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Christopher Taykalo

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Dallas Drake 2007 Grand Marshal

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Twin Cities Pride is very pleased to announce that it has selected Dallas Drake to be the 2007 Grand Marshal.  The Grand Marshal is someone who has made a significant positive impact on the Twin Cities GLBT community.

Mr. Drake has been an active leader in the GLBT community for over 20 years and has just recently been cited by “Who’s Who in America 2007.”

In the late 1980’s Mr. Drake was pivotal in the early AIDS and GLBT-awareness and activism movements.  He was a founding member of ACT UP in Minnesota and helped organize and fund public visibility campaigns, demonstrations and media.

Dallas Drake said, “I am pleased to be selected as the 2007 Pride Grand Marshal. This is an acknowledgement, not only of my personal accomplishments and commitment to human rights, but symbolic of the work we all do to further the cause of justice and fairness. Many LGBT people, many who may never be recognized for their role and contribution, are working tirelessly to make our community better for everyone. We should reach out and thank and support each and every one of them for their work. I would like to thank Twin Cities Pride for the honor of being selected as Grand Marshal.”

Drake also volunteered extensively in the community as an AIDS Community Educator with the Red Cross, serving meals to homeless men and women at St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, training as a witness for Non-Violence in Northern Wisconsin, serving on an anti-violence task force with the Gay & Lesbian Community Action Council, now known as Outfront Minnesota and acting as a search volunteer for Katie Poirer in Moose Lake.

His current leadership in his efforts to understand and prevent GLBT homicide makes him especially qualified to be this year’s Grand Marshal.  He co-founded in 1999 the Center for Homicide Research, a volunteer-driven nonprofit addressing the issue of GLBT homicide.  Over the years he has served as the Center’s principal researcher, Mr. Drake has become the nation’s leading expert on GLBT homicide and lethal violence.  He has provided resources, education and assistance in homicide investigations in 12 states, Canada, New Zealand and Great Britain.  He has helped identify offenders, strengthen prosecution cases and secure convictions.  He has worked with state and local law enforcement, the FBI, joint homicide task forces, several homicide investigators and concerned citizens to assist with active investigations or “cold cases.”  In the last two years, his work has been credited with solving two Gay homicides.

Dr. Cheryl Maloney, Pride’s Executive Director, said, “This year we are honoring Dallas Drake as Grand Marshal for his unique passion to lead the charge in addressing and solving gay murders. We are moved by his dedication, success and commitment to make a difference in the Gay community as he faithfully continues to deal with difficult challenges that all too often are abandoned by others.  Dallas is an outstanding example of an un-sung hero in our community.”

All four of this year’s Pride Award recipients, including Grand Marshal Dallas Drake, will be honored at the annual Grand Marshal’s Ball, which will be held on Saturday, May 12, 2007 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  Tickets for the Ball will go on sale in March on Pride’s web site, tcpride.org for $75.  The event will feature a short awards program, silent auction, full dinner and entertainment.

Celebrating its 35rd year in 2007, GLBT Pride/Twin Cities, the organizer of the Twin Cities Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender (GLBT) Pride Celebration, began in 1972 with a small group of activists meeting for a picnic in Minneapolis’ Loring Park and a short march down Nicollet Mall.  Over the intervening years, the Twin Cities Pride Celebration has grown to be the largest GLBT Pride in the region and 3rd largest in the United States, with an estimated combined attendance of nearly 400,000 people at six events.  GLBT Pride/Twin Cities is a nonprofit organization.

It is the mission of GLBT Pride/Twin Cities to commemorate and celebrate our diverse heritage, inspire the achievement of equality and challenge discrimination.