Boston Pride is asking the community to take a minute or two, go online, peruse its impressive list of nominees, and cast a vote for this year’s Marshall and Honorary Marshal for the 2016 Boston Pride Parade (Saturday, June 11). Results will be announced on Thursday, March 31.
Here’s the line-up of nominees for Parade Marshall:
Mary Bonauto has served as the Civil Rights Project Director at GLAD since 1990. She has litigated in the state and federal courts of New England on discrimination issues, parental rights, free speech and religious liberty, and relationship recognition. In 2015 she successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in the historic case Obergefell v. Hodges, establishing the freedom to marry for same-sex couples nationwide. She was lead counsel in the groundbreaking case Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which made Massachusetts the first state where same-sex couples could legally marry in 2004.
Camp Lightbulb brings GLBTQ youth to Provincetown and Truro from all over the country to experience the benefits of camping, developing leadership skills, fostering personal growth, instilling pride, having fun. The camp is branching out running a winter and spring sessions, too. The camp is branching out running a winter and spring sessions, too. Camp Lightbulb and its founder, Puck Markham, have influenced the lives of many GLBTQ youth and their parents/guardians and serve as role model for how to put a dream to work in real life.
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).
Anthony Imperioso is an openly gay Police Officer from Woburn MA. He has served 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. He has grown GOAL-NE into what is today the largest in the nation LGBT Public Safety Organization encompassing all six New England states.
The LGBT Senior Pride Coalition regroups several organization in the Greater Boston area: LGBT Aging Project, Boston Prime Timers, Massachusetts Association of Older Americans , New England Association of HIV Over Fifty, Older Lesbian Energy, Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, Rainbow LLI, RALLY!, and Stonewall Communities. The Coalition organizes events and educational sessions to serve the Senior members of our community, including an annual Tea Dance during Pride.
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.
And here’s the line-up of nominees for honorary Parade 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.
Jim Campbell was the Founder and a past President of “HIV over 50.” He was a tireless advocate for seniors living with HIV. He was also a great supporter of Boston Pride and a co-Founder of the LGBT Senior Pride Coalition.
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 these 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.
