Capital Pride Parade

33 Years Celebrating the Washington, DC Metro Area LGBT Community and its Friends and Allies

History. Vision. Legacy.

2008 Grand Marshalls

Celebrity Grand Marshall - Bruce Vilanch

Bruce Vilanch is one of the most sought-after comedy writers in Hollywood, winner of a bunch of Emmys and noted as the "Hollywood Square" just to the left of Whoopi. Shaved, he spent two years as Edna Turnblad, Baltimore housewife and superstar, on tour and on Broadway in the smash musical adaptation of the John Waters film "Hairspray."

Most recently, Bruce was seen on VH1's popular fitness and nutrition reality-series, "Celebrity Fit Club," which finished its third season. Participating in a type of extreme-makeover-body-edition, the Celebrity Fit Clubbers went through 100 days of Fit Club training. Along the way, they learned about fitness, diets and nutrition. Who knows what Bruce will look like for his next performance?

In addition to "Hairspray," he has appeared in such legendary epics as "Ice Pirates," "Mahogany" and "The Morning After." A frequent guest on talk shows, Bruce won his Emmys for co-writing back-to-back Oscar shows with Billy Crystal. He's written 16 Oscar-casts so far, as well as a number of Tonys, Grammys, and even Emmys, although he never got an Emmy for writing an Emmy – that would be award-show incest of the lowest order. His bizarre career was documented in the film "Get Bruce!," released by Miramax and perpetually available on Buena Vista Home Video. Bruce's one-man show, "Almost Famous," tickled Off-Broadway audiences for three months and has made a number of appearances around the country.

He recently appeared as a special guest at the PFLAG DC annual fundraising dinner on March 8th, 2008 that honored Tipper Gore

Honorary Grand Marshall - Noi Chudnoff

From the moment she opened Go Mama Go, a gift shop on 14th Street, in 2001, Noi was a transformative force in the neighborhood and the gay community. She quickly became one of our community's biggest supporters, donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Victory Fund, the Task Force, Whitman Walker, the N Street Village, and Ganymede Arts/Actors' Theatre of Washington, among others. In managing her store, she had the unique ability to make every one of us feel special with her signature "Hi Dear" and a hug.

Noi's actions enhanced the lives of GLBT persons in DC in many ways, but two stand out. Through her selfless donations she individually made a difference in the life of so many GLBT organizations and beyond her financial support, Noi's actions enhanced the lives of GLBT persons by providing us with a renewed sense of community. Go Mama Go and Noi quickly became a new center of the GLBT community in the Dupont/Logan neighborhoods.

Noi was born in Thailand in 1947. At the age of 17 she left Thailand and her family and moved to Seattle, Washington. She married her husband, Jonathan, in 1974 and together they have one son, Nissim. After spending several years in retail in Kensington and Eastern Market, Noi opened Go Mama Go in 2001. Noi passed November 6, 2007 suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 59 from massive head trauma while she was in the hospital being treated for colon cancer.

Honorary Grand Marshall - Cheryl Spector

During the past 20 years, Cheryl Spector played an active role in Washington's GLBT community. A native of Toms River, N.J., she came to Washington to study Spanish and broadcast journalism at American University. She built a reputation for attending and videotaping nearly every GLBT-related event in Washington, whether it be Capital Pride events, the funerals of the many people who died from AIDS in the late '80s and '90s, or even drag performances. She also often took part in shows with the D.C. Drag Kings as ''Dick Hurtz Bottoms,'' a drag persona she created several years ago.

Cheryl's activism came after the 1985 suicide of her brother, Stan Spector, who was gay and had AIDS. Her contributions to D.C.'s gay community include her efforts as the co-founder of Oppression Under Target (OUT/DC!), as well as her involvement with the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance (AGLA), Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Whitman-Walker Clinic's Max Robinson Center, the Rainbow History Project and a number of other organizations.

Cheryl passed away September 4, 2007 at the age of 49 after a brief battle with myeloid dysplasia, an underlying cancer of the bone marrow, and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), the most common form of leukemia in adults.