Slew of Honorees Named for SF Pride

With the milestone 45th annual San Francisco LGBT Pride parade approaching, the organization that oversees the festivities has released 11 more grand marshals and other honorees to mark the occasion.

This year's theme, "Equality Without Exception," signifies the struggles that continue to exist across all communities seeking social justice, said officials with the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee, which puts on the parade and two-day festival June 27-28.

For 16 years, the San Francisco Pride membership and board of directors have continued the public selection of community grand marshals. The public choices were announced in March. Last week, officials released additional grand marshals and recipients of several special awards.

The SF Pride board named two more grand marshals: gay men Brian Basinger and Belo Cipriani.

Basinger, 48, is director of AIDS Housing Alliance/San Francisco. Under his direction, the alliance has prevented the eviction of, or found housing for, 2,700 households by providing financial assistance for back rent and deposits, providing affordable housing applications, educating tenants on their rights, and mediating landlord disputes.

A disabled person with AIDS, Basinger said this year's Pride theme resonates with the alliance's work.

"'Equality Without Exception' means all people have a safe, decent, and affordable home," he said in an email to the Bay Area Reporter.

He said that 2015 is turning into a rewarding year for him.

"Not only did we just launch the first rental subsidy program targeting senior or disabled LGBTQ or HIV-positive San Franciscans and our first supportive housing subsidy for chronically homeless HIV-positive individuals starts in July," he said, "but several of our other efforts are blooming this year."

He cited Marty's Place, a home to foster the next generation of HIV-positive leaders that will begin leasing rooms soon and the city's long-planned LGBTQ adult shelter is nearing completion.

Basinger said he's honored to be recognized as a community grand marshal.

"Becoming one of the 2015 community grand marshals is the sweetest icing on the most marvelous cake a person can have," he said. "I'm grateful to the Pride board of directors for bestowing this honor and for providing the platform to continue to highlight the needs of our communities who are struggling to survive this housing crisis."

Cipriani, 34, writes the Seeing in the Dark column for the B.A.R . He became blind after being attacked by a group of his childhood friends in the Castro. He is a disabilities advocate and the author of two books, Blind: A Memoir and Midday Dreams. He is also a spokesman for Guide Dogs for the Blind and resides with his guide dog, Oslo.

"I attended my first San Francisco Pride parade in 1995 and I never imagined I would someday be a grand marshal," Cipriani said in an email. "This is one of the best things that has happened in my life and I'll always treasure this moment."

Cipriani's historic turn isn't lost on him.

"I am the first blind grand marshal and am thinking of ways to incorporate that into a theme for my contingent," he added. "The only thing that is certain is that my guide dog, Oslo, will ride with me in the convertible. I am sure he'll have a blast."

This year's lifetime achievement grand marshal is familiar to many in the LGBT community. Felicia Elizondo, a transgender woman, was selected by the Pride board and has long been involved with trans and health issues.

Elizondo, 68, was at the Compton's Cafeteria riots in the Tenderloin in August 1966 and has a featured role in Screaming Queens , a documentary about the demonstrations, which were a precursor to the Stonewall riots in New York City that marked the birth of the modern gay rights movement.

Elizondo, who was profiled earlier this year for a story on the Friendly Visitor program run by LGBT senior agency Openhouse, is also HIV-positive, and has volunteered for several AIDS service organizations.

"I'm excited, overwhelmed, and honored," Elizondo told the B.A.R. Monday.

She said that she will be participating in Trans March meetings and looks forward to that event, which takes place Friday, June 26.

She credited the Pride board with being "so appreciative" of the trans community.

Other Honorees

Several other people were selected for a variety of awards, including some new ones for the 45th anniversary.

The Pride board named pink triangle organizer Patrick Carney as the recipient of this year's Gilbert Baker Pride Founder's Award. Carney, a gay man, has led the annual installation of the pink triangle on Twin Peaks on Pride weekend for the last two decades. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the gigantic pink tarps, which can be seen from the East Bay if there's no fog.

The pink triangle was once used by the Nazis to identify gay prisoners, but Carney and his group of volunteers have continued the effort to reclaim the symbol for the LGBT community.

An architect, Carney, 59, has worked on low-income housing, historic preservation - including San Francisco's City Hall - and the restoration of several art deco structures. He was appointed in 2013 by Mayor Ed Lee to the City Hall Preservation Advisory Committee.

Carney didn't respond to a message seeking comment, but said on Facebook that it was "a terrific surprise" to be chosen for the award.

The Pride board selected Julia and Sam Thoron to receive the Jose Julio Sarria History Maker Award. The couple, who are straight allies and the parents of three grown children, became involved with PFLAG after their daughter, Liz, came out to them in January 1990. By February, they had connected with the late MaryBelle Smith, who ran the San Francisco chapter at the time.

"We got hooked," Sam Thoron, 75, said.

"When Liz came out she had not changed," he added. "We needed some education and support around this new information."

They soon realized that support ran both ways, as Julia Thoron, 75, pointed out.

"We wanted to educate the public and advocate for full equality for our child," she said.

Sam Thoron got involved as regional director and sat on PFLAG's national board for a time, though both retired from the board of directors last year.

The inaugural Audrey Joseph Entertainment Award will go to Joseph, a lesbian who had been the longtime main stage producer at SF Pride. In an email, she said that she is not producing the main stage this year, and that Jenn Stokes has taken over that responsibility.

