Thu. June 9, 2011
Chicago, IL -
Fernanda Rocha, the newest cast member of Bravo's hit "Real Housewives of Orange County," has been named the Grand Marshal for Chicago's 42nd annual Pride Parade on Sunday, June 26.
Rocha, who came to the U.S. from Brazil ten years ago, is the first lesbian cast member on "Real Housewives," now in its sixth season.
PrideChicago, organizers of the annual Chicago Pride Parade, call her "an American success story." She worked hard, developed a clothing line, exercise videos and co-owns her own exercise studio.
Recently, she was active in the NoH8 Campaign in California. She is also taping a video for the "It Gets Better Project" that supports LGBT youth.
Pride Month kicked off on June 1 with the international theme, "Pride Around the World."
The month of June in Illinois began with hundreds of couples taking part in civil union ceremonies and will wind down with the Chicago Pride Parade, which is expected to draw a crowd of over half a million people.
The parade steps off at noon on Sunday, June 26 from Belmont and Halsted St. in Chicago's Boystown neighborhood.
Between these two events, there are close to one hundred different social, cultural, political and athletic events taking place in Chicago during LGBT Pride Month.
Related: Follow all the pride events with CalendarQ
Related: Read Jerry Nunn's interview with Fernanda Rocha from April, 2011
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Head to the local LGBTQ news, events, directory and people network at ChicagoPride.com