2008 Capital Pride Heroes
Sean Bugg, Noi Chudnoff, Fred Lutz, Heather Mizeur, Bob Summersgill, SaVanna Wanzer
Each year, the Capital Pride Planning Committee selects a number of individuals to honor as ”Capital Pride Heroes.” These six honorees have made extraordinary efforts to bring full equality to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender communities. These heroes will be recognized in the Capital Pride Parade on Saturday, June 14.
Sean Bugg
Sean Bugg is co-publisher of Metro Weekly and editorial director of Jansi Media. He writes BuggBlog, a blend of politics, media, tennis and videogames, and Four Wheels Good, which features reviews and commentary on automotive issues and owns Ascribe Catering, a party and event planning business. Previously, Bugg directed the
Social Marketing Project for the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, providing technical assistance to public health agencies on the uses and applications of social marketing tools for HIV prevention programs. He also worked for the HIV prevention program at Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington as the coordinator of the Male Sex Industry Project and Gay Men’s Outreach. In the early 1990s, he was an active member of ACT-UP/DC, helping organize demonstrations such as ”Hands Around the White House” and ”Hands Around the Capitol.” A native of Kentucky, Bugg moved to Washington in 1989 after receiving his B.A. in journalism from Washington and Lee University.
Noi Chudnoff
Noi Chudnoff (posthumous) was born in Thailand in 1947. At the age of 17, she moved to Seattle with her family. She married her husband, Jonathan, in 1974 and they have one son, Nissim. In 2001, after spending several years in retail in Kensington and Eastern Market, Noi opened Go Mama Go on 14th Street NW. She quickly became one of the community’s biggest supporters, donating money to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Whitman-Walker Clinic, the N Street Village and Ganymede Arts/Actors’ Theatre of Washington, where she served as president of the board of directors. Noi passed away Nov. 6, 2007, at the age of 59.
Fred Lutz
Fred ”Freddie” Lutz owns Freddie’s Beach Bar and Restaurant, a ”straight friendly” GLBT restaurant and bar in Arlington, Va., which celebrated its seventh anniversary this spring. Freddie offers a space for expression for everyone. Fledgling theater groups and drag queens and kings have performed at his establishment. Karaoke singers perform three or more nights a week. He has hosted fundraisers for many organizations including the Arlington Food Assistance Center, Arlington Gay & Lesbian Alliance, Food and Friends, the Mautner Project, Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry, Transsexual Symposium Inc. and Whitman-Walker Clinic. He serves on the NOVAM board.
Heather Mizeur
Maryland Del. Heather Mizeur has worked on behalf of the African-American and Hispanic communities and the GLBT community to pass legislation in the Maryland General Assembly. She has worked to advance the rights of all people to be treated equally with respect to health care and is a leading supporter of marriage equality and transgender rights. Mizeur worked with U.S. Sen. John Kerry on health care before being elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2006. She and her partner, Deb, live in Takoma Park, Md. They are proud, practicing Catholics.
Bob Summersgill
Bob Summersgill is a leading advocate of expanding domestic partner and transgender rights in the District. He has written bills, developed legