SHARE THE LOVE PRIDE 2012

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Published on Saturday, 23 June 2012 13:25

"I am honored to be a grand marshal for the New York City Pride March this year. Pride is one of my favorite times of the year, and as a lifelong New Yorker, I am excited to get to celebrate it in the greatest city in the world. So much progress has been made recently for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, but we still have so much work to do, especially when it comes to youth homelessness. I look forward to marching down 5th Avenue arm and arm with my brothers and sisters in the LGBT community as we let the world know that we will not rest until equality for all becomes a reality.” said Cyndi Lauper.

Phyllis Siegel & Connie Kopelov were New York City's first couple of same-sex marriage. They tied the knot on July 24th, 2011 after a 23-year-long romance. Phyllis Siegel is a native New Yorker and Connie Kopelov came from Kokomo, Indiana. They met in 1986 at a SAGE women's discussion group, but it wasn’t until the SAGE annual holiday party in 1987 that they started dating. It was Connie who made Phyllis aware of feminism and what that meant to them, as women and lesbians.

“I am especially honored to stand next to my fellow Marshals to represent the great diversity of our community. It’s a time of great strides and hope, with marriage now legal here in New York, and becoming legal in other parts of the country, yet it’s still a time of fear and shame for millions of young people who are afraid to publicly embrace who they are. I am proud to stand with my fellow Marshals as a reminder of how far we’ve come, and to hopefully offer strength and encouragement to those who need it.” said Chris Salgardo

This year’s Pride March will begin at 12:00 noon on Sunday, June 24th. Step-off for more than 350 groups and 500,000 participants will take place on 36th Street and Fifth Avenue.

THEME OF NYC PRIDE CELEBRATION

Heritage of Pride, the organization responsible for producing the annual LGBT Pride events in New York City, unveiled the 2012 theme of the annual Pride celebration. This year's theme, "Share The Love," will spotlight New York City as one of the world's most popular LGBT destinations around the world.

"Our theme for 2012, Share The Love, exemplifies that love has no boundaries,” said Chris Frederick, Managing Director of Heritage of Pride “We’ve seen marriage become mainstream in New York state and we want to make it known that love can be shared with your friends, family and/or partner no matter where you live. Our hope is that people celebrate one of the most basic and necessary human traits: the act of love.”

For more information go to http://www.nycpride.org/.