outspoken civil rights advocates, Roma has graced the main stages of SF Pride, Folsom Street Fair, Castro Street Fair, Halloween in the Castro and Easter in Dolores Park just to name a few.

While it's impossible to know exactly how much money Roma has raised for the global LGBTQI community it's estimated that she has contributed her time and talents to events contributing over $1 million in 25 years of service.

Olga Talamante

Individual Community Grand Marshal

Selected by the Pride Board in May

Olga Talamante is the Executive Director of the Chicana/Latina Foundation. The Chicana/Latina Foundation’s mission is the Empowerment of Chicanas/Latinas through their Personal, Educational, and Professional Advancement. She is well known for her activism and community leadership.

Over the years she has worked in the Chicano, Farmworkers, Human Rights and LGBT movements, always working to bring together the various issues that intersect our communities. She is a past co-chair of National Center for Lesbian Rights, currently serves on the Boards of Horizons Foundation, the Greenlining Institute, on the Advisory Board of GELAAM (Latino LGBT organization in San Mateo County), and on the Latino Advisory Council of the Oakland Museum of California.

Morningstar Vancil

Individual Community Grand Marshal

Selected by the Pride Board in May

Morningstar Vancil identifies as Two-Spirit, Butch and as a folk-artist, veteran, and community builder. Her family ancestry is Pacific Islander (Filipino), Native American (Mohican tribe), and Black Negritos (African). Morningstar came to the United States to gain political asylum in 1984. Recently she was featured as a filmmaker for the Queer Women of Color Film Festival and the American Indian Film Festival (2011). She is an active member of FABLED ASP (F fabulous, A activist, B Bay Area, LE Lesbians, D with disabilities, A – S – P A Storytelling Project).

Morningstar has been an advocate for People of Color (POC) in the areas of immigration, human rights, domestic partnership, and tribal alliance-building. She has been clean and sober since 1991. She served as a volunteer for the Two-Spirit Groups' Archives of the LGBT Historical Society, spoke on POC panel discussions, and co-founded ForS/mWoC, an organization dedicated to creating an equal and harmonious relationship among the BDSM communities. She is a member of Kreatibo (a queer-pinay performance troupe), Butch Magic (a drag king troupe), Fat Bottom Revue (Big Burlesque), and Neshkinukat, a coalition of Native American artists in Northern California.

Morningstar is a founding member and former officer of the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits and serves on the LGBT Advisory Board of the Human Rights Commission (City of San Francisco) and is a former LGBT board member of the American Cancer Society. Presently, Morningstar is the Woman's Commander of Post 448 (LGBT Veterans) and also a member of Black Bear Gourd Society. She is also recovering from gynecological cancer, diagnosed in 2003, and has been very active in creating community for LGBT cancer survivors.

Gary Virginia

Individual Community Grand Marshal

Selected by SF Pride’s Electoral College in April

Gary Virginia is a fundraiser, activist and 24-year HIV/AIDS survivor who has produced numerous benefits for AIDS, breast cancer, emergency humanitarian relief and US and international LGBT civil rights. His public service history includes: past president of Positive Resource Center, Mr. San Francisco Leather 1996, SF Human Rights Commission LGBT Advisory Committee, Gays Without Borders/SF executive committee, columnist, podcast radio host, SF Supervisor candidate, Pride Brunch cofounder, and founder of Krewe de Kinque Mardi Gras charitable club.

Active in many organizations, he currently serves on the advisory board of the SF Bay Times and Positive Resource Center.

Past Grand Marshals

2011
Chaz Bono	Celebrity Grand Marshals: Chaz Bono Olymia Dukakis LaKisha Hoffman Yigit Pura Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal: Bishop Yvette Flunder Special Guests: Dustin Lance Black Jeremy Ray Valdez Individual Community Grand Marshals: Dr. Aaron Belkin Victoria Kolakowski Christiana Remington Therese "Terry" Stewart Rev. Roland Stringfellow Graylin K. Thornton National Organizational Grand Marshal: The Trevor Project Local Organizational Grand Marshal: The GLBT Historical Society & History Museum Honorary Grand Marshals: Susie Bright Ron Wong Pink Brick Recipient: Lou Engle
2010
(Photo Credit: Tom Hwang)	Celebrity Grand Marshals: Alice Walker Zoe Dunning Andy Bell Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal: Ambassador James Hormel Special Guests: Nancy Pelosi on video Community Grand Marshals: All past Pride Grand Marshals were invited back to celebrate as Community Grand Marshals Organizational Grand Marshal: Cheer SF
2009
(Photo Credit: Bill Wilson)	Celebrity Grand Marshals: Cloris Leachman Lt. Dan Choi The MILK Movie Team: Bruce Cohen Dan Nicoletta Howard Rosenman Real-life MILK Team: Tory Hartmann Frank Robinson John Ryckman Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal: William Beasley Organizational Grand Marshal: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Community Grand Marshals: Joe Hawkins Molly McKay and Davina Kotulski Shannon Minter Andrea Shorter Helen Zia Special Guests: Calpernia Addams Ongina Darryl Stephens Shirley Tan and Jay Mercado The Cast of "WICKED" Pink Brick Recipient: Carrie Prejean Pink Brick Runner-up: Archbishop George H. Niederauer
2008
(Photo Credit: Bill Wilson)	Celebrity Grand Marshals: Cyndi Lauper The Producers of The Milk Movie Stuart Milk Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal: Theresa Sparks Organizational Grand Marshal: Gay Asian Pacific Alliance Community Grand Marshals: Erick Argüello Joan Benoît Marvin Burrows Joey Cain Evan Low Julius Turman Honorary Grand Marshals: Brett Andrews Miguel Bustos Trauma Flintstone Shannon Minter Tina Phillips Dr. Carol Queen Pink Brick Recipient: Bill O'Reilly
2007
(Photo Credit: Bill Wilson)	Celebrity Grand Marshals: The Cast of “Noah’s Arc” Eric Alva Jan Wahl Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal: Pat Norman Organizational Grand Marshal: Rainbow World Fund Community Grand Marshals: Dolores Caruthers & Laura Espinosa John Newsome Page Hodel Robert Haaland Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis Pink Brick Recipient: George W. Bush
2006
(Photo Credit: Jane Cleland)	Celebrity Grand Marshals: Jennifer Beals Honey Labrador Reichen Lehmkuhl Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal: Sgt. Elliot Blackstone Organizational Grand Marshal: The Billy deFrank LGBT Center of San Jose Community Grand Marshals: Marion Abdullah Robert Bernardo Cecilia Chung Dr. Kathleen McGuire Sal Rosselli Lancy Woo and Cristy Chung Pink Brick Recipient: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger