Mayor Durkan and Jinkx Monsoon Among Marshals Named For 2019 Seattle Pride Parade

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and drag star Jinkx Monsoon named Grand Marshals for Seattle Pride Parade 2019!

FINALLY, Seattle Out and Proud has announced the Grand Marshals for this year’s Seattle Pride Parade which is celebrating not only 45 years of celebrating LGBTQ pride in Seattle but also honoring the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion which kicked off the modern LGBTQ Rights Movement.

For 2019, the Pride Parade will feature 6 grand marshals…2 outstanding individuals and 4 community organizations. And, it’s a starry year for Seattle Pride with our own out Mayor JENNY DURKAN, one of a handful of out lgbtq mayors in the United States leading the list but also Seattle’s own (sorta) JINKX MONSOON, the Season 5 winner of the TV competition show, RuPaul’s Drag Race the other individual being honored.

(I say “sorta” not out of snark but technically our Jinkx is a Portland Oregon native who came to Seattle for school and started her drag career here before moving on to sparklier waters…which is what you do when you headline shows all over the world!)

And, we have four great community groups being honored this year: UTOPIA Seattle advocates for our area’s LGBTQ Pacific Islanders;  Bailey-Boushay House has been treating for HIV/AIDS patients since 1992; Seattle Children’s Gender Clinic is one of 5 clinics in the United States serving transgender youth; and Camp Ten Trees, which has been providing summer camps for LGBTQ youth and the children of LGBTQ parents for many years. All these organizations are major assets to our community.

More info on all the marshals and don’t forget that the 2019 Seattle Pride Parade is happening Sunday, June 30th in downtown Seattle.

Grand Marshals Announced for 2019 Seattle Pride Parade

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, Jinkx Monsoon and Community Groups

Embodying LGBTQ Progress Selected to Lead 45^th Annual Seattle Pride Parade on June 30th

SEATTLE – May 7, 2019 – Seattle Pride announced today the community and LGBTQ leaders who will serve as the 45^th Annual Seattle Pride Parade grand marshals – leading off the nation’s fourth largest pride parade of more than 200 groups and 60,000 individuals marching in support of LGBTQ pride.

This year the Seattle Pride Parade will include the following six grand marshals – two individuals and four community organizations – as announced by Seattle Pride President Kevin Toovey:

• Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan – As Seattle’s first self-identified lesbian mayor – and just the second woman elected to the position – she’s leading the way for other women and lesbians who are severely underrepresented in all levels of government, especially executive positions.

• Jinkx Monsoon – Seattle’s favorite drag performer, actor/singer/comedian Jinkx Monsoon received national fame as the fifth season winner of TV’sRuPaul’s Drag Race as well as raves for the original one-act cabaret musical The Vaudevillians among other performance accolades – along the way serving as a supporter and advocate for those who identify as non-binary.

• Bailey-Boushay House – Established in 1992, Bailey-Boushay House (operated by Virginia Mason Medical Center) was at the forefront of the AIDS crisis and served as a pioneer and national model as a place where those with HIV/AIDS could find compassionate care, and to live their last days with dignity, even as many faced fear and isolation.

• Camp Ten Trees – As a summer camp for children who are questioning or who identify as LGBTQ, Camp Ten Trees is a safe place for diverse youth to come together and form a community that is truly their own – and where all are welcomed and engaged. In addition to traditional camp activities, campers engage in age-appropriate workshops exploring identity, issues of oppression/privilege, youth coalition building, social justice and more.

• Seattle Children’s Gender Clinic – As one of only five such facilities in the U.S. caring for youth with gender identity concerns, The Gender Clinic (operated by Seattle Children’s) provides expert gender-affirming care for youth whose gender identity is different from their sex at birth.

• UTOPIA Seattle – United Territories of Pacific Islanders’ Alliance (UTOPIA) provides sacred spaces to strengthen the minds and bodies of LGBTQ Pacific Islanders, along with support and access to critical life-stabilizing resources which enable those in the community to lead fulfilling lives, while also in helping reclaim their identities lost through colonization with community organizing, political engagement and cultural stewardship.

Nominations for grand marshal were solicited from the community last year, and final selections were made earlier this year by the Seattle Pride Board which notified those who were selected based on their individual merits and significant impact within the LGBTQ community, but are not required to identify as gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.

“This year’s grand marshals are shining examples of what it means to be a leader, advocate and role model,” said Seattle Pride President Kevin Toovey. “Each of them embodies LGBTQ progress, and we look forward to having them lead us in solidarity in our 45^th annual Seattle Pride Parade as we celebrate the present, envision the future and honor our past.”

This year’s Seattle Pride Parade will also be commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion which became a national movement in support of diversity, inclusion and equality.

The parade begins at 11am on Sunday, June 30 along Fourth Avenue in downtown Seattle between Union Street and Denny Way – and the fun continues with Seattle PrideFest at Seattle Center. The parade will livestream on KIRO-TV’s website and Facebook page, in addition to a one-hour special airing on KIRO-TV at 11:35pm that evening.

To learn more about the Seattle Pride Parade and other Pride-related events, visit www.seattlepride.org and follow Seattle Pride on Facebook @SeattlePride and on Twitter @OurSeattlePride.