NYC PRIDE EVENT
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2015 GRAND MARSHALS
SIR DEREK JACOBI is one of the most celebrated actors from the UK, having won numerous awards—including Tonys, Oliviers, Emmys, and BAFTAs—for his work in theatre, film, and television. Currently starring alongside Ian McKellen in Vicious, a PBS sitcom about two bickering old partners in London, Derek is an openly gay actor who has been with his partner, Richard Clifford, for 38 years. His extensive list of acting credits includes Last Tango to Halifax, Grace of Monaco, The King’s Speech, The Golden Compass, Gladiator, Gosford Park, Doctor Who, Frasier, The Borgias, and he has starred in some of Shakespeare’s most iconic roles on stage including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth.
SIR IAN MCKELLEN is an international acting star with more than 50 acting awards and hundreds of roles under his belt. He is particularly well-loved for his roles as Magneto in the X-Men films and Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. Ian is starring alongside Derek Jacobi in PBS’s Vicious as a gay character, which he also did in 1993’s And The Band Played On, a film about the origin of the AIDS crisis. Ian came out in 1988 and helped found Stonewall UK. Ian has extensive stage experience and recently delighted New York audiences alongside Patrick Stewart in Waiting for Godot and No Man’s Land.
KASHA JACQUELINE NABAGESERA is the founder and Executive Director of the LGBT rights organization Freedom & Roam Uganda (FARUG). Since 1999, she has been one of the foremost leaders of the LGBT movement in Uganda, where homosexuality is illegal. She helped open Uganda’s first bar for LGBT people and in 2014 she helped organize the very first Pride Festival in Uganda. A frequent speaker at international human rights conferences, Kasha has been recognized numerous times for her pioneering approach to stopping homophobia in her home country and worldwide.
J. CHRISTOPHER NEAL is originally from Detroit and now lives in Brooklyn. Chris is a visual artist, educator, and the founder of the upstart organization FluidBiDesign, committed to the psychological, physical, and emotional health and well-being of all men, but specifically men of African descent who conceive of their identities—inclusive of their sexuality, but not limited to—as “fluid.” Its central focus is in promoting open dialogue, awareness, compassion, acceptance, increased knowledge, and understanding.