LGBT Caucus Celebrates June 2013 as LGBT Pride Month And Honors Outstanding LGBT Californians

June 24, 2013

LGBT Caucus Celebrates June 2013 as LGBT Pride Month And Honors Outstanding LGBT Californians

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Legislative Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Caucus celebrates June 2013 as LGBT Pride Month with the adoption of House Resolution 20 in the Assembly. The Senate counterpart, Senate Resolution 14, was similarly adopted.

“Today we recognize 16 individuals and organizations that are continuing to make a difference in California and around the country,” said Assemblymember Rich Gordon (Menlo Park), chair of the LGBT Caucus. “This year’s theme of Many Hearts, One Voice, reflects the diversity within the LGBT community.”

In reaction to the Stonewall Riots in 1969, the month of June has historically been used to recognize the efforts of LGBT community to advance the cause of equality, with the goal to have all people to be considered as full and equal members of society. Pride ceremonies now occur in cities large and small across the country and around the world.
    
“We come from all walks of life, but we all find a way to give back to our community. Today, we are one.”

This year’s honorees include:

  • Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato – Award-Winning Film and Television Producers
  • Jazzie Collins – Vice-Chair, San Francisco HRC’s LGBT Aging Policy Task Force
  • Tim Dang – Producing Artistic Director, East West Players
  • Jeri Dilno – San Diego LGBT Community Activist
  • Rosanna Herber – Speakers Bureau Manager, SMUD
  • Colonel Vito Imbasciani, M.D. – State Surgeon, California National Guard
  • Marilyn Barlow, Bob Crow & Judith Doyle – Long Beach Pride Co-Founders
  • Tom Nolan – Chairman, San Francisco MTA Board of Directors
  • Kris Perry and Sandy Stier – Prop. 8 Lead Plaintiffs
  • Robbie Rogers – Major League Soccer Midfielder, Los Angeles Galaxy
  • Bridget J. Wilson – Palm Center Co-Legal Counsel and SLDN Consulting Counsel
  • Richard Zaldivar – Executive Director, The Wall / Las Memorias Project

The individual biographies of today’s honorees are found below.

Originally formed in 2002, the LGBT Caucus serves as a forum for the California Legislature to discuss issues that affect LGBT Californians and to further the goal of equality and justice for all residents in the State. Comprised of both Senate and Assembly members, the LGBT Caucus members include: Speaker John A. Pérez; Assemblymembers Tom Ammiano, Toni Atkins, Susan Talamantes Eggman; Senators Cathleen Galgiani, Ricardo Lara, and Mark Leno. The Caucus’ formation made California the first state in the country to recognize an official caucus of openly-LGBT state legislators.

FENTON BAILEY & RANDY BARBATO
Excellence in Film and Television
Award-winning filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato founded World of Wonder (WOW) Productions in 1991.  The innovative duo have since produced numerous documentaries and over 1,200 hours of provocative, original programming. In 1999 they attended the Sundance Film Festival with the Emmy® Award-winning documentary “Party Monster.” In September 2011, The Strange History of Don't Ask, Don't Tell premiered on the historic day the military policy was repealed.  Their new book “The World According to Wonder” celebrates 21 years of WOW’s place in pop culture history.

JAZZIE COLLINS
Excellence in Community and Public Service
Jazzie Collins, an HIV-positive transgender female of color, is a fierce advocate for transgender equality. She moved to San Francisco in 1988 and started her transition to female in her late 40s.  Her passion is in her work as a community organizer. Ms. Collins organized at South of Market (SOMA) Community Action Network and the Senior Action Network.  She chaired the SOMA stabilization fund committee and is currently the vice chair of San Francisco Human Rights Commission’s LGBT Aging Policy Taskforce which advices on matters relating to LGBT seniors.

TIM DANG
Excellence in Theatre Arts
Tim Dang is Producing Artistic Director of East West Players (EWP), the nation's longest running theatre of color and the largest producer of Asian American performance work. Tim has produced, developed and nurtured numerous productions since 1980, garnering over a hundred individual and organizational awards for artistic achievement and community leadership. In 2009, he was recognized with the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award. Tim has developed and nurtured the works of LGBT artists and recently produced a festival of LGBT works called EVOKE, directed by Alison De La Cruz.

