NYC PRIDE MARCH PRESS KIT 2013

For more information contact: Tish Flynn Media Director , Inc. / NYC Pride (917)499-7193 [email protected] City 44th Annual , , Bisexual and Pride March Event Information Summary When: 12 – 4 PM - Sunday, June 30th, 2013

Media Check-In:

WHEN: 8:45 – 11:45 AM

WHERE: Corner of 36th Street & 5th Avenue (same as 2012 check-in)

Press Conference: 10:30 AM beginning w/ HOP, Grand Marshals, Swish, GLAAD, & special guests MARCH ROUTE

*ORDER OF THE MARCH TO BE DISTRIBUTED IN PAPER FORM WHEN

CREDENTIALS ARE PICKED UP @ CHECK-IN THE MORNING OF THE MARCH*

NEW FOR NYC PRIDE MARCH 2013

@ OUR 25TH STREET STAGING AREA

Worldwide Livestream Pay-Per-View Watch Pride from anywhere in the world!

- Show begins at noon with pre-recorded content until the march arrives at the intersection. The march will be shown in its entirety.

- Professionally Produced and Hosted - Six-camera shoot - Live from the 24th Street Seating Area

- Visit pridelive.tv to view

- Cost for HD Desktop Stream is $7.99 and Mobile/Tablet access is $1.99. Desktop stream includes mobile access.

- 25 cents from every purchase will go directly to Heritage of Pride, NYC Pride's organizer.

- We encourage our media partners to link to an "exclusive" discount page for "Friends and Family" of NYC Pride. This will enable discounted access to the livestream: $5.99 and $1.25 for HD and mobile access, respectively.

25 cents from each of these purchases will also go to Heritage of Pride.

Friends & Family link access is at pridelive.tv/friends&family Did you know that in the 2013 NYC Pride March has…

Nearly 13,000 marchers expected

Approximate attendance 2 Million

Nearly 350 Organizations

68 Floats

New in 2013: An intersection of entertainment!

The dispersal intersection at Christopher and Greenwich streets previously hosted announcers.

For 2013, organizers decided to move that announcing stand to Christopher and Bleeker streets to reach a larger audience and provide more effective dispersal flow. We're please to welcome Natalie Joy Johnson and Brian Nash (bios included in this kit) to the new intersection - not only as announcers, but as performers! Johnson and Nash will entertain crowds prior to the March's arrival and throughout the day.

The duo currently performs Tuesday nights at Bar and Grill in Hell's Kitchen. NYC PRIDE 2013: THE MARCH Grand Marshal Information Edie Windsor

Ms. Windsor shared 44 years with her late spouse, Thea Spyer, but was forced to pay more than $360,000 in federal estate taxes because the federal government refused to recognize their marriage after Ms.Spyer's passing. Had Ms. Windsor been married to a man, rather than a woman, she would not have had to pay any federal estate tax at all. On June 6, Judge Barbara Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York agreed with Edie that DOMA violates the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution, joining four other federal courts that have so held. On October 18, 2012, the Second Circuit issued an opinion striking down the so-called "" in the ACLU and NYCLU's Windsor v. United States case. The court decided that when government discriminates against and gay men, the discrimination should be presumed to be unconstitutional and the government has to have a very good reason for the discrimination. This is the first federal appeals court to decide that a higher standard of review applies to sexual orientation discrimination. On December 7, 2012, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Edie Windsor's challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Oral arguments took place on March 27, 2013. A NYC resident with a sparkling personality, Edie lights up every room she enters.

Harry Belafonte has been honored many times by such diverse groups as the American Jewish Congress, the NAACP, the City of Hope, Fight for Sight, The Urban League, The National Conference of Black Mayors, the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, the ACLU, the State Department, the Boy Scouts of America, Hadassah International and the Peace Corps. He is the 2013 recipient of the Spingarn Medal, the most prestigious award bestowed by the NAACP. The “King of Calypso” was the first artist in industry history to sell over 1 million LP’s. Belafonte also is the winner of the coveted Tony Award, an Emmy Award & has numerous Oscar nominations under his belt. The list of Mr. Belafonte's accomplishments and awards is extensive and we are honored to have him. Earl Fowlkes

Earl Fowlkes serves as the President/CEO of the Center For Black Equity, Inc. (formerly the International Federation of Black Pride or IFBP). There are over forty plus Black Pride events with over 450,000 attendees each year. In July, 2012, the IFBP Board of Directors voted to change the name of the organization to the Center For Black Equity (CBE) with an expanded mission to focus on health equity, social equity and economic equity in the Black LGBT communities. Earl resides in Washington, DC however remains a devoted to his hometown Philadelphia Phillies, Eagles and Flyers. NYC PRIDE 2013: THE MARCH Talent Information

Caroline Bowman

National Anthem Performer Currently on the 2013 Tony Award winning cast of “Kinky Boots” on Broadway, Caroline Bowman graces 5th avenue with her amazing voice June 30th. A proud straight ally, Caroline joined Swish this spring for the Songs in the Key of Equality benefit and blew the audience away with her rendition of True Colors.

