Center hosts first Diversity Honors
When Jazz Jennings sees the impact she’s had, she knows she can’t stop being an activist for the LGBT community.
“I have to do this for the benefit of other people,” said Jennings, 14, an incoming high school freshman. “It’s changed lives and saved lives. It’s inspiring beyond belief.”
Jennings, a transgender teen activist and honorary co-founder of the TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation, was recently honored by the Harvey Milk Foundation and the Pride Center at Equality Park during the inaugural Diversity Honors in Hollywood.
The awards, staged at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, recognized individuals or organizations that have made a difference in the LGBT community through advocacy, activism and hard work, said Robert Boo, CEO of the Pride Center.
The event, which raised more than $50,000, also honored Judy and Dennis Shepard, co-founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, who received the Harvey Milk Honors Medal award from Stuart Milk, nephew of the late gay rights icon.
“They have amazing talent, dedication and perseverance that all the honorees have shown over a long period of time,” Boo said. “We were looking at the number of years they’ve been active and advocating for safety and the LGBT community.”
Another honoree was Fort Lauderdale City Commis- sioner Dean Trantalis.
“It’s important that we have openly gay individuals stand in high-profile positions in the community to ensure the rights of the community aren’t compromised in any way,” he said. “… My chair on the dais is at least a symbolic effort for the gay community not to be relegated to second-class status, which has often been the case in the past.”
Also honored was Rand Hoch, president and founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.
“I’ve personally been a victim of employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. It’s one of many causes I worked for since I had been a victim,” Hoch said. “I will always be an ac- tivist for our community.”
One of the messages that Jennings wants to impart is to “treat everyone equally with acceptance, love and tolerance.”
“It’s about loving who you are and spreading love toward other people and being who they are,” she said.
One of the Pride Center’s next projects is to create a Harvey Milk International Center that would feature a conference center, training center and meeting space, Boo said. Fundraising hasn’t started yet, and they will be looking for sponsorship opportunities, he said.
Next year’s Diversity Honors is tentatively scheduled for May 7.
For more information, visit Diversityhonors.com.