Deborah Gibson announced as first of several COWP marshals

Why limit ourselves to one Come Out With Pride (COWP) grand marshal?

For 2012, COWP will select several â┚¬Å”parade marshals,â┚¬Â and the first one announced is Debbie Gibson.

â┚¬Å”We're still working on bringing other marshals into the parade for different sections of the parade so we can have a parade and a list of marshals as diverse as our community is,â┚¬Â said Mikael Audebert, COWP executive director. â┚¬Å”Debbie Gibson is the first being named and we're still negotiating with two other celebrities to also be part of the parade as marshals.â┚¬Â

Audebert said the names of the other marshals will be released by Aug. 15.

Gibson is excited about her new gig and posted to Facebook: â┚¬Å”SO honored n full of PRIDE to be not only performing but leading the parade! I think I’ll wear a tiara :-)â┚¬Â

For many, Gibson will forever be known as “Debbie” Gibson of the 1980s, when she exploded onto the pop scene at the age of 16. She was the youngest person ever to write, produce and perform a number one single with “Foolish Beat.” She still holds that record and since then she has sold more than 16 albums worldwide.

Gay and straight fans alike fell for the young star, but when she took a turn on the Broadway stage as Eponine in Les Miserables, she sealed her fate as an LGBT icon. She went on to perform in London’s West End as Sandy in Grease and wowed critics as Belle in Beauty and the Beast and Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy. She also starred as Sally Bowles in the Broadway revival of Cabaret.

Fans saw the star return to television on last season’s The Celebrity Apprentice on NBC, where she raised more than $50,000 for Children International. She also made a cameo in the 2012 film Rock of Ages.

Currently Gibson is recording a new U.S. album and its first single, Rise, is available on iTunes.

She's performing at Parliament House Oct. 6, the night of the main Pride event.

â┚¬Å”This is the first time we're doing the official after party,â┚¬Â said Parliament House owner Don Granatstein. â┚¬Å”We're one of the sponsors of Pride.â┚¬Â

Granatstein said this represents a change from the way they used to handle competing events during Pride weekend, resulting from a roundtable meeting with various local bar owners and COWP leadership.

â┚¬Å”We had a big dispute with them when Mikael was doing concerts and stuff and we decided to work together with the clubs and everyone else,â┚¬Â Granatstein said. â┚¬Å”We straightened out all those things so it's community events.â┚¬Â

Granatstein added that the goal is to make COWP more of a weeklong event, along the same vein as Gay Days.