San Diego Pride Announces 2007 Parade Grand Marshal

Bruce Michael Abrams, well-known San Diego attorney and a commissioner of the Mayor's San Diego Human Relations Commission, will serve as grand marshal in this year's 33rd annual San Diego LGBT Pride parade, scheduled for 11:00 a.m., July 21.

Abrams' professional counsel extends deep in to the LGBT community, having worked pro bono for the San Diego AIDS Foundation and the San Diego Foundation for Change before serving five years as a board member for the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force as well as Equality California.

Currently a sole practitioner in estate planning and probate, his volunteerism has been far reaching. He is active with the San Diego Democratic Club's LGBT Political Group and the Tom Homann Bar Association for local LGBT attorneys, and served last year as co-chair for the San Diego Democratic Club's Freedom Banquet. He also devoted several years to the Gala Committee for The Center's major fundraising dinner and is a past treasurer and board member of the San Diego Foundation for Change and a past member of U.S. Congresswoman Lynn Schenk's Gay & Lesbian Advisory Committee.

"I strive to live life with dignity and honor each day and to celebrate life as a Jew and a gay man. As we celebrate Pride 2007 let's remember that as LGBT people we must reach out to others who share our values - communities of color, labor unions, women's groups, groups who support a woman's right to chose, religious institutions - all of it. We must come together to work efficiently and effectively. The days of issue segregation are over. We cannot become invisible. Together we will succeed. It's the least we can do for future generations," he said.

Abrams has received numerous awards and honors throughout his career from organizations such as the San Diego Democratic Club, The Center, the Imperial Court de San Diego and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund of Los Angeles, to name a few.

Pride's community grand marshal last year was Judy Reif, who helped promote the nation's first Pride march a year after the famous Stonewall riots occurred in Greenwich Village. The 2007 festivities include a Spirit of Stonewall celebration at 3:30 p.m., July 15 at the Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park (after the organ concert) in commemoration of those riots, which serve as the flash point for the modern-day LGBT movement.

Additionally, the mile-long parade on July 21 begins at University at Normal, travels west on University to Sixth Avenue, then south on Sixth to Upas then to Balboa Drive. This year's theme is: "United for Equality." The celebration continues with a two-day festival on July 21-22 featuring multiple performance stages, expanded ticket sales and beverage gardens and a host of new attractions.

For more information, visit the Pride web site at www.SanDiegoPride.org, or call 297-7683.

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