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The 2019 LGBTQIA+ Pride March announces Grand Marshals Cast of POSE, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, Gay Liberation Front, The Trevor Project, Monica Helms to lead


NYC Pride, the official host of WorldPride 2019 | Stonewall 50, announces its five Grand Marshals slated to lead both the 50thNYC Pride March on Sunday, June 30, 2019, and this year’s commemoration of the 50thAnniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. The cast of POSE, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, Gay Liberation Front, The Trevor Project, and Monica Helmswill head this year’s celebration.

POSE is a dance musical, set in the 1980s, that explores the juxtaposition of life and society in New York: the ball culture world, the rise of the Trump era, and the downtown social and literary scene. Cast members Dominique Jackson(Elektra), Indya Moore(Angel), and MJ Rodriguez(Blanca) will represent the show.

Phyll Opoku-Gyimahis the nucleus of the award-winning celebration and protest that is UK Black Pride. Widely known as Lady Phyll – partly due to her decision to reject an MBE in the New Year’s Honours’ list, to protest Britain’s role in formulating anti-LGBTQ+ penal codes across its empire – she is a senior official at the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) trade union as the Head of Equality and Learning. She’s a community builder and organizer; a Kaleidoscope Trust Trustee; an Albert Kennedy Trust patron; Diva Magazine columnist, and public speaker focusing on race, gender, sexuality, and class.

Whoopi Goldberg is one of a very elite group of artists who have won the Grammy, the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, the Emmy and a Tony. She is also a prolific producer and is well-known around the world for her many humanitarian endeavors. Born and raised in New York City, she performed in San Diego and the Bay Area with the Blake Street Hawkeyes theatre troupe. It was there that she created the characters which became “The Spook Show†and evolved into her hit Broadway show, Grammy Award-winning album and the HBO special that helped launch her career.

Gay Liberation Front was the very first LGBTQ activist organization formed after the Stonewall Rebellion. The courageous members of GLF fought to give political shape and direction to a whole new generation of LGBTQ militancy that spread with unprecedented vigor and impact across the nation and the world.

The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people. The organization works to save young lives by providing support through free and confidential programs, including Trevor lifeline, TrevorText, and TrevorChat. They also run TrevorSpace, the world’s largest safe space social networking site for LGBTQ youth, and operate innovative education, research, and advocacy programs.

Monica Helmsis a transgender activist, author, and veteran of the United States Navy having served on two submarines. She is also the creator of the Transgender Pride Flag, in 1999, and subsequently donated the original flag to the Smithsonian Institution in 2014.

“In a world where LGBTQIA+ people continue to experience profound oppression, the NYC Pride March is a beacon of hope and community,†said Julian Sanjivan, NYC Pride March Director. “This June 30th, that beacon will shine the brightest it ever has when POSE, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, Gay Liberation Front, The Trevor Project, and Monica Helms lead 115,000 marchers in the largest display of LGBTQIA+ pride the world has ever seen.â€
“As millions of LGBTQIA+ folks from across the world make their pilgrimage to WorldPride 2019 and the commemoration of Stonewall 50, New York City will display its Pride like never before,†said Chris Frederick, Executive Director of NYC Pride. “The entire month of June and this day, in particular, will be a celebration of everything the LGBTQIA+ community stands for.”

Multi-talented singer, rapper, actor, director, choreographer, and YouTube personality, Todrick Hall rose to prominence on American Idol. His popular YouTube channel has over 2.7 million subscribers and 510 million channel views consisting notably for original songs, choreographed flash mobs for Beyoncé, musical collaborations, and appearing on RuPaul’s Drag Race as a guest judge. Hall distinguished himself as Broadway star completing a successful run of Kinky Boots and two successful tours of Straight Outta Oz, both of which were highly acclaimed by fans and critics alike. Recently, he appeared as a backup dancer in Taylor Swift’s video Look What You Made Me Do. Early this year Todrick Hall wrapped his Forbidden Tour in the US and Europe.

The 50thNYC Pride March will commence at noon, on June 30th, from 26th Street and 5th Avenue. Some 115,000 marchers will proceed south on 5th Avenue before heading west on 8th Street. After crossing over 6th Avenue, the March will continue on Christopher Street, passing the site designated, in 2016 by President Barack Obama, as the Stonewall National Monument. It will then turn north on 7th Avenue, passing the New York City AIDS Memorial, before dispersing in Chelsea just north of 23rd Street and 7th Avenue.

Seventy-four percent of all marching groups are non-profit organizations, and more than half of all marching groups are participating free-of-charge. Upwards of 150 marching groups are coming from outside of the US to participate in this historic event.

WorldPride 2019 | Stonewall 50 will be comprised of more than 25 different events for LGBTQIA+ and allied people during the full month of June 2019. Throughout the course of the celebration, all WorldPride events will ladder up to the foundational theme, “Millions of Moments of Pride.†Join New York City, and the world, this June as we honor the past, celebrate our differences and march together for our future. For more information and talent press kits visit www.worldpride.org. e

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