At its March 30 Spring Open House, Boston Pride announced the Grand Marshal, Marshals, and Honorary Marshals for Boston’s 2016 Pride Week & Parade (Saturday, June 11). Selected from an impressive list of nominees through an online ballot, open to all members of the community, the (drumroll, please) winners* are:
Grand Marshall Claire Naughton has been an advocate for the LGBTQ community for her 30-year teaching career in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island. A long-standing member of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee (DSC), she became female co-chair of Bay State Stonewall Democrats in 2008, the first straight chair in the nation of the Stonewall Democrats organization. Since then, leveraging her experience as a union organizer, a leader and a teacher, she has been a constant advocate for LGBTQ issues within the upper levels of the party.
Pride Marshall Raffi Freedman-Gurspan became the first openly transgender White House staffer when she was appointed director of outreach and recruitment for the personnel office in 2015. Hired away from her job as a policy adviser at the National Center for Transgender Equality, she has local roots that include stints as the LGBT Liaison for Somerville and legislative director for former state rep (and current executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts).
Honorary Pride Marshall Bayard Rustin was a master strategist and tireless activist perhaps best remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, one of the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the United States.
Honorary Pride Marshall Hon. Thomas V. Barbera was a long-time labor and gay rights activist in the greater Boston area. Never one to hold back his opinion or commitment to fighting injustice in every form, Tom’s passionate voice entered many political campaigns and debates in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s.
All of the winners, as well as the nominees, embody the spirit of Boston Pride’s 2016 theme—”Solidarity through Pride,” which honors individuals who, and organizations that have made a positive impact on our community through their work, advocacy, and activism.
For more details on all the awesome activities Boston Pride fosters, check out bostonpride.org, and be sure to check out the full schedule of Pride Week events, which take place June 3-12.
*Woburn Police Officer Anthony Imperioso’s name was withdrawn from the list today (April 4) for offensive comments he had posted on Facebook. Imperioso met with Boston Pride representatives and the decision was mutual, according to a statement from Boston Pride. Impresario, an openly gay police officer, had been selected for his service as a City Councilor for the City of Woburn, where he wrote the City of Woburn’s Human Rights Commission Ordinance. He currently serves as the president of the Gay Officers Action League of New England (GOAL-NE), a position he has held for the past four years.
