(Photos courtesy each grand marshal)
Tampa Pride asked the community to nominate representatives for this year’s celebration, set for March 29, nominations which closed in January. The nonprofit subsequently announced this year’s honorees Feb. 2.
“Tampa Pride would like to extend its heartfelt gratitude to the community for their enthusiastic participation in nominating individuals for the esteemed role of Grand Marshal for the 2025 festivities,” organizers shared. “It is with great pleasure and excitement that we introduce the selected Grand Marshals for this upcoming event. Thank you for your support and dedication to celebrating diversity and inclusion within our community.”
Tampa Pride later announced Harvey Milk Foundation President Stuart Milk would also be honored at this month’s 11th celebration on March 29. Watermark Out News discusses the honor and more with the LGBTQ+ advocate here.
Read all about 2025’s additional honorees below:
Grand Marshal: Luis Salazar
From working as a volunteer liaison for the Hispanic Services Council to becoming Watermark Out News’ social media coordinator, Luis Salazar’s contributions to Tampa’s LGBTQ+ community are extensive. He also serves as vice president of the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus, which represents LGBTQ+ Floridians to the state’s Democratic Party through 21 chapters. That includes the Hillsborough County LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus, of which he serves as president.
“I step into spaces to advocate for our community at the local, state and national levels, representing all those communities,” he explains. “My favorite aspect about our Tampa Bay community is our biggest strength, which is our diversity.
“We are capable of shining in so many glorious ways and finding joy in the face of adversity,” he continues. Also a veteran who’s traveled six continents, Salazar insists that “Tampa Bay is the only place I have wanted to call home.” The Tampa area is so spectacular to Salazar because he can “see its beauty, potential for good and justice, and the community that LGBTQ+ people fight for every day.”
While he warns that “we are about to see some very difficult times for our LGBTQ+ community,” Salazar’s confidence in our resilience remains. “We have been through this before. The LGBTQ+ community is valiant and ready to protect each other as much as we celebrate each other when the time comes to do so.”
Community Allied Grand Marshal: Anne-Marie N. Hoeck
Free Mom Hugs operates as a volunteer network dedicated to making a difference for the LGBTQ+ community through visibility, education and conversation. Volunteering as a state chapter leader, Anne-Marie N. Hoeck says that working closely with others to better Tampa’s LGBTQ+ community “makes me better.” Long before her work in advocacy, she already had close ties to the community.
“As far back as the 1980’s during my school years, I had friends who weren’t ready to come out and my high school boyfriend came out to me as we parted ways,” she recalls, noting the two are still incredibly close. She is now also a mother to three queer-identifying children.
“Providing safe spaces, creating chosen families and the pure joy they share with others is something I have never found anywhere else,” she says of Tampa’s LGBTQ+ community.
As a fierce ally, Hoeck is “beyond grateful for their acceptance and allowing me to hear their stories, to give them support when they need it and of course offer all the hugs I can.” She’s also thankful that Tampa Pride gives her a space to stand “for equal rights, visibility, respect and providing everyone a place to be their full authentic selves.”
Couple Grand Marshals: Joe Ebbing and Scot Kleinhanzl
Joe Ebbing and Scot Kleinhanzl have participated in Tampa Bay Pride celebrations for nearly 14 years, representing their United Church of Christ and local organizations at various events together. They “feel the celebration of Pride is important for the community as it helps create awareness and education.”
It also “helps young people realize they are not alone in their struggles of coming to terms as to whom they might be,” the couple adds. They say Tampa Pride in particular is important to them because “it brings the community together regardless of differences and celebrates the diversity that allows the community to work together with compassion and respect for each other.”
Both have called Tampa Bay home for decades and have made successful careers for themselves alongside their participation in the local LGBTQ+ community. Behind the scenes, they have volunteered and collaborated on behalf of their church with Tampa Pride’s parade, Rainbow 5K Run and organizations like GaYbor, PFLAG Tampa, the Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber, the Hillsborough County LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus and more. Additionally, the couple has promoted the Tampa Pride Band and Gay Men’s Chorus, and Joe served as Tampa Pride’s liaison for the celebration’s Interfaith Pride Service in 2024. He’ll do so again this year.
The couple works to “represent their United Church of Christ philosophy by their daily lives, ‘No matter where you are on your life’s journey or on your spiritual journey, you are welcome here,’” they explain. “Love is love.”
