From West Wing To West Village: Karine Jean-Pierre Talks Coming Out, Showing Up, And Marching Proud

Karine Jean-Pierre is used to being “the first.” She is the first child in her family, born in France to Haitian immigrants before moving to Queens when she was five. She was the first in her family to graduate from college in the States. Each milestone she hit became another “first,” with her most famous being her role as the first Black White House press secretary and the first openly LGBTQ+ White House press secretary, succeeding her colleague and close friend Jen Psaki in 2022. Now, she’s bringing that legacy of visibility and power straight to the streets of New York City as a Grand Marshal in this year’s Pride parade.

Jean-Pierre’s story is familiar to many with roots in immigrant families: full of cultural pride, complex expectations, and often, silence around queerness. She’s had to summon courage time and time again, starting with coming out to her religiously conservative family at age 16 and continuing throughout her career as a queer Black woman in politics. 

When Jean-Pierre stepped up to the podium on one of the world’s most-watched stages and made history, that moment didn’t happen by chance. She earned it. She’s a strategist, a communicator, a daughter, a parent, and a person who understands the weight of representation. Her presence was powerful in that she is a confident, self-assured speaker who isn’t afraid to back down, but it is especially powerful for all of us who needed to see that kind of visibility in the highest level of government.

“Being White House press secretary, I got to offer a different visual of what leadership in that position could look like,” Jean-Pierre shares. “Young people who looked like me, whether you were Black, queer, or both, saw themselves reflected in the space where we’ve rarely been allowed to stand.”

As a proud New Yorker, Jean-Pierre tells GO that this city made her the person she is today. “Many of the big, important moments of my life have happened in New York, and it will always be home to me, in my heart. So to be able to be part of this phenomenal Pride March—which is a celebration, but it’s also about resistance and being seen and being heard and being part of a community—that is so incredibly important. New York is where I found myself, where I became comfortable with my queerness. I found my community,” Jean-Pierre says.

Jean-Pierre brings a life that’s intersectional, global, resilient, and beautifully queer to her role as Grand Marshal. She’s walking for herself, her daughter, her community, and every young person who is still figuring out how to live their truth out loud.

“When I was asked to be a Grand Marshal, it was an easy yes, especially in this moment when our rights and our freedoms are under attack, and when our siblings and the community are being targeted and being othered. It has become more negative, and people have put fear into that. So, to be able to participate in this parade during Pride Month with our community and our allies feeling the love, resistance, joy, and celebration, I don’t see any better way to spend the day,” Jean-Pierre says.

Since this is Jean-Pierre’s first year out of DC, this is a bit of a homecoming for her. She hasn’t been to a Pride celebration in well over a decade due to scheduling conflicts and her favorite full-time job of being a mom. She reflects fondly on her vibrant experiences at Pride during her younger years, recalling the sense of community and acceptance she felt in that celebratory atmosphere.

“When I was growing up and in my 20s, one of the days of the year that you look forward to was Pride in New York City,” she shares. “I was so happy when it was coming or it was close, because it was one of those days during the summertime where you’re like, ‘Okay, we’re going to feel seen. We’re going to party with our friends. We’re going to see people we haven’t seen.’”

While Jean-Pierre has joyful memories of being out and proud during Pride, she does not ignore the event’s crucial history, which allows us to celebrate today.

“We are continuing a tradition that we should be incredibly proud of. We are remembering the people who stepped in our shoes, or who were able to let us be who we are today because of their fight, because of their hunger, because of their love for the community, and because of their pain,” Jean-Pierre asserts. “And that’s how I see the moment of being a Grand Marshal. It’s like remembering the people before us and making sure they are not forgotten.”

But Jean-Pierre also knows that Pride is a declaration for the future. With rising threats to LGBTQ+ rights across the country and around the world, visibility matters more than ever. And this year’s Pride parade is a protest, a promise, and a roar:

“There’s a fight ahead because we will be sending a very loud message on June 29. You’re not going to silence us. You’re not going to stop us. You’re not going to tell us who we can love. We are going to be free, in celebration, resistance, and joy. And you are going to hear from all of us, not just our community, but from our allies. It’s going to be loud, gay, and proud. That is a day that you cannot ignore us. You will not be able to ignore us.”

Being loud and proud isn’t new for Jean-Pierre, but getting to this point in her life required work. “To come out at 16 to my mom was a really difficult thing to do,” she shares, her honesty unwavering. “I grew up in an incredibly conservative household and in an immigrant household. It didn’t land well with my mom. It didn’t. I had to basically go back into the closet and come back out.”

The journey wasn’t linear, but she still owned it. Even though coming into yourself in a world that isn’t always ready for you is hard, Jean-Pierre never lost sight of the future she wanted. “I’ve been out pretty much my whole adult life,” Jean-Pierre tells GO. “I have a child, and I have been able to love the people that I have wanted to love. I’ve been able to have relationships, and now I’m a single parent, co-parenting. My daughter has two moms in her life, and this wonderful community that loves her. And I wish that growing up, I could see that. I wish I had seen people like me.” 

