Melissa Etheridge for Boston Pride?

LGBT Bostonians have spoken, and they want Melissa Etheridge. The big question is, does she want us back? Etheridge beat out four other contenders -- Neil Patrick Harris, trans Israeli singer Dana International, local comedian Amy Tee and comedian Marga Gomez -- in online voting for celebrity marshal of the 2009 Boston Pride Parade. But there's no guarantee that Etheridge will grace Boston with her presence.

When Bay Windows first reported on the celebrity marshal nominees last month, a spokesperson for the Pride Committee said that all celebrity nominees had confirmed that they would attend the parade if they won the vote. But this week, Pride Committee Board Member Kristie Helms told Bay Windows that the committee had only made preliminary contact with each of the celebrity nominees, and they did not have a firm commitment from any of them.

"We have not confirmed the participation of Melissa Etheridge or the other celebrity nominees and will keep the community apprised of how we address that situation. If Ms. Etheridge is unable to participate due to scheduling issues, we would love to invite the community to provide us input on how best to proceed," wrote Helms in an e-mail to Bay Windows. Harris came in second place in the celebrity marshal voting, but he does not automatically become the marshal if Etheridge declines the invitation.

A publicist for Etheridge did not respond to an inquiry about whether the singer would be available to attend Boston Pride.

Closer to home, the grand marshal of this year's parade is Pathways to Wellness, the South End-based non-profit acupuncture and holistic medicine center that provides extensive services for people living with HIV/AIDS. In a statement to Bay Windows, Pathways Executive Director Kristen Porter said she was honored to have her organization honored in its 20th anniversary year.

"Pathways to Wellness is honored to have been chosen as this year's grand marshal -- what a way to celebrate our 20th year of service to the GLBTIQ community!" wrote Porter. "At a time when our economy and our health care system is so ailing, the pick of Pathways to Wellness is a strong message that nonprofits impact a community profoundly and that it is time for medicine to refocus on an integrated healthcare -- [the] key word being care -- approach."

For the role of honorary marshal voters selected the late Barbara Jordan, the Texas Congresswoman who was the first African American woman from the South to serve in Congress. Jordan never publicly acknowledged her sexuality, but after her death obituaries acknowledged her relationship with her longtime partner, Nancy Earl.

The theme of this year's Pride festivities, as selected by the voters at the Boston Pride website, is "Trans-Forming Our Community." Helms said the theme honors this year's campaign to pass a transgender non-discrimination bill, but it also signals a wider theme of inclusion.

"It really came about because of the gender identity issues coming up in the State House soon. But it's also broader than that, transforming our entire community to be all-inclusive and to involve everyone. That's the beauty of Pride. It's not just one community, it's all of us together," said Helms.

This week the Pride Committee also opened online registration for both the Pride parade and the festival. Linda DeMarco, president of the Pride Committee, said the committee is working to be both eco-friendly and cost-conscious. Last year, in honor of that year's green theme, the Pride Committee stepped up its recycling efforts and took steps to reduce the event's carbon footprint. DeMarco said this year's event would also have expanded recycling on site at all events, and the committee is offering a new incentive for parade participants to go green: parades that use hybrid vehicles for their floats will receive a 10 percent registration discount.

The committee is offering other discounts to ensure that the event remains affordable, even in the current economic crisis. Groups registering for the parade by the early bird March 1 deadline will receive a 20 percent discount, and DeMarco said the committee has reduced the price for space at the festival by about 10 percent.

"We just felt that, we know that people are struggling, and we wanted to try to help our community to make sure they could participate in Pride," said DeMarco. "With all the cutbacks at some of the nonprofits we wanted people to know we know they were hurting and we wanted to do our best to help out."