By Adam Pincus
Thompson is an outspoken supporter of marriage equality.”We are extremely pleased that Comptroller Thompson is serving as one of our grand marshals,” said Stewart Kessler, Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee co-chairman in a written statement. Other honorees include Marisa Ragonese, program director of Q Youth Services in Astoria, and Dirk McCall, president of Stonewall Democrats, a citywide political organization.”All of our honorees are leaders in the fight to secure equal rights for LGBT people,” said Daniel Dromm, founder of the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee Event organizers expect about 40,000 people to attend the event, including some 40 groups which will march in the parade. Scores of vendors have also signed up, selling a variety of items, including rainbow tschochkies and Colombian food.Brenda K. Starr, a singer and former disc jokey for radio station WKTU, is scheduled to headline at one of the three performance stages. A youth group and a show of drag queens will also be performing.For the first time, the festival will offer free cholesterol and HIV testing. A spokesman said the results of the HIV test would be ready within 20 minutes for those choosing to be tested at the event.The original parade, in 1993, was held in response to allegedly homophobic attacks by a former Queens school board president, according to parade organizers. Hank Krumholz, media co-chairman for the event, said the Jackson Heights location was not related to those attacks, however. He said the neighborhood was chosen because “Jackson Heights is one of the few communities in Queens that would welcome the parade.” Jackson Heights is considered the second largest LGBT community in New York City after Chelsea, Krumholz said. For the first time in more than five years, he added, the police had made arrangements for a small counter demonstration.The parade begins at noon, traveling east on 37th Avenue from 89th Street to 75th Street. The festival runs from noon until 6 p.m. on 37th Road between 73rd and 77th streets.Reach reporter Adam Pincus by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
