Daytime Pride: Two Soap Stars Playing Landmark Characters Lead The Tampa Pride Parade

It was an amazing Tampa Bay Pride Parade this past weekend as soap stars Ryan Carnes and Christopher Sean brought some Hollywood sparkle to the big day.

What made their appearance as co-grand marshals for this huge event so significant is that they play gay men on their respective soaps. When gay storylines were once taboo, both actors have made their characters and their love stories mainstream on General Hospital (GH) and Days of Our Lives (DOOL).

According to Carnes, the event “was really inspiring to see all the LOVE and joy yesterday, at the same time so many marches were happening across the country in support of solidarity, action, and change.”

The crowd’s size seemed to impress Sean, who plays DAYS’ Paul.

“We had a blast, thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of the festivities, it was so amazing and my goodness, so many people over 40,000 people came to show love and support!”

Both actors even have new stories for their characters that tell the story of gay men in the 21st century.

Lucas is married to Brad (Parry Shen) and the two are trying to adopt a baby, while Paul just embarked on a new love story with Will (Chandler Massey), taking their relationship to the next level this week after Will’s marriage to Sonny (Freddie Smith) ended in divorce.

See their Instagram posts below to get a look at the beautiful Tampa day celebrating diversity and pride.