The six grand marshals for this year’s Atlanta Pride parade range from a longtime member of the leather community to a Latina queer immigration rights activist. There will also be a contingent of HIV activists marching as grand marshals to honor the 30th anniversary of the disease that decimated the gay community.
“There’s not one person on this list who wasn’t nominated by the community,” said Atlanta Pride Executive Director JP Sheffield.
Atlanta Pride will be held Oct. 8-9 in conjunction with National Coming Out Day.
The Atlanta Pride Committee — a total of 25 people including the board of directors, committee members and staff — chose the grand marshals from names submitted by the community during a one-month open nomination period, Sheffield said.