The Montréal Pride Celebrations Organising Committee is proud to host its 2010 Grand Marchals from Latvia. These ceremonial roles honour two members of the gay and lesbian community who continue to inspire us through their actions, their fearlessness and the generosity of their spirit.
Mr. Kaspars
Zalitis — Grand Marshal
Kaspars Zalitis is a human rights activist and a board member of LGBT and their friends alliance “Mozaika”, the only functioning gay rights organization in Latvia.
Kaspars was born in Venstpils, a seaside city in West of Latvia. He has studied and taken deep interest in Public Relations. For almost 15 years he has volunteered in various youth and human rights organizations. Currently he works for Latvian Centre for Human Rights.
Kaspars joined “Mozaika” in 2006 and since then has been actively involved in the organization of Prides, being a head security coordinator for all Riga pride parades from 2007 on as well as the challenging 2010 Baltic Pride in Vilnius, which involved discussions with the police and other security authorities to ensure the safety of all participants.
Kaspars has represented “Mozaika” in countless international events with Amnesty International, at InterPride conferences and Pride parades all over the world.
Ms. Kristine Garina — Grand Marshal
Kristine Garina is one of the founders of LGBT and their friends alliance “Mozaika”, the only functioning gay rights organisation in Latvia.
Kristine was born and raised in Riga, Latvia. In 2000, she graduated from the University of Latvia Institute of International Relations, where she earned a master’s degree in economics. In her day to day job, Kristine is working in business.
She has been actively involved with organizing prides in Riga since 2006 and was one of the authors of the idea of the Baltic Pride which successfully took place in Riga in 2009 and in Vilnius in 2010. In her involvement with the organization of Prides, Kristine has been responsible for parade logistics of the parade route. In light of difficulties “Mozaika” had to face with the Riga city council authorities and numerous bans or attempts to ban Riga pride parade. Kristine has been actively involved in International Relations representing “Mozaika” at various international LGBT themed events such as InterPride conferences, Pride London, Europride etc.
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Jasmin Roy and Michelle Blanc will be the spokespersons for the 4th edition of the Pride Celebrations.
Ms. Michelle Blanc — Spokeperson
One of the first to hold an Electronic Business M.Sc. with a specialization in management, Ms. Blanc is known for the many scientific, educational and popular projects she leads and produces here in Canada. She hosts the michelleblanc.com blog, which has become one of the favourites of the French marketing magazine, Stratégies.fr. She also has recently been named Yahoo Canada’s Big Idea Chair personality and the third most influential woman in Canadian social media. Her blog is classified as one of the most influential francophone blogs in the world, according to many sources.
www.michelleblanc.com
Mr. Jasmin Roy — Spokeperson
Jasmin Roy has been active on the cultural scene for many years now and is no stranger to the world of television. From Chambres en ville to Salut Bonjour and Caméra Café, he is equally at ease in the role of host, reporter or actor.
After creating the hit show Les Gaydailles, which was performed as part of the Just For Laughs Festival, and acting as spokesperson for the 2009 Montréal Pride Celebrations, Jasmin Roy resumed his role in the popular comedy series, Caméra Café on TVA and returned as the host of La Tribune d’Occupation Double. He continues to produce weekly features for Rhythm FM Radio and the TV morning show, Salut Bonjour. He also contributes regular columns for the popular Dernière Heure and Lundi magazines. For Jasmin, 2010 was a banner year, with the release of his book, “Osti de Fif” published by Les intouchables. And, of course, he is back with a new show for the Just For Laughs Festival and for Montréal Pride, Les Gaydailles contre-attaquent (“The Gaydailles Strike Back!”).
Jasmin Roy strongly believes in the social recognition of Montréal’s LGBTA community, as well as the importance of visibility for worldwide LGBTA communities.
