Erick has received certificates of recognition for his contribution and commitment to safety and community building from Senators Carol Migden, Leland Yee, Jackie Spears, Assemblymen Mark Leno, Assembly Women Fiona Ma and Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Features of Erick's involvement in the community:

• Founder of the Lower 24th St. Merchant and Neighborhood Association in the Mission

• Member of the advisory committee on safety to the District Attorney

• Past member of the community policing advisory committee for the Mayors office of Criminal Justice.

• Past member of the speaker’s bureau program through Instituto Familiar de La Raza, educating and sharing life experience with other Latinos around HIV/AIDS

• Long term survivor HIV/AIDS since 1987

Joan Benoît

Joan Benoît has been the Executive Director of the Native American AIDS Project since 1999, leading NAAP from a small program within a large organization to the only Native American HIV-specific organization in California.  Joan was born into the Eagle Clan of the Anishanaabe Nation and is an enrolled member of the Chippewa of the Thames, First Nation. Joan has been on numerous Boards of Directors for various non-profit organizations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
 

Marvin Burrows

Marvin Burrows is 72 years-old. Marvin and his partner of 51 years, Bill married in San Francisco. Bill died one year later, and since Marvin has been in the marriage movement so that LGBT families don’t have to repeat his experience. Marvin co-founded Gays and Lesbians Organized for Betterment & Equality, Lavender Seniors, and the Lighthouse Community Center. For 16 years, he delivered Meals on Wheels.  His work has been done with the intention of creating positive change, especially for the young and old, and gives LGBTs greater equality.
 

Joey Cain

From his involvement with the Gay Liberation Front in his home town of Buffalo, New York in the early 1970’s to his recent co-chairing of the Harvey Milk City Hall Memorial Committee, Joey has spent almost 37 years helping to create a radical Queer  movement that celebrates the unique gifts and spirit that LGBT people bring to the world. Throughout the 1980s and 90s he was a creative force in the Radical Fairy movement, organizing gatherings and helping to found Nomenus,  the first state recognized 501c3 “church” to specifically articulate a spiritual tradition of Gay Men. He participated in the White Night Riots, helped organize protests against the closing of Gay Bath houses in San Francisco, fought against the gentrification of San Francisco and picketed week after week in front of Badlands Bar against the owner’s ongoing racist actions.  He served for nearly 10 years, four of them as President, on the Board of the San Francisco Pride Celebration Committee, during which time the organization gained a new political relevancy and extended its community involvement and diversity. He is a long time member of Bound Together Anarchist Collective Book Store and helped co-found the Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair.  Recently he helped create the Edward Carpenter Forum, an international group of scholars and enthusiasts dedicated the rediscovery and recognition of this important early radical LGBT thinker, philosopher and poet. He currently serves as co-chair of the Harvey Milk City Hall Memorial Committee and serves on the board of the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council. He works for the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics in their Substance Abuse Treatment Program and lives in a collective household with Gay film maker Maher Sabry and John Burnside, long time partner of LGBT movement pioneer Harry Hay.
 

Julius Turman

Julius Turman, an attorney with Morgan Lewis & Bockius, has fought for the rights of LGBT persons and worked for greater inclusion within the gay community.  Julius was the first African American to head the Alice Club and the Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom.  In 2007 Julius was co-chair of the Bar Association’s committee that produced a groundbreaking report on best practices in the hiring, retention and promotion of LGBT attorneys.  Julius was recently appointed to the Human Rights Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom.
 

The Cast of “Noah’s Arc”
Eric Alva
Jan Wahl

Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal:

Pat Norman

Community Grand Marshals:

Dolores Caruthers & Laura Espinosa
John Newsome
Page Hodel
Robert Haaland
Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis

Organizational Grand Marshal:

Rainbow World Fund

Pink Brick Recipient:

George W. Bush

Jennifer Beals
Honey Labrador
Reichen Lehmkuhl

Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal:

Sgt. Elliot Blackstone

Community Grand Marshals:

Marion Abdullah
Robert Bernardo
Cecilia Chung
Dr. Kathleen McGuire
Sal Rosselli
Lancy Woo and Cristy Chung

Organizational Grand Marshal:

The Billy deFrank LGBT Center of San Jose

Pink Brick Recipient:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger