Tampa Pride Selects Their Grand Marshals and Two Special Award Recipients

Tampa Pride is less than two months away, and organizers have already kicked things into high gear with the Miss Tampa Pride pageant (won by Alexis Mateo) and the selection of grand marshals for this year's parade, which will be held on March 26 in Ybor City. In addition, two people will be honored with the "Recognized GLBTA Community Supporter Award."

The first grand marshal for Tampa Pride 2016 is Lorraine Langlois, who you may recall was also selected as one of Hotspots' "30 heroes" in our 30th anniversary issue last December. She is the CEO of Metro Wellness and Community Centers, which offers a multitude of services for the LGBT community and for people impacted by HIV and AIDS in the Tampa Bay area. She grew the organization from a one-room office at the King of Peace Metropolitan Community Church in the early 1990s to a multi-million dollar service organization today, with offices and mobile testing units in three Florida counties (Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco).

The second grand marshal for Tampa Pride 2016 is Russell Rhodes, who co-anchors the 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. hours of "Good Day Tampa Bay" on WTVT-TV FOX 13 alongside Laura Moody. The Paris, Texas native has worked at FOX 13 since 1994 and traveled across Tampa Bay as the morning show's feature reporter before being promoted to the anchor's chair. He has given his time and money to multiple charities across the region.

The Recognized GLBTA Community Supporter Awards will be given to two individuals during Tampa Pride. The first is Pam Iorio, the current president of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and Tampa's mayor from 2003-11; she was a very outspoken supporter of LGBT rights and causes when the county government was less-than-willing. The second is Joe Redner, a free speech advocate who always keeps the City Council and other local government officials on their toes. A celebrated businessman, he made much of his fortune as owner of the nationally-famous Mons Venus gentleman's club.

Meet the grand marshals at the grand marshal gala on Wednesday, February 24 at Cristino's Coal Oven Pizza in Ybor City. For more information on Tampa Pride, visit tampapride.org.