Awardees (by year)
Our 2009 Awards
Anastassios Aliferis
As mayor of the tiny Greek island, Tilos (population 533), Anastassios Aliferis defied threats of prosecution and performed two same-gender marriages.
Anastassios Aliferis
As mayor of the tiny Greek island, Tilos (population 533), Anastassios Aliferis defied threats of prosecution and performed two same-gender marriages (one gay male and one lesbian) on June 3, 2008. Aliferis said, “It’s ludicrous for Greece, the cradle of democracy and human rights, to deny homosexuals equal rights and privileges.”
Haven Herrin
A lesbian American Buddhist from Texas, Herrin is the Director of Soulforce Q, the young adult division of a non-violent resistance group.
Haven Herrin
A lesbian American Buddhist from Texas, Herrin is the Director of Soulforce Q, the young adult division of a non-violent resistance group which protests religious violence against GLBT people. She was arrested several times on the Equality Ride, notably at West Point Military Academy for their expulsion of gay and lesbian students, and poigniantly at Brigham Young Universty where the freedom riders held a die-in commemorating all the GLBT students who, after being expelled from BYU for being gay, committed suicide. She was recently arrested for quietly protesting at a sit-in, after being refused an application to enter the National Guard in Minnesota. [f]
Gavin Newsom
Mayor of San Francisco and unwavering supporter of equality for queer folk.
Gavin Newsom
As mayor of San Francisco, Newsom, a self-avowed heterosexual, is perhaps most noted to date for his heroism in the promotion of marriage equality. Newsom has been an unwavering supporter of equality for queer folk, and to eradicating homophobia. Newsom is an exemplar for how straight white men can be brothers to GLBT people. [f]
Sunil Babu Pant
The first openly gay elected official to the Nepalese parliament, Pant co-founded the first gay rights group in Nepal.
Sunil Babu Pant
The first openly gay elected official to the Nepalese parliament, Pant co-founded the first gay rights group in Nepal, The Blue Diamond Society, which now has thirty full time staff members and is funded entirely by donations and grants. Due in part to Pant’s heroic efforts, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled on December 21, 2007, that GLBT people have equal rights and cannot be discriminated against, the first such decision in Asia. “We have a golden opportunity to raise our voice and contribute to this country…This is a struggle I think this generation has to do, about being brave and honest,” he said. Pant has received the “Felipa de Souza Award” from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. *Photo by Star Black https://bds.org.np/ [f]
Christine Robinson, Ph.D.
Awarded the prestigious Queer of the Year award. Robinson has spent over twenty years being a gracious gadfly to the Christian focused Ex-Gay movement.
Christine Robinson, Ph.D.
A professor of sociology at James Madison University, Virginia, Robinson was awarded the prestigious Queer of the Year award. Robinson has spent over twenty years being a gracious gadfly to the Christian focused Ex-Gay movement. She attends their conferences and creates dialogue with their highest movers and shakers, documenting for history the lies they perpetuate and the damage they cause to GLBT people, their families, and the families they are coerced into procreating. She is now focusing her work on the international expansion of the Ex-Gay movement, and recently delivered a lecture entitled, Exporting Inequality: The global emergence of the ex-gay movement.
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Paul Monette papers, 1945-1995
UCLA, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library