- Gala Design by Cathedral Creative Studios
The Forum For Equality Announces the 2011 Winners of our 13th Annual Acclaim Awards
National Political Activism Award & Keynote Speaker • Lt. Dan Choi
On March 19, 2009, Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and Iraq veteran fluent in Arabic, announced that he was gay on The Rachel Maddow Show. Because of three words – “I am gay” – Lt. Choi’s life changed forever. Despite his extreme value as an Arabic speaker able to communicate quickly and clearly with the Iraqi people, one month after his announcement Lt. Choi was notified that the Army had begun discharge proceedings against him. He was one of only eight soldiers from his graduating class who majored in Arabic.
On March 19, 2010 Lt. Choi handcuffed himself to the White House fence with fellow gay veteran Captain James Pietrangelo II. The two were arrested and spent the night in prison. They repeated the action on April 20, 2010 with four other veterans including a transgender navy veteran, Petty Officer Autumn Sandeen. After release, Choi and Pietrangelo pleaded not guilty and a White House stay-away order was imposed until trial. In July 2010 they stood trial and all charges were dropped.
After a final arrest at the White House on November 15, 2010, Choi attended the bill signing that would repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and restore the honor of service to millions of American veterans unjustly punished for their integrity. Following the signing, the Senate Majority Leader, noting its inscriptions “Duty, Honor, Country” and “Protectors of the Free,” returned Lt. Choi’s West Point class ring.
Arts and Entertainment Award • Krewe of Petronius
Founded in 1961, a time in New Orleans when it wasn’t uncommon for gay people to be arrested, beaten, evicted and fired from jobs for no reason but discrimination, the Krewe of Petronius began to poke fun at stodgy balls put on by straight carnival groups, not to mention to create a reason to dress in drag. It’s also one of the oldest gay social organizations in the country, having come together before the Stonewall Inn riots in New York City.
Petronius is still around because it has met adversity by doing more than just putting on a stunning social event every year. It made it through the political persecutions of the 1960s and 70s by getting politically active. It soldiered through the HIV AIDS crisis of the 80s and 90s by raising money to combat the diseases. And after Hurricane Katrina left the New Orleans landscape in shambles, Petronius was among the local organizations that rose again, rebuilding so that this year it celebrated its Golden Jubilee Bal Masque.
Chairs’ Award • Morris Welch
An active board member with Forum For Equality Foundation since 2009, Morris has represented FFE in lobbying and candidate interviews of Baton Rouge area legislators and Metro Council Members as well as testifying before several legislative committees. He has more recently worked on the rebirth of Capital City Alliance, a non-profit volunteer organization supporting a better quality of life for the Baton Rouge area’s LGBT community. In 1993, he was a founding donor of the LAMBDA Group. Through his work with Lambda and Equality Louisiana, Morris spoke up on statewide and local talk radio about LGBT issues such as gay straight alliances, domestic partner benefits, employment discrimination, same-sex civil unions, inclusion of sex-reassignment surgery in health benefits, allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the Big Brother Big Sisters programs and attempts to ban the Southern Decadence celebration in New Orleans.
Faith & Equality Award • Metropolitan Community Church of Baton Rouge
Metropolitan Community Church of Baton Rouge has been serving the Baton Rouge area with a message of God’s all-inclusive love and a variety of outreach ministries for nearly 28 years. As a congregation of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, its primary outreach is to LGBT people, as well as accepting and affirming heterosexuals and anyone else looking for an all-inclusive message.
Among its core values is a commitment to Christian social action and justice, and a natural extension of those values has been the church’s and its members’ involvement in the formation and continuation of the Baton Rouge Pride Fest. But its ministries certainly don’t stop there. In addition to offering uplifting worship celebrations, blessings of LGBT relationships and much more, the congregation also helps to feed the hungry through its involvement with a local food pantry, partners with other agencies to provide school supplies to children in need, “adopts” residents at a nearby nursing home and much more.
Faith & Equality Award • Big Easy Metropolitan Community Church
Big Easy MCC is a member of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community churches – that has a worldwide fellowship in 22 countries with 44,000 members. Founded by Rev Troy Perry in 1967, MCC has been at the forefront of transforming churches into places where all are valued and celebrated, including the LGBT community. The Big Easy Church believes passionately that all should be celebrated and not tolerated! Big Easy MCC offers a welcoming spiritual community that truly believes in God’s love for all of His children, regardless of sexual orientation, gender, or background.
Health Award • Acadiana C.A.R.E.S.
