Four Grand Marshals have been named for the 2017 NYC Pride March. The ACLU, Brooke Guinan, Krishna Stone, and Geng Le have been chosen to lead the 48th annual march.
More from NYC Pride on the honorees:
The American Civil Liberties Union has been the United States' uncompromising defender of individual
rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution for nearly 100 years. The ACLU brought its first LGBT rights
case in 1936, brought the first case seeking the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in 1970, litigated the
Supreme Court cases that took down the Defense of Marriage Act that won marriage equality nationwide, and
represented transgender student Gavin Grimm before the Supreme Court.
Brooke Guinan is a 29-year-old trans woman; an advocate, civil servant, firefighter, and native New Yorker.
Guinan has been honored by the New York City Comptroller's office, the Public Advocate's office, the
Metropolitan Community Church of New York, and the FDNY for her service to the LGBTQ community.
Krishna Stone is the Director of Community Relations at Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC). She originally
connected with GMHC in 1986 as a walker in the first annual AIDS Walk New York and became a staff
member in 1993. In 2014, Stone received an award from the NYC Health Department for outstanding
dedication to combating the spread of HIV.
Geng Le is a leader in the burgeoning movement for LGBT equality in the People's Republic of China. Geng
set up one of the earliest gay social websites in China—Danlan.org in 2002. In 2012, he created Blued—a gay
men social networking app after quitting his job working as a policeman for 16 years. On World AIDS Day
2016, Geng donated 1 million RMB to China AIDS Fund to support Chinese non-governmental organizations
for HIV prevention.
The March is set to kick off at noon on June 25, at 5th Avenue and 36th Street in Manhattan and proceed down 5th Avenue to Christopher and Greenwich Streets.