"She is great," Joseph said.

Joseph, who declined to share her age, preferring it "be a mystery," said that she's honored but a little shy about the award.

The Pride board initiated the award, which honors those who have made a significant or historical impact, or left an indelible impression, on the LGBTQ community and the movement for LGBTQ rights, through artistic expression, or through their contribution within the entertainment industry.

"I am the back stage person and being on a stage is a little scary for me, even if only in the vehicle of an award bearing my name," she said. "However, the purpose of the award thrills me and all too often we do not honor those who work in the shadows of the stars.

"And this award will do that as well as those whose names have influence and fight for our causes," Joseph added. "San Francisco Pride is a great event for me whether working it or being a patron."

Tita Aida will receive the Teddy Witherington Award, which was selected by Mayor Ed Lee. It's awarded in recognition of an individual who has contributed a long-standing, large body of work to the LGBTQ community.

"I am thrilled and excited to be part of SF Pride once again, in a different capacity," Aida, who jokes that she's "over 30," said in a Facebook message. "To receive the Teddy Witherington Award is something that I will cherish from here on. I know and had the opportunity to work with Teddy. Teddy is one of my role models in terms of activism and community organizing."

Aida served on the Pride board when Witherington was its executive director.

Aida, a transgender woman, works for the Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center, where she is the program manager for Trans: Thrive, a drop-in program for the trans community. She has been with API Wellness for 18 years.

"My acceptance of this recognition from both SF Pride and the mayor is due to the communities I identify and work with," Aida said. "I would like them to reap the wonderful opportunities available right now to everyone, to build, collaborate, create, and strengthen our relationships with each other and toward the future. I hope that I can serve and be that 'bridge' for them through this recognition."

Tom Taylor and Jerome "Jerry" Goldstein will receive the Heritage of Pride 10 Years of Service Award, which was chosen by the Pride board. The couple, who married in 2013 but has been together since 1972, is well known locally for the extravagant holiday decorations in front of their Dolores Heights home. The winter wonderland draws tourists and locals alike, who marvel at the 65-foot tall Norfolk Island pine tree and the assorted lights, presents, and other trimmings.

Taylor, 71, and Goldstein, 73, are both long-term HIV survivors and known for their sense of civic pride.

Goldstein, a physician, told the B.A.R. for a story last year that they first decorated the tree 26 years ago.

Taylor did not respond to an email seeking comment by press time.

Mary Midgett, an African American lesbian, will receive the Heritage of Pride Freedom Award, selected by the Pride board.

Midgett, 78, founded the Bay Area Black Lesbians and Gays group and is an active speaker for Openhouse, the LGBT senior agency. She also co-founded the NIA Collective in 1986, with which she is most closely associated. It was created by and for lesbians of African descent during the black caucus at the Lesbian of Color Conference in San Francisco.

She also authored "Brown on Brown," a collection of black lesbian erotica; "Riding Desire"; and "New York Flavor With a San Francisco Beat."

She writes an inspirational column for the Western Addition newspaper in San Francisco.

Midgett did not respond to an email message by press time.

Monica Helms is the recipient of the Heritage of Pride Creativity Award, selected by the Pride board. The creator of the transgender pride flag, Helms, 64, told the B.A.R. that she is "humbled" to receive the award.

"This was my interpretation of how I felt to display my pride," Helms, a transgender woman, said of the flag. "I didn't expect it to be well-known or well-used but apparently people saw it and now it's seen all over the world."

Helms created the light blue, pink, and white flag in 1999. The first large event where it was shown was in Phoenix at the 2000 Pride parade. Helms said that she carried it in the color guard.

"The stripes at the top and bottom are light blue, the traditional color for baby boys. The stripes next to them are pink, the traditional color for baby girls," the Wikipedia pages on the flag quotes her as saying. "The stripe in the middle is white, for those who are intersex, transitioning, or consider themselves having a neutral or undefined gender. The pattern is such that no matter which way you fly it, it is always correct, signifying us finding correctness in our lives."

Helms, who lives in Atlanta, said that she donated the original flag to the Smithsonian last August and is now passing around the idea of designating August 19 as Trans Pride Flag Day.

Formerly in the Navy, Helms previously lived in the Bay Area when she was twice stationed in Vallejo. She then went on to a career at Sprint in Phoenix, where she transitioned. She said the company was supportive. She moved to Atlanta in 2000 and retired from Sprint in January.

Harry Lit, who will receive the Heritage of Pride Pride Community Award, is known in the bear community as the producer of Lazy Bear, a fun-filled weekend of parties in the Russian River. The Pride board made the selection.

He suffered a stroke several years ago and told the B.A.R. that he is appreciative of the support he received from the community during his recovery.

Lit, 54, recently relocated to Florida to help care for his mom, but he said he'll be back for this year's Lazy Bear and he and his husband, Allen Eggman, will do the party next year, too.

"I'm very honored to get this award and how fitting that it happened as I'm leaving San Francisco," he said in an email.

Already Announced

Last month the Pride board announced the first slate of grand marshals. They are Olivia co-founder Judy Dlugacz; #blacklivesmatter co-founder Alicia Garza; and the Transgender Law Center as organizational grand marshal. For the B.A.R.'s story, see http://ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=70438