Q Voice News Announces Long Beach Pride 2022 Grand Marshals

On June 28, 2022, Q Voice News reported our announcement of the grand marshals for the Long Beach Pride Parade 2022. Leading the list was Jeopardy champion Amy Schneider.

Reporter Phillip Zonkel reminded readers why her name meant so much. Schneider, a software engineer, became the first woman and the first transgender person to pass $1 million in winnings on the show, and the first member of the LGBTQ+ community to reach that mark. Her 40-game winning streak, which ended in January 2022, is the second-longest in the show’s history.

Our president, Elsa Martinez, explained the choice in the press release Q Voice quoted.

We are thrilled to have Amy as our grand marshal this year, as her winning streak earlier this year on Jeopardy allowed America the opportunity to meet a brilliant and personable champion, who also happens to be a trans woman.

Elsa Martinez, President of Long Beach Pride, in Q Voice News

The story also named the community grand marshals who would ride with her, and we were proud of every one of them:

Long Beach businessman Michael Barber; Cindy Allen, the councilmember representing Long Beach’s Second District; Naomi Rainey, president of the Long Beach NAACP; Jesse Guardado, a student at Cabrillo High School; Shirley Raines, founder of the nonprofit Beauty 2 The Streetz; and Maria Roman-Taylorson, vice president and chief operating officer at the Translatina Coalition.

Together they reflect the Long Beach we know. Neighborhood business owners, civic leaders, a young person finding their voice in high school and advocates who show up every day for unhoused neighbors and for trans Latina women.

Q Voice also shared the details for the weekend. A free Teen Pride celebration would open things on July 8, followed by the festival on July 9 and 10 along Shoreline Drive at Rainbow Lagoon and Marina Green. The parade was set to step off at 10:30 a.m. on July 10 at Ocean Boulevard and Lindero Avenue and head west to Alamitos Avenue.

Q Voice News has followed LGBTQ+ life in Long Beach and Los Angeles for years, and we are glad it helped introduce these honorees to the wider community.

Read the full story at Q Voice News.