Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today hosted a reception at Gracie Mansion to celebrate Pride Month and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Pride March.  The march will be held Sunday, June 29th and will travel from 52nd Street to Christopher Street.  The theme for this year’s march is “Peace Through Pride”.  Among those attending the reception were Executive Director of the Empire State Pride Agenda Alan Van Capelle, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Human Resources Administration Commissioner Verna Eggleston, Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster, Director of the Mayor’s Office on AIDS Policy Frank Oldham, Jr. as well as other New York City officials and members of Heritage of Pride.

“New York City is the most tolerant, open-minded, diverse City in the world; and The Pride March is a reflection of that,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community have made many valuable contribution to our City and I will be honored to pay tribute to this community while marching this Sunday.”

The Grand Marshals of this year’s Pride March are Terrence McNally and Cherry Jones. Terrence McNally, a Tony-award winning playwright and director, has been writing about gay issues since the 1960’s.  He has always been proud of his designation as a ‘gay playwright’, and has said he is pleased when his plays are considered political.  Most recently seen in Nora Ephron’s Imaginary Friends, Cherry Jones made theater history when she thanked Mary, her lover of more than a decade, from the podium upon winning her Tony for The Heiress in 1995.  Jones has also narrated Out of the Past, the 1998 documentary about the struggles of the gay rights movement throughout U.S. history. 

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Pride March was established in 1970 to commemorate what is commonly accepted as the beginning of the modern-day gay rights movement, the Stonewall Riots which occurred in June, 1969.  The March also commemorates those individuals lost to the AIDS virus with a moment of silence at 2:00 PM.  The entire march route falls silent as participants stop, stand and remember those who have died of AIDS.