JERI DILNO
Excellence in Community and Military Service
In 1970, Jeri Dilno helped organize Philadelphia’s first Gay Pride March and has worked on behalf of the LGBT community ever since.  After relocating to San Diego, she also organized that city’s first Pride march, served as the first woman executive director of the LGBT Center, and was editor of the Gay and Lesbian Times. Jeri was one of six openly lesbian delegates from California at the 1977 International Women’s Conference in Houston.  She was also one of the first LGBT veterans to have her dishonorable discharge based on sexual orientation reversed.  

ROSANNA HERBER
Excellence in Community and Public Service
Rosanna Herber has been active in the Sacramento LGBTQ community for over 25 years. In 2011, Herber chaired Sacramento’s LGBTQ Redistricting Coalition that successfully worked with the City Council and County Board of Supervisors to redraw political boundaries to create a gay-friendly district in each jurisdiction.  In 2012, Herber became the Vice President and Fund Development Chair for the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center. She was the District Director for Councilwoman Kim Mueller from 1987-1991.  She is currently the Speakers Bureau Manager at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

COLONEL VITO IMBASCIANI
Excellence in Medicine and Military Service
Colonel Vito Imbasciani serves as the State Surgeon, the lead medical advisor to the Adjutant General of the California Army National Guard. He has served for nearly 27 years including four deployments in two wars. Yet until Sep. 20, 2011, when the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy was finally repealed, the price of his service and patriotism was to live a lie, keeping secret his partner, George, and their two adopted sons.  Dr. Imbasciani practices urologic surgery with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group.

LONG BEACH PRIDE CO-FOUNDERS: MARILYN BARLOW, BOB CROW & JUDITH DOYLE
Excellence in Community Service
In 1983 the founders of Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride - Marilyn Barlow, Bob Crow, and Judith Doyle - set out on a quest to take a stand for equality and change for the gay community. Their mission: “To break the shackles of oppression of homophobia in the local community and the general population.”  Struggling against enormous opposition and hardship, Marilyn, Bob, and Judy founded Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride, Inc. Because of their years of sacrifice and leadership efforts, Marilyn, Bob, and Judith were selected as Long Beach Pride 2013 Grand Marshals.

TOM NOLAN
Excellence in Community and Public Service
Tom Nolan was executive director of Project Open Hand (POH) in San Francisco, retiring in 2011 after serving with the organization for over 17 years.  Tom has led the organization since 1994 to serve the changing needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. Tom Nolan was appointed to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board of Directors in 2006. In 2009, he was elected Chairman to the SFMTA Board of Directors and he currently serves as the SFMTA’s representative on the Caltrain Joint Powers Board.

KRIS PERRY AND SANDY STIER
Excellence in Education and Public Service
Kris Perry and Sandy Stier have been together since 1997 and are the parents of four boys. Perry is executive director of the First Five Years Fund, a national organization that works to achieve better results in education, health and economic productivity through investments in quality early childhood education programs for disadvantaged children. Stier is the director of information systems for the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency. Perry and Stier are members of the lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California’s ban of same-sex marriage under Proposition 8.  

ROBBIE ROGERS
Excellence in Sports
Robbie Rogers is one of Major League Soccer’s (MLS) most dynamic young stars playing as a midfielder for the Los Angeles Galaxy. He has represented the United States in 18 international football competitions including as a member of the 2008 Olympic Team. In February 2013, he came out publicly on his website, shortly after that, he announced his retirement.  In May 2013, he came back from retirement and signed with the L.A. Galaxy becoming the first openly gay male athlete in North America to compete in a professional sport.

BRIDGET J. WILSON
Excellence in Law and Military Service
Bridget Wilson has been involved in the struggle for LGBT rights since 1972. She served in the U.S. Army Reserve and California State Military Reserve where she was a judge advocate serving in support of the California Army National Guard for a decade.  Ms. Wilson is consulting counsel for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. She is the co-legal director for the Palm Center, a think tank on sexual minorities in the military. On July 13, 2008, she married her partner of 27 years, Kim McAlister.

RICHARD ZALDIVAR
Excellence in Health & Human Services
Richard Zaldivar is the founder and executive director of The Wall Las Memorias Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting wellness and preventing illness among Latino populations affected by HIV/AIDS. The monument is the first publicly funded AIDS monument in the U.S. and under Zaldivar’s, leadership has been in the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS.  His personal battle with addiction leads to his commitment to sobriety, strengthening his passionate and creative drive to address the shame, silence and denial that lead to the disparities in HIV transmission, homophobia and social injustices.

###

Media Contact:
William Kim
916-319-2024
William.Kim@asm.ca.gov