PrideFest Grand Marshals 1990s-2000s
1990s
Jean E. Dubofsky
Jean was the first woman to serve as a justice on the Colorado Supreme Court, which she did from 1979 until 1987, when she left the bench to return to private practice. She also served as lead counsel in Romer v. Evans, the 1996 United States Supreme Court case that challenged the constitutionality of Colorado’s Amendment 2 and lead our nation’s highest court to recognize gay rights for the first time. She is a 1967 graduate of Harvard Law School and a 1964 graduate of Stanford University, and still practices law in Boulder.
Greg Montoya
Greg has been the editor-in-chief and publisher of Out Front Colorado, the state’s oldest and largest LGBT publication, since 1993. Prior to that, he was employed by the publication, which, for 34 years, has provided news, features and entertainment for Colorado’s LGBT community. Greg is a graduate of the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. He and his husband, Randy Martin, have been together for 17 years and were legally married in San Francisco in 2008.
Steven E. Foster
Rabbi Foster took his first position as an ordained rabbi at Temple Emanuel in 1970 and became the Senior Rabbi in 1981. He brings to his rabbinate a deep commitment to social justice, Jewish education and Jewish continuity. He has served or is serving on the board of the ACLU, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Planned Parenthood, United Way, Allied Jewish Federation, the Governor’s Commission for Same-Sex Relationships and Jewish Mosaic, among many others.
Jim Burns
The Rev. Jim Burns has been the pastor at Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of the Rockies since 1996. MCC is a church of the gay and lesbian community and family and friends. Open to and affirming of all people, MCC serves the community with more than 20 different programs ranging from ministry to individuals who are incarcerated to a social justice team. Jim previously served churches in New Haven and Houston. He has degrees from Oberlin College, Yale Divinity School, and Iliff School of Theology.
Jessie Shafer
Jessie, aka David Reaser, has been active in the LGBT community since his arrival in early 1996, serving at various times on the boards of the Gender Identity Center of Colorado, Equal Rights Colorado and more recently PFLAG Denver. Other volunteer activities have included service on Mayor Wellington Webb's Gay and Lesbian Advisory Committee, Mayor Hickenlooper's GLBT Commission, Project Angel Heart, Gay and Gray in the West and The Center's SAGE of the Rockies program.
Doug Sanborn
Doug has worked with Denver PrideFest for more than five years, leading Coors' outreach efforts to the LGBT community. Now as the Brand Manager for Multicultural Marketing-LGBT for MillerCoors, he is responsible for leading all aspects of the company’s marketing and corporate relations programs in the LGBT market. Sanborn has a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Michigan, and resides in Chicago.
2000s
Dede Frain
Dede is the founder of Babes Around Denver (BAD), the social, networking, and charitable fundraising organization that presents First Friday, the country’s largest monthly women's party. BAD works with other organizations to further its mission of connecting the community while supporting charities for women, children and LGBT causes. Dede has a bachelor's degree in nursing and a master’s in public administration from the University of Colorado, and is happily partnered with Stace Williams, whom she met at First Friday seven years ago.
Nita Mosby-Henry
Nita is the founder and Executive Director of The Kaleidoscope Project, a community-based health organization created to expand healthy living perspectives and health equity within the Black community. She also serves on the board of directors, of the newly-formed LGBT advocacy organization, One Colorado. Ms. Mosby-Henry holds a doctorate in the field of organizational leadership, a master's degree in management and a bachelor's degree in education.
Matt Kailey
Matt has been with Out Front Colorado for more than seven years – first as staff writer, and currently as managing editor. He is one of the first, if not the first, out transgender managing editors of a major LGBT publication. He has appeared in five documentary films, is co-chair of The Center's Transgender Advisory Committee, and trains locally and nationally on LGBT issues. He is an author and writes a blog at tranifesto.com.
Mara Boyd
Mara Boyd was an Air Force ROTC cadet from 1999 until the fall of 2003. Despite being among the top cadets in her class and graduating with distinction, she was honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserves for "homosexual conduct." She received a degree in women and gender studies in 2007 at the University of Colorado and has been speaking publicly about her experiences with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for seven years. She was recently arrested for handcuffing herself to the White House fence with other GLBT veterans, including Lt. Dan Choi.
Morris Price
Morris has been a figure within the LGBT community of Denver for years. He served on The Center’s Board of Directors from 1997 to 2001, and is still actively involved with fundraising, especially Jokers, Jewels, and Justice – the annual fundraiser for The Center’s Legal and Advocacy Program. He currently works as the National Program Officer at the Gill Foundation, helping to shape future of the LGBT movement across the country.
Christopher Hubble
Christopher became involved with Soulforce in 1998, and, along with a dedicated local core affinity group, has been organizing nonviolently on behalf of LGBT Coloradans ever since. Christopher was the lead organizer of "Focus on the Facts," a campaign that culminated in late 2007 in a marriage equality sit-in at the Denver Clerk and Recorder's office. In 2009, the "Denver Five" staged a sit-in inside the Webb Municipal Building to protest Proposition 8. This year, a jury acquitted them of nine out of 10 resultant civil disobedience charges... further exemplifying the efficacy of relentless nonviolent resistance.
Terry Dodd
Terry is an award-winning playwright and director who is well known in the performing arts community of Denver. His play Home by Dark, based on his coming-out experience with his father, premiered at the Curious Theatre Co. last January and received much critical praise. He is currently working on a one-man show about Alfred Hitchcock and teaches playwriting at the University of Colorado-Denver.