Gaga the Surprise (Sort of) Guest at NYC Pride Rally

PHOTOS BY DONNA ACETO | The annual LGBT Pride Rally, held June 28 at Pier 26 in Tribeca, kicked off an exuberant Pride Weekend punched up by the victories earlier in the week at the Supreme Court.

The hosts were Pandora Boxx, best known as a former contestant on the second season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and Keith Price, a comic of Honduran background who grew up gay in Texas.

Speakers included Parade grand marshal Earl Fowlkes, president of the Center For Black Equity, which has worked to create more than 40 Black Pride events across the country, Carl Siciliano, founder and executive director of the Ali Forney Center, which provides housing and social services to LGBT homeless youth across New York City, and the Reverend Mark Erson, the out gay pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church on Christopher Street.

The big splash of the evening, however, came from the appearance of Lady Gaga. Though she was not in the official line-up, word of her surprise appearance spread widely toward the end of the week, likely adding to the crowd on the West Side pier.

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