The 2023 Rose Parade Grand Marshal is Gabby Giffords

Former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head but survived an assassination attempt in January 2011 and has become an outspoken gun-control advocate, was announced as the 2023 Grand Marshal of the Rose Parade by Tournament of Roses President Amy Wainscott Thursday morning.

Giffords, 52, was introduced in a live-streamed ceremony held at the Tournament House with about 200 in attendance.

Wainscott called Giffords “a profile in courage, resilience and yes, turning the corner.” 

The 134th Rose Parade over which Giffords will preside Monday, Jan. 2 is themed “Turning the Corner.” To Pasadenans, the phrase has a double meaning because the Rose Parade makes a sharp right turn at ‘TV corner,’ the intersection of Orange Grove Blvd. and Colorado Blvd.)

Giffords was introduced with Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” playing in the background.

“I’m so honored to be grand marshal of the Rose Parade,” she said. “Thank you very, very much.”

Asked about how her experience matches the parade theme of “Turning the Corner,” Giffords said, “Our lives can change so quickly. Mine did when I was shot. But I never gave up hope. I chose to make a new start, to move ahead, to not look back.”

Wainscott hailed Giffords as a “trailblazer,” noting that she was the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona state Senate before moving onto Congress.

“She was re-elected to a second term beginning in 2011, but her tenure was cut tragically short,” Wainscott said, referring to the shooting that occurred during a community event near Tucson that nearly killed her. Giffords survived the shooting but had to re-learn how to walk and speak.

“What followed was an arduous journey of recovery that included physical, occupational and speech therapy,” Wainscott said.

Giffords was able to return to the House of Representatives later that year, but she submitted her resignation in January of 2012, one day after attending President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address.

“In the years since, she has become an advocate for gun violence prevention and founded a nonprofit dedicated to fighting gun violence,” Wainscott said. “On July 7, 2022, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she also has the distinct honor of having a U.S. Navy combat ship named after her.”

Thursday’s announcement was made 80 days before the Rose Bowl Game and Rose Parade

According to Giffords, “The idea of ‘turning the corner’ also resonates from a national perspective. Our country has faced multiple years of a deadly pandemic and political rancor. Yet medical advances and bipartisan compromise have helped us to take steps towards a better future, even if these steps aren’t always as quick or as sure as we would like them to be, but I’ve learned the importance of incremental progress—and that progress starts with having the courage to hope, and then to act on that hope.” 

 

In 2013, after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, Giffords co-founded the organization today known simply as Giffords. Over the past several years, the organization has been a leader in the national gun safety movement, making gun safety a kitchen-table issue for voters. 

This summer, Giffords was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down, a documentary from the filmmakers behind RBG, premiered this year and is now available to stream at home on demand.

 

“I’m extremely grateful to follow in the footsteps of the many distinguished grand marshals in the Parade’s history and to blaze my own path forward. Thank you so much to Tournament of Roses President Amy Wainscott and to the Board of Directors for this privilege, and I look forward to being at the Parade on January 2nd.”