The Miami Herald reports that Andy Cohen is this year's grand marshal for the Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade and Festival, which starts April 12. We ran into Cohen, Bravo's Executive Vice President of Original Programming and Development, at the Eden Roc last week, where he told us he loved that Miami is so cosmo and European.
Last year, the festival chose Dan Choi, a former American infantry officer and Iraq war veteran who is now fighting Don't Ask, Don't Tell, as the Grand Marshall. So what's Cohen's contribution to LBGT Rights? According to the Herald, he's made Bravo TV gayer.
As they put it:
Since Cohen took over the network's current development and production
slate of over two dozen shows, the network has become the home of gay
viewers' reality TV favorites, including hits such as the Emmy and
James Beard award-winning "Top Chef," "Top Chef Masters," "The Real
Housewives" series, "Kathy Griffin My Life On the D List," "The
Millionaire Matchmaker," "Million Dollar Listing," "The Rachel Zoe
Project," "The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection," "Bethenny Ever
After," "Tabatha's Salon Takeover" and "Flipping Out."
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In addition to giving gay men and women shallow TV full of harpy females with gay best friends, Cohen has contributed his own coming out story
to the It Gets Better Project. And perhaps, more importantly than making
Bravo gayer, he's a gay, out male who's had much success in his career.
He received an Emmy for season six of Top Chef and has been nominated
for nine other Emmys Awards for Project Runway to Top Chef. For
his work on the docx, The N Word, he received a Peabody award, and Time
magazine named him one of the "25 Most Powerful People in Television" in
2010. You know you're arrived when you appear on a list with Oprah.
Besides getting to wave at Cohen, festival highlights include "Legacy
Couples" where committed LGBT duos who have been together for more than
20 years will march in support of same-sex marriage. To register as a
Legacy Couple, email cindy@miamibeachgaypride.com.
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