This year marks the 48th annual NYC Pride March, taking place on Sunday, June 25. Heritage of Pride, the organization behind the march, has announced its four Grand Marshals: the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Brook Guinan, Krishna Stone and Geng Le.
“In the social and political turmoil brought by the current Administration, the ACLU, Brooke, Krishna, and Geng represent the components of what will ultimately be a successful resistance movement,” NYC Pride March Director Julian Sanjivan said in a statement emailed to NBC Out.
The ACLU has been in existence for nearly 100 years, and NYC Pride praised the group as the "United States' uncompromising defender of individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution." The national organization recently attracted a significant amount of media attention when it filed a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's executive order imposing a temporary ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. The ACLU has also been involved in a number of LGBTQ-rights cases, including that of transgender teen Gavin Grimm.
Brooke Guinan is a 29-year-old transgender advocate and the FDNY's first trans firefighter. Guinan first came into the public eye after a poster of her standing with a shirt that read “So Trans, So What?” went viral, and she has since become a role model for those struggling with their gender identity.
Krishna Stone is the director of community relations at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), serving as the main communication point between the HIV/AIDS prevention and advocacy organization and the public. Stone is also an ordained minister of a non-denominational and non-traditional faith community, Sanctuary of the Beloved.
Geng Le is at the forefront of the rising fight for LGBTQ equality in China. He is the founder of one of China’s first gay websites, Danlan, and released Blued, the largest gay social networking app in the world, in 2012. Starting his career in the police force, Le felt he was forced to hide his sexuality and had to use the internet to find out more about gay life. He hopes to use science and technology to educate people looking to learn more about the LGBTQ community.