Back in 1985, Lafayette C.A.R.E.S., (Concern for AIDS Relief, Education and Support) was created in response to the AIDS pandemic. Ten years later, the group adopted a new name – Acadiana CARES – to reflect the fact that they were serving an entire region. Nothing else besides the name has changed. Led by Claude Martin, one of its original founders, Acadiana CARES’ mission remains the same: to stop the spread of HIV in the region and end the prejudice and discrimination faced by people who have HIV/AIDS.
Each year CARES provides case management for up to 44% of all people living with HIV/AIDS in its region. Among those receiving such assistance are the homeless, who are at high risk for HIV transmission and infection. CARES’ federally-funded housing program, under way since 1992, last year benefited 790 clients. Additionally, CARES has drug abuse treatment programs designed to help people with AIDS address their chemical dependency.
In 1973, after nearly two years of legal battles, New York’s highest court finally allowed Lambda Legal to exist. Since then, Lambda Legal has: fought for gay student groups and gay employees who faced blatant discrimination from state-funded universities; fought against government discrimination; worked for communities to hold pride parades, list gay community services in phone books and receive gay publications in prison; fought in state courts to strike down sodomy laws in Kentucky, Tennessee, Montana and Georgia; filed the first-ever domestic partnership benefits case in a federal court; won some of the first victories in the nation that defined gay couples as “families;” and won the first AIDS discrimination case in the nation. Nothing illustrates their success more than Lawrence v. Texas, their 2003 groundbreaking U.S. Supreme Court victory striking down all 13 remaining sodomy laws in the country and opening up an expansive new era of legal respect for LGBT people.
In Louisiana, Lambda Legal has been vigorously fighting for LGBT rights on Adar v. Smith; a case where they are representing gay fathers from New York who were refused a birth certificate for their newly adopted son by the office of the Louisiana State Registrar. This past April the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the two prior court rulings that deny Adar and Smith’s son an accurate birth certificate, prompting Lambda Legal to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. Lambda Legal’s strategy has not changed much since the 1970s. Today, they still pursue impact litigation, education and advocacy to make the case for equality in state and federal court, the Supreme Court and in the court of public opinion.
Political Activism Award • Deon Haywood
Deon Haywood is the Executive Director of Women With A Vision, Inc. – a community- based grassroots organization created by black women dedicated to providing HIV/AIDS and Substance Use prevention services, Harm Reduction, Health Promotion and Advocacy to address individual risk behaviors and social vulnerabilities. Deon is an out lesbian and longtime activist in the city of New Orleans with a history of organizing marginalized women of color around Reproductive, Social Justice, and Women’s Rights.
In 2008, Deon co-sponsored I am My Sisters Keeper, a conference focused on the wellness and empowerment for lesbians of color. She is on the advisory board of BreakOUT, a project of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL) focused on the criminalization of LGBTQ youth. She also serves as a board member of the Louisiana AIDS Advocacy Network (LAAN), as an expert in outreach and community organizing in the Deep South, Deon was recognized in The Body.com 2010 HIV/AIDS Community Spotlight. Currently, she is spearheading the No Justice Project, a campaign which addresses the criminalization of sex workers, who are largely poor women and Transgender women of color, with the excessive and inequitable punitive consequences of conviction under Louisiana’s Solicitation Crime Against Nature Laws.
Political Leadership Award • Arnie Fielkow
Arnie Fielkow was elected Councilmember-at-Large in May 2006 and re-elected Councilmember-at-Large in February 2010. Through active leadership, Councilman Fielkow demonstrates the value he places on several fundamental areas of governance, namely: economic development, good government reforms, equality across race, gender and religious lines, and youth and recreational issues.
As the father of five, including two adopted girls from the Ukraine, Councilmember Fielkow strongly believes that all adults fit to be parents should be allowed to adopt, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. In April 2010, he traveled to Baton Rouge to testify in support of two Senate Bills that promote children’s well-being, and against one that imposes restrictions on a child’s ability to find a loving home. Senator Ed Murray and Senator J.P. Morrell each offered bills that recognize the diversity of modern families and the importance of raising a child in a caring and loving home; while Senator Shaw introduced a bill to limit same-sex couples from adopting children in Louisiana. In his testimony, Council President Fielkow also opposed Senate Bill 521, which hurts a foster or adopted child’s chances of finding a caring home by discriminating against people that could otherwise qualify as loving and nurturing parents. The Forum for Equality is pleased to honor this wholly honorable man, who, sadly, recently announced that he’ll soon be leaving the city to go back to the sports world as CEO of the National Basketball Retired Players Association.
Come join us to honor these exemplary individuals and organizations who advocated for the rights and welfare of LGBT during the past year. They will be honored on Saturday September 24th at our Acclaim Awards Gala.
