‘I can’t sit silently.’ ‘Real Housewives of Miami’ star to preside over Pride parade

Pride is still kicking this year in South Florida — this time with just the right amount of “Real Housewives” flare.

One of this Saturday’s grand marshals for Wilton Manors’ Stonewall Pride is Julia Lemigova, a former Russian beauty queen and star of “Real Housewives of Miami,” who made waves for being the first openly LGBTQ housewife featured in the franchise. Her wife is Martina Navratilova, a famed Czech-American former professional tennis player.

Pride couldn’t come at a better time, Lemigova said in a phone interview.

“With all the challenges that we’re facing in South Florida, to our lives and our liberties, it’s so important that we stand strong together,” Lemigova said. “Pride is a call to action.”

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Stonewall Pride draws nearly 50,000 attendees every year to Wilton Manors, an LGBTQ enclave outside of Ft. Lauderdale. The festival also bears the name of the Stonewall riots, a series of protests in New York City that sparked the beginning of the modern gay liberation movement in 1969.

From 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, tens of thousands of colorfully dressed attendees will shut down Wilton Drive.

The event is still on its feet despite new anti-LGBTQ laws, including one that bans minors from attending drag shows with “lewd” performances at the risk of up to a year in prison or $10,000 in fines.

What some Florida Pride organizers consider a hostile climate toward the gay community has led them to cancel long-standing Pride events, like Tampa’s Pride on the River and Pride in St. Cloud. Showing up to support all parts of the LGBTQ community was particularly important this year, she said.

“Our community is under attack in Florida,” she said. “I can’t sit silently.”

Lemigova’s first Pride event was in New York in 2001, she said, when she was seven months pregnant with her daughter Victoria. She’s loved going to festivals ever since.

Growing up in Russia, where legal and social barriers for the gay community still exist, Lemigova has seen LGBTQ rights be stifled firsthand. Marching in a Pride parade had never crossed her mind as a possibility when she lived there.

Often, fans will reach out on social media to share how seeing her on screen has allowed them to feel like they could come out. Being able to represent LGBTQ people in such a public way has allowed viewers to come to terms with their own sexuality.

“It’s such a big responsibility,” Lemigova said. “I’m thankful everyday that I have the opportunity to do it.”

Lemigova will join local HIV/AIDS advocate Ederick Johnson as a grand marshal at Saturday’s event.

If you go:

What: Wilton Manors’ Stonewall Pride

When: Saturday, June 17, from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.; parade begins at 7 p.m.

Where: Wilton Manors Drive, Wilton Manors

Cost: $8 in advance, $10 at the door

Info: More logistical information can be found at https://www.stonewallpride.lgbt/