2026 PARADE GRAND MARSHALL

Greetings and Happy Pride to you all! We feel honored to be your Grand Marshals for Pride 2026.

Where have the years gone? I remember the days when we were a fairly small group of people going to City Hall for a pride rally. I remember painting the Lavender Line down Salina Street to mark the route of the parade. I remember how there were people protesting us at Pride, but over the years, their numbers dwindled. I remember thinking that we were in the clear, that we had fought hard and created change. But now, here we are. The current administration would love to erase us. To bring back the oppressive days where our jobs and livelihoods could legally be in jeopardy and when hatred and discrimination were considered a right, and queers of all kinds had no rights; to erase the gains made in healthcare for women, Roe v. Wade, HIV and AIDS care; and to roll back a multitude of other advancements like DEI and gender affirming care. These are targeted and deliberately cut.

There was no World Aids Day ribbon at the White House. No pride flags there or any federal buildings. No more federal recognition of pride month and the removal for Queer and Black historical markers. No, they don’t want that, they don’t want to remember we exist. 

Well let me tell you this. As Queers, we rose at Stonewall where our elders fought for their rights. We rose during the AIDS crisis, when we learned again that our silence will not protect us. We formed coalitions and unleashed our power, demanding that our government work for us. We have been rising with the trans community who are currently the particular focus of the anti-queer forces. We continue to rise in new ways, in more inclusive communities.

 What we learned through the AIDS crisis is that we don’t do it alone. The women came out fighting strong, as their brothers were dying. But, when meds came out, too many men retreated back into their corners, with little acknowledgement of what our lesbian sisters did for us. Misogyny, racism and classism are examples of where we still need to do our work. These are problems that undo community. The capitalism of “I’ve got mine” has fragmented us over and over again, day after day. It divides us more than anything else. 

I’m thinking about what the Black Panthers did: how they started the breakfast programs, and all the really good things that came from this. We can make our mark also. We can make the change we want to see. We can build coalitions that become more sustainable, more broad and more inclusive--that work for real and true justice for everyone who wants the same for us. We should nurture and reach out to those who feel alienated or marginalized in our own communities first, but then show our light to the world. We can start thinking outside the capitalist box and reach out to those struggling and often viewed as less. For instance, we can build a queer advocacy presence in the jails and prisons. We can do the same in the shelters. We can build trust and queer visibility in immigrant communities. Fight for our environment and protest these crazy wars that drain the resources out of our communities. The fact is that queer people have been in these struggles for justice and survival all along. Being very intentional about widening our communities and sharing our goals can increase our power.

 When queer people were able to start serving openly in the military, Nick and I questioned the policy change. We didn’t oppose the choice and the equality that queer people were fighting for, but killing black and brown and Asian people around the world so that rich (mostly) white (mostly) men could get richer didn’t make us say “wow, now we have arrived. What an advancement”. The military industrial complex takes the biggest piece of the federal budget pie and what do we get for our money? We get manipulated over and over again trying to be mainstream or to be patriotic. 

The values that led to using enslaved people to build a nation on stolen land are the same values that led to queers being subjugated, outlawed and erased. Up until 53 years ago, being “Homosexual” in this country was officially a mental illness. Up until 22 years ago, queer couples couldn’t marry. When do we realize the mainstream sucks?

We know what oppression looks like, though maybe it has been a while since we experienced it as the elders have. Capitalism sucks. It is at the core of our oppression. It keeps us isolated and struggling to make it through the next day, the next emergency, the next crisis. But it is the only system we have been offered to live in. It is time to rethink things and find other models of successful ways in which to live. When we fearlessly look at the ways we are marginalized and oppressed we can build coalitions with others of similar experience, coalitions that are stronger and more lasting. We stand up for others and with others and they are there for us. There will be strength in numbers. Of course this isn’t new. We have seen the various ways that liberation can look, and Pride Month is one of them. But this is not the time to be complacent or to imagine that we can easily sustain the hard fought battles of our past. The ruling class are actively trying to erase us. Now is the time, more than ever, for us to imagine a liberation that lives up to our dearest images of ourselves-- a world where we are number one in healthcare affordability and access; where our education system is fully supported and teachers are treated and paid like professionals; where recognizing the professionalism of nurses and social workers is not subject to the whims of a politician; where we no longer incarcerate more people than any other country or use the incarcerated as unpaid labor; where we condemn genocide and uphold international law; where we embrace mutual aid and repair and maintain the social fabric together.

 It was just that kind of liberated imagination that inspired us to start Friends of Dorothy house.In 1992, when there was literally no place in Syracuse other than the hospital that was willing to care for people who were dying from AIDS, we welcomed people into our home where together we created a different model. Some people didn’t “get us” at first, but we kept doing good work and getting in good trouble, and people started understanding our work and seeing it as valid. It was through our work that we were able to educate and move gay visibility forward in some communities.

We encourage everyone to rise and create alternatives to the problems plaguing our communities and world. Create new models to combat poverty. How do you utilize your excess? How many people have extra rooms not used? Please don’t be afraid to help someone out. Let’s use our talents and resources, our art and beauty to shine our light. Let’s be the light we want to see and the light that takes others out from the shadows. Let’s work together, organize and create beautiful alternatives which fill our community with pride. We were an alternative culture. Let’s embrace our uniqueness.  

At its root the fight has always been for dignity, equality, prosperity and safety, the ability to live in peace and follow our dreams. For us and all others. Let us create a culture which fills us all with pride. I believe in all of us. We all have something to offer. It isn’t a competition or a sprint but a way of life. I hope today’s celebration is a really fun time and we wake up tomorrow with a renewed desire to embrace dreams and goals. The work that has already been done has not yet been completed or brought to fruition. But we have a lot to build off of. Let’s give the world an example of what true pride can look like. Let us be part of leading the movement of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, where the + includes everyone who is willing to stand and fight with us, and accepts our solidarity.

Happy Pride everyone! 

Michael DeSalvo and Nick Orth

Friends of Dorothy House