Trailblazer Grand Marshal: Diane Haymes
Diane Haymes has always been drawn to photography, and to capturing the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals.
“Nothing makes me happier than photographing someone who has never felt comfortable in front of a camera because the results haven’t reflected their true self,” she says. “When I can produce work that brings them joy as they feel connected to the picture, I feel accomplished.”
Although Haymes has spent much of her life in the software industry, her photography has been featured through work with organizations like Out Front Theatre, Tampa Pride, St Pete Pride, OUT Georgia Business Alliance and TransNetwork. An Atlanta transplant, she also served as the lead photographer for the organization’s own Pride celebration.
When reflecting on her work within the LGBTQ+ community, she thinks back to when she first began her transition. “I felt that I had to pass… if someone made me as trans then I had failed,” she explains. She then realized “if they saw me as a trans woman they were seeing my authentic self and that was the goal.”
“I set my own personal agenda to first, be visible and proud and secondly to educate others about gender whenever I could create an opportunity,” Haymes continues. Wanting to be seen as more than her gender identity, she aimed to normalize the act of being trans itself. “People are told to hate the trans community without any reason and most have never met a trans individual… I want to be someone that meets a lot of people and is hard to hate.”
In that and more, Haymes has found great success. It’s something she carries with her into Tampa Pride 2025, “an opportunity to stand up to the bullying and show the community that we will not be erased.”
Grand Marshal Trailblazer Couple: David Warner and Larry Biddle
David Warner and Larry Biddle have made significant contributions to LGBTQ+ Tampa Bay. As an actor, freelancer for outlets like The Gabber and Watermark Out News as well as former editor of Creative Loafing, David has covered LGBTQ+ topics impacting those in and outside of the region. Larry is a well-known fundraiser, gathering over $480 million for nonprofit and political organizations throughout North America.
The husbands celebrated their 30th “meet-a-versary” in 2022, having first connected in Philadelphia in 1992. Their courtship led to their civil union in 2003 and legal wedding in 2012. Both David and Larry are now members of the Equality Florida Council, contributing monthly to the organization’s vital efforts to achieve full equality for Florida’s LGBTQ+ community.
The couple says celebrations like Tampa Pride are more important than ever “amidst a national political climate that’s become increasingly regressive and repressive,” calling on the community to “make our voices heard and wave our flags proudly.”
Celebrity Grand Marshals: Judy B. Goode and Paul T. Brechue
Judy B. Goode has been an active member in Tampa Bay’s LGBTQ+ scene for over 40 years, largely because of Tampa Pride. Since coming out in 1984, she has attended its various iterations as an advocate and entertainer and says 1989 was a particularly memorable year for her as the opening act for Helen Reddy.
Since Pride returned to Tampa in its current iteration, Goode has taken the stage every year with longtime pianist Paul T. Brechue. While their music careers first converged in 1984, they have been playing together consistently since 2004. Goode says that although she lives and works in St. Petersburg, “Tampa Pride is closer to my heart.” When she and Paul were informed they would be honored as Celebrity Grand Marshals this year, she adds, the duo “couldn’t believe it.”
“I have been performing at the same hotel in downtown Saint Pete at the Hollander for 12 years… I didn’t think people in Tampa would actually remember us but they did,” Goode says. “We may not be famous, but everybody here has made us always feel like stars.”
Community Leader Grand Marshal: Greg Dee
Greg Dee is widely known across the Tampa Bay area as the morning meteorologist on ABC Action News. In his personal life, however, he works to better the local LGBTQ+ community by being himself.
“I stay authentic,” he explains. “I post my life, with my husband and dog. I try to showcase ‘us’ as one would showcase any other family without drawing attention to it.” Additionally, he “spends hours driving around the Bay area visiting local schools… teaching kids about weather, severe weather safety, and building a passion for careers in math and science,” his ABC Action News bio reads.
When he learned he had been selected as this year’s Community Leader Grand Marshal, Dee felt “really honored and humbled.” He explains that it “makes my heart full knowing that other people see me as a positive addition to the LGBTQ+ Tampa community.”
Reflecting on his time at previous Pride events, Dee says “I really enjoy meeting everyone during all the different events… it’s also just a ton of fun.” To Dee, Pride is important because it serves as “an opportunity to celebrate our unique LGBTQ+ community.” He says to “be you and live your life for YOU, no matter what is going on around us.”
This feature was originally published in Watermark Out News’ Pride in Tampa magazine. Read more below:
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