Actress Molly Ringwald has been named
grand marshal of the Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade 2012.
The 44-year-old Ringwald came to
prominence as the star of Director John Hughes' teen films Sixteen
Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985) and Pretty in
Pink (1986). She currently plays Anne Juergens on the ABC Family
teen drama The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
The 42nd annual parade kicks
off at 11AM on Sunday, June 10 and wends its way from Crescent
Heights Boulevard to Robertson Boulevard down Santa Monica Boulevard.
“Molly and crew told our stories in
the 80s, helping so many of us dealing with all of the challenges of
being a teen,” Sam Borelli, a spokesman for LA Pride, said in a
press release. “That she continues reaching young people, letting
them know that their stories matter, that they are real, is why we
chose her during this year of youth empowerment.”
Ringwald and her husband Panio
Gianopoulos in 2008 starred in a video urging California voters to
reject Proposition 8, the state's gay marriage ban. (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
Ringwald's character on Secret Life
is preparing to come out gay.
“They've dealt with gay characters,
and they've dealt with gay characters kissing – they just haven't
dealt with 'Molly Ringwald being a lesbian,” she told gay glossy
Out.