Boston Pride is delighted to announce the following 2018 Pride Marshals, as selected by the community through our annual online vote:

Grand Marshal

Freedom for All Massachusetts

In June 2015, the broad-based bipartisan coalition Freedom for All Massachusetts launched with the goal of updating Massachusetts’ longstanding civil rights laws to include nondiscrimination protections for transgender people in public places. The campaign aimed to add gender identity as a protected category in the Commonwealth’s public accommodations law. By June 2016, the law had passed by an overwhelming bipartisan supermajority of votes in both legislative chambers. Shortly after it went into effect on October 1, 2016, opponents of the law secured signatures to force law onto the 2018 ballot. The Freedom for All Massachusetts campaign continues to build the Commonwealth’s familiarity with transgender people, and to grow support for fair and equal treatment, so that we keep trans equality in the law of the Commonwealth.

Marshal - Jo Trigilio

Jo Trigilio has been a leader in the LGBTQ community serving on the Boston Dyke March organizing committee for more than a decade before stepping down a few years ago. Jo was instrumental at growing the march from a few hundred to several thousand participants, and maintaining its status as a grassroots, noncommercial, and radical event committed to all-gender inclusion. They now head the Boston Dyke March History and Archive Project which makes archival materials publically available online. Jo is a known peace maker, beloved professor, and activist. Jo is an ongoing contributor to the Pride Guide and has extended themselves to assist Boston Pride in addressing issues brought by the community. Jo is currently the Program Director of Gender/Cultural Studies at Simmons College. Jo’s current work focuses on nonbinary gender and ethnic/racial intersectionality.

Honorary Marshal - Gordon Burns

Gordon Burns, who recently passed, was a longtime Pride volunteer and Committee member. Gordon joined Boston Pride over 10 years ago to foster the engagement of LGBT older adults in the Pride celebration, and to ensure continued exchanges between the older and the younger generations of our community. Deeply engaged and active in our region, Gordon was a founding member of the Senior Pride Coalition, as well as a member of the Boston Prime Timers, the Boston Partnership for Older Adults, the Massachusetts Association of Older Americans, and OLLI Lifelong Learning Institute at UMass Boston. His joyfulness and willingness to help everyone will always be remembered.

Honorary Marshal - Edie Windsor

Edith “Edie” Windsor, a hero of the fight for marriage equality, was the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that bears her name. Edie made groundbreaking contributions to our community through her activism over the years. The “Windsor decision,” which was handed down in 2013 by the US Supreme Court, ensured the federal recognition of same-sex marriages performed in 13 states and in the District of Columbia.

2018 Pride Marshals Selection Process

  • Phase 1 – Community Nominations
      • In Phase 1, the community is invited to submit nominations for the next Pride Marshals.
      • Phase 1 runs October 1-22.

  • Phase 2 – Slate Creation
    • In Phase 2, the Boston Pride Committee reviews the community suggestions and narrows down Pride Marshals nominations to create a slate of candidates.
    • Phase 2 occurs on October 24.
    • THIS PHASE IS NOW CLOSED
  • Phase 3 – Community Vote
    • In Phase 3, the community is invited to vote online for their preferred Pride Marshals, from the slate of Phase 2.
    • Phase 3 runs November 1-22.
    • Click here to vote!
    • The Pride Marshals chosen by the community will be announced publicly on December 1.

Past Pride Marshals

Click on the year to learn more

  • 2017 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Grand Marshal: Kristen Porter
    • Boston Pride Honorary Marshal: Norman J. Hill, Jr., Judith Bradford, John Michael Gray
    • Boston Pride Celebrity Marshal: Hedwig
  • 2016 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Grand Marshal: Claire B. Naughton
    • Boston Pride Marshals: Raffi Freedman-Gurspan
    • Boston Pride Honorary Marshal: Bayard Rustin, Thomas V. Barbera
  • 2015 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Grand Marshals: Erica Kay-Webster, David V. Bermudez, Samuel Brinton
    • Boston Pride Marshals: Ellyn Ruthstrom, Woody Glenn
    • Boston Pride Honorary Marshal: Mayor Thomas M. Menino
  • 2014 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Grand Marshals: Governor Deval L. Patrick, The Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
    • Boston Pride Honorary Marshal: John Mitzel
  • 2013 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Grand Marshal: Mayor Thomas M. Menino
    • Boston Pride Honorary Marshal: Jeanne Manford
  • 2012 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Grand Marshals: Mix 104.1’s “Fast Freddy” Murphy, the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition
    • Boston Pride Honorary Marshal: Brendan Burke
  • 2011 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Marshals: John Affuso, Community Servings
    • Boston Pride Honorary Marshal: Rev. Professor Peter J. Gomes
  • 2010 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Grand Marshals: BAGLY, Grace Sterling Stowell, Don Gorton
    • Boston Pride Honorary Marshal: Senator Ted Kennedy
    • Boston Pride Celebrity Marshals: Laverne Cox, Ronnie Kroell, Alexis Arquette
  • 2009 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Grand Marshals: Pathways to Wellness
    • Boston Pride Honorary Marshal: Barbara Jordan
    • Boston Pride Celebrity Marshals: Melissa Etheridge
  • 2008 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Grand Marshals: Tim McFeeley
    • Boston Pride Honorary Marshal: Cpl. Ciara Durkin
    • Boston Pride Celebrity Marshals: Leslie Jordan
  • 2007 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Marshals: State Rep. Liz Malia, Jacob Smith Yang, SpeakOut Boston
  • 2005 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Marshals: Ann Maguire, the History Project, Jim Morgrage
  • 2003 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Grand Marshal: Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)
    • Boston Pride Marshals: Gunner Scott (MTPC), James Bonanno (Fenway Community Health), Nancy Norman (Fenway Community Health)
  • 2000 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Grand Marshal: Wilson Cruz
    • Boston Pride Marshals: State Rep. Jarrett Barrios
  • 1999 Boston Pride Marshals
    • Boston Pride Grand Marshal: Randy Price