Many of us understand that longing, the ache of invisibility, of not knowing if there’s space for us in the world as we are. That’s why Jean-Pierre’s presence in public life, her candor, and her commitment to showing up matter so deeply.

“For young people today, I think it’s amazing that they get to see a community that looks like them, that’s speaking for them, and that they feel seen,” she says. “I think it’s really, really important. But I also understand that, even though we’re in a different time today, there’s still a lot of work to be done, and it’s very scary for us right now. There are still young people who do not feel safe to come out.”

Jean-Pierre has a message for LGBTQ+ youth: We see you. We love you. We hear you. And we will be here for you when you are ready. It’s a message grounded in both empathy and experience. Jean-Pierre is creating space for the next generation, and that wasn’t something she always thought was possible. “When I was younger, I thought I was going to be a doctor,” she laughs. “I didn’t even know what a White House press secretary was. It wasn’t a role that was visible or accessible to someone like me.”

She never saw the role as just about messaging. For Jean-Pierre, communication is about truth-telling and inviting people in. “When I came into this work, this political space, I believed in the power of communication,” she shares, “and not just as a political tool, but as a means of inclusion, accountability, and connection.”

No matter what she does, she is thinking about how to do right by her audience and community. But there’s one person in particular that she always has on her mind: her daughter.

“The fact that I was able to become a mom was so important to me. That is the best thing that I’ve ever done in my life—becoming a parent. It has truly allowed me to become a better person. And now, when I move through life, from the moment she was born, I think about how I can make her life better. Because whatever we do now, we’re going to leave it for the next generation. And I want her to be proud, if she ever Googles me.” 

Determination for and belief in a better future aside, when asked about how she stays hopeful in the face of political backlash and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, she doesn’t pause for a silver lining. She tells the truth.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’m really scared,” she says with a sigh. “It is very hard what we’re seeing right now, because the actions that are being taken by the highest level of government are taking us backward, not moving us forward.”

She’s seen what it looks like to govern with equity at the center, and she’s also seen what happens when that progress is undone. “Having spent four years working for an administration, the Biden administration, where we did everything we could—we weren’t perfect. Not going to say we were perfect. But we did everything that we could to try to move forward, to truly be a country that we dream of, that we want us to be,” she says. “And what I’m seeing now is scary. Our freedoms are under attack. The families that we have built are under attack. There are vulnerable people in our communities who are under attack, and that is incredibly scary.”

But the fear doesn’t stop her. It fuels her. It reminds her of what’s at stake and why she speaks out. She tells GO that she feels a duty to speak up for vulnerable communities that she is a part of and not a part of, knowing that if they come for one, they’re going to come for all.

Her voice is firm, her warning clear: “This is history. We have to be really clear about what’s happening now. This is history repeating itself. Our darkest history, not our greatest history. Our darkest history repeating itself.” That’s why Pride matters so deeply to her. Yes, it’s a celebration and moment of levity, but it’s also a moment of resistance. 

As for what’s next, Jean-Pierre is carving a path forward on her own terms.

On June 4th, she made headlines when she announced she was leaving the Democratic Party to become an Independent. The news came alongside the reveal of her forthcoming book, Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines, set to publish on October 21st.

Jean-Pierre says the number one question she gets asked is, “How do we protect our democracy?” Her book is part of her answer, and Jean-Pierre says we shouldn’t be so partisan. “If you are willing to stand side-by-side with me, regardless of how you identify politically, as long as you respect the community that I belong to, and vulnerable communities that I respect, I will be there with you. I will move forward with you.”

Her break from party politics doesn’t mean she’s stepping back from the fight—it’s a signal that she’s reimagining her role in it. “I want to mentor and uplift the next generation of political communicators and advisors,” she says, “especially those who have been told they don’t look the part. ‘No, you’re not what we normally see in that role.’ Or, ‘No, not you because you don’t have what it takes visually.’ So that’s what I want to do. I want to work with organizations committed to justice, equity, and narrative change.”

Her impact isn’t bound to a podium or a press briefing room. It’s about people. “Long term, I see myself continuing to lead, not just in politics, but in culture and advocacy in a way that reflects who I am and what I stand for. I want to tell the stories of people who feel like their stories are not being told. I want to be part of that, and so I’m figuring it out,” she tells GO.

With each chapter, Jean-Pierre is rewriting the script, not just for herself, but for the communities she serves. “I think there are many different ways that I can be impactful and use the platform that I have to lift people up, to lift communities up, and so that’s what I’m working towards,” she says.

Karine Jean-Pierre is a blueprint for what’s possible, but her ultimate goal is to be “the last first” and open up opportunities for all. Her resilience is grounded in the belief that every person deserves to feel seen, heard, and valued. As she steps into the role of Grand Marshal at NYC Pride, she carries with her the weight of the past, the urgency of the present, and the hope of the future. She’s leading in a way that makes room for others to follow.

In a time when joy itself can feel like resistance, Jean-Pierre reminds us that showing up as your full self is powerful and necessary. And if you ever need an ally in your corner, she’ll be the first one there.