Actor and singer Billy Porter is set to headline the main stage at San Francisco Pride this summer.
Porter, a Tony, Emmy, Grammy and Golden Globe award-winning veteran of stage and screen, is scheduled to perform at the annual LGBTQ celebration at the Civic Center on June 30, following the San Francisco Pride Parade, where he will serve as Celebrity Grand Marshal, according to the organization’s website. He is also expected to appear at a public party at San Francisco City Hall, which concludes official Pride festivities that week.
This year’s theme is “Beacon of Love.”
The 54-year-old first came to popular attention in 1996 when his song “Love Is on the Way” became a Billboard Top 100 hit after being featured on the soundtrack for “The First Wives Club.” On stage, Porter is best known for playing Lola in the 2013 musical “Kinky Boots,” but he rose to mainstream fame as ballroom emcee Pray Tell on the FX series “Pose,” a role he played from 2018-21.
Porter is also an author, releasing his memoir “Unprotected” in 2021, and has been an outspoken activist on issues impacting the LGBTQ and Black communities. He directed his first film, the comedy “Anything’s Possible,” in 2022.
His extravagant, gender-blending red-carpet fashion choices where he’s mixed classic black tie menswear and ball gown silhouettes has made Porter an icon of queer style.
“What I’m trying to use my platform for is to speak life into all of us,” he told the Chronicle last year ahead of his “Black Mona Lisa” tour, in support of the album of the same name, which stopped in San Jose and San Francisco in May.
Joining Porter at the parade are musician and activist Tory Teasley and activist Nicole Adler, both of San Francisco, who were voted Community Grand Marshals Members’ Choice by the public.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Community Grand Marshal honor goes to longtime San Francisco LGBTQ Center Director Rebecca Rolfe and Oakland Trans March co-founder Xavier Davenport. Nonbinary San Francisco activist Xander Briere was also selected as a Community Grand Marshal, and the Children’s After School Arts will serve as the Organizational Community Grand Marshal.
San Francisco Pride is one of the oldest and largest LGBTQ parades and celebrations in the world. Founded in 1970 as the Gay Freedom Day Parade, this year’s Pride Weekend is scheduled for June 29-30.
Reach Tony Bravo: tbravo@sfchronicle.com