Sue Doster

Formation Announcer Sue Doster has been a Pride organizer for over 20 years. She has worked with both Heritage of Pride and Jersey Pride for almost as many years. She has served in numerous HOP board positions, including Co-Chair, Rally Director, PrideFest Director and Volunteer Coordinator. In her professional life, she has worked for almost 30 years in the non-profit sector, the latter half of that at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research where she is the Chief Technology Officer. Krishna Stone

Formation Announcer Krishna Stone is the Assistant Director of Community Relations in the Communications Department at Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC). She started as a volunteer in 1986 with the first annual AIDS Walk New York and became a staff person in the Volunteer Center in 1993. In 2003, she started working in the Communications Department of which her responsibilities include social media, managing media inquiries, organizing community events such as rallies, press conferences, community forums, local/national conferences, panel discussions, and coordinating site visits for people all over the world who want to visit GMHC—and much more. She has extensive experience working with community-based organizations, faith communities, schools, hospitals and corporations on the issues of media relations, marketing, community outreach, event planning and volunteer management. Krishna is also an ordained minister of a non-denominational/non-traditional faith community, Sanctuary of the Beloved. She continues to work in creating dialogue between faith communities, GMHC and other AIDS service organizations about the critical issues of the epidemic which include race, gender and sexual identities, substance use, religions and spiritualties. For over 10 years, Krishna has volunteered joyously as the Dispersal Announcer for the NYC Pride March. She is the proud mother of a righteous and beautiful 18-year-old daughter named Parade. Jo Arnone

Announcer (23rd Street)

Jo Arnone marched in NY Pride for the first time in 1975 and began announcing the March for HOP, from the steps of the NY Public Library, in 1985. Through the years the March has seen many changes, and hundreds of groups that have come and gone but she has been a constant with this year marking her 27th as a March announcer. She has also announced the Capital and Rally in Washington, DC for several years. Jo works hard to remind the community that this is a march not a parade. It commemorates the anniversary of that first protest in 1969 sparked by a police raid of the and remains a protest until we achieve complete and equal rights for the entire GLBT community in America. She looks forward to announcing her very first Parade. For over 30 years she has been a community fundraiser doing auctions for worthwhile charities all over the country. Recently the Leather Heart Foundation presented her with the Million Dollar Heart Award in recognition of having raised over $1,000,000 for charities including Brother Help Thyself, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, National Gay and Lesbian Antiviolence Project, National Coalition on Sexual Freedom, International Antiviolence Project, Heritage of Pride, Capital Pride, Whitman Walker Clinic, The Leather Archive, Goal, FireFLAG/EMS and In the Life. Her awards are many; among them are Heritage of Pride’s David Norrie Award, for behind the scenes volunteerism, The Hero of Leather Pride Award, The American Brotherhood Award for Community Service, DC Eagle Community Appreciation Award, The Legend Award, Lifetime Achievement Awards from both Pantheon of Leather and the NLA, and The Mister Marcus Hernandez Lifetime Achievement Award. Porsche

8th Street Announcer A Stonewall Inn, Cherry Grove Ice Palace & Key West performance resident, there is no song that Porsche can’t rock on the mic!

Gilbert Baker

Judge (8th Street) Gilbert Baker created the Rainbow Flag, symbol of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender movement in June 1978. His work as a vexillographer (flag maker) spans 30 years and includes two world records. The Rainbow Flag is an international phenomenon, with millions of people everywhere embracing it as a visibility action. In 2003, he and his Key West project was the subject of “Rainbow Pride” a feature length documentary by Marie Jo Ferron, bought by PBS National and debuting in New York on WNET. Baker gives speeches and lectures about the Flag and LGBT history in cities large and small around the world. He has written an unpublished memoir about his life as the creator of the flag- a story he says is still unfinished. Allison Grillo

Judge (8th Street) Alison Grillo is 's “Woman Trapped Inside a Woman's Body.” A stand-up comic with a unique story and an off-beat style, Alison has been seen on NBC's Last Comic Standing, featured in TimeOutNY and named by The Advocate as one of “Seven LGBT Comics You Should Not Have Missed in 2011." She is a regular at the Broadway Comedy Club and performs nationally and in Canada at colleges and universities. Her fiction has been published in various literary magazines.

Cassandra Fuego

Judge (8th Street) Cassandra Fuego is a Fierce Drag Queen, who was "MADE" literally into the queen she is today by the one and only Manila Luzon on MTV. As the big final she performed on the GMHC Float at the Gay Pride March last year. Well this Year she comes full circle as she comes back to the march as a judge! Natalie Joy Johnson

Announcer ( & Bleeker Street) NATALIE JOY JOHNSON has been seen on Broadway as the law school lesbian Enid Hoopes in LEGALLY BLONDE: the musical, and also starred it its national tour as the UPS-loving manicurist Paulette Buonofante. Other credits include Southern Comfort (Cori), bare: a pop opera (Nadia) and How To Save The World And Find True Love in 90 Minutes. Natalie has been making waves as a cabaret artist in the city for years, performing in venues such as Feinstein's at the Regency, Joe's Pub, Ars Nova and the Cutting Room. Her one woman show, NATALIE JOY JOHNSON is RELENTLESS sold out performances at Joe's Pub & Ars Nova and was named one of Time Out NY's Top 10 Cabarets of 2011. She does a weekly show with her musical director extraordinaire, Brian Nash at Therapy. Co-DependentTuesdays start every Tuesday night at 11 p.m. at Therapy (348 West 52nd Street).

Brian Nash

Announcer (Christopher Street & Bleeker Street) BRIAN J. NASH has been music directing and orchestrating for the theater since the age of 16. He is the Music Director and Orchestrator of the off-Broadway hit, SILENCE! The Musical, and produced Bare at New World Stages. Brian is in extensive demand as a pianist and singer throughout NYC and has played sold out concerts of the music of Tori Amos; he has also been a featured performer on RFamily vacations cruises. His first songs were written for two recent editions of TheATrainPlays, and were featured on NPR’s All Things Considered. Brian holds a Bachelor’s of Music degree from Boston Conservatory and studied record production at Berklee College of Music. For more info, please visit BrianJNash.com.