Awardees (by year)
Our 2017 Awards
Unnamed Hero
This unnamed Hero from Mexico is a 12 year old boy, the youngest ever Monette-Horwitz Awardee. Standing tall against eleven thousand anti-gay protesters, this brave lone youth represents the best of what the Monette-Horwitz Trust is all about.
Unnamed Hero
This unnamed Hero from Mexico is a 12 year old boy, the youngest ever Monette-Horwitz Awardee. Standing tall against eleven thousand anti-gay protesters, this brave lone youth represents the best of what the Monette-Horwitz Trust is all about. In the beautiful central state of Guanajuato, Mexico, in the city of Celaya a protest march of mostly Catholic “pro-family” homophobes took to the streets to cultivate social division by making gays and lesbians second class citizens. Their goal, among others, was to take away the right to marriage equality now legal in Mexico City and 9 of Mexico’s 31 states. When this boy was asked by journalist Manuel Rodriguez why he performed this courageous act of righteousness, our hero replied: “I have an uncle who is gay, and I hate the hatred.” We here at the Monette-Horwitz Trust salute the compassionate youth of the world today who turn to their homophobic elders and say, No More.
Gavin Grimm
American transgender activist. After officially changing his gender on his Gloucester High School documents, Gavin, then 17, received permission from his school principal Nate Collins to use the Boys’ Bathrooms.
Gavin Grimm
Gavin Grimm, American transgender activist. After officially changing his gender on his Gloucester High School documents, Gavin, then 17, received permission from his school principal Nate Collins to use the Boys’ Bathrooms. It didn’t take long in Virginia for transphobic parents to entertain worries not based in reality (phobia) that transgender persons sexually molest children in bathrooms. The controversy was fueled by right wing community leaders like Ralph VanNess, pastor at the Calvary Baptist Church. The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of Gavin Grimm vs. Gloucester County School Board. In 1967 the US Supreme Court gave us the landmark civil rights decision allowing interracial marriage: Loving vs. Virginia. We at the Monette-Horwitz Trust hope the Supreme Court will repeat history here for the state of Virginia, and for the well-being of all of America. [f]
Matthew Shepard Foundation
One of the most shocking hate crimes in American history occurred in October 1998, when a young gay man was savagely beaten and left to die, tied to a fence in the countryside under the big Wyoming sky.
Matthew Shepard Foundation
One of the most shocking hate crimes in American history occurred in October 1998, when a young gay man was savagely beaten and left to die, tied to a fence in the countryside under the big Wyoming sky. The whole nation responded; President Bill Clinton helped draw attention to the horrific, tragic death of Matthew Shepard. Under President Obama, the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act became law. This would never have occurred without the universal attention given to the murder, and to the hard work and commitment of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which Matthew’s parents, Judy and Dennis, founded not long after Matthew’s death. Their continuing mission to fight homophobia and violence, especially focusing on youth, is at the heart of the mission of the Monette-Horwitz Trust, and we are honored to be able to support and recognize the Matthew Shepard Foundation. [f]
Nur Warsame
Nur Warsame is an imam (Muslim priest) and Australia’s first Muslim spiritual leader to come-out.
Nur Warsame
Nur Warsame, Australian openly gay imam. Born in Somalia and now residing in Melbourne, Nur Warsame is an imam (Muslim priest) and Australia’s first Muslim spiritual leader to come-out. “Reconciling spirituality with sexuality is a very difficult journey,” he said. This, in a time when Muslim fundamentalists in Somalia and elsewhere are torturing and executing gay people for being gay, is an act of courage and faith that we at the Monette-Horwitz Trust wish to honor publicly. Warsame has shown that coming-out is the essential evolutionary component in promoting social equality for silenced minorities. Just as scholars of Christian and Jewish Studies have already reinterpreted ancient texts from more evolved perspectives, so too contemporary Koranic scholars are pointing out misinterpretations of scripture and archaic thought processes. Warsame says, “We still have leaders in our communities of faith that are holding onto those old outdated ways of thinking that are no longer relevant in our contemporary society.” Warsame hosts safe space for LGBTQ Muslims and their allies to congregate in Melbourne. Watch interview with Nur Warsame.
View Archives
Paul Monette papers, 1945-1995
UCLA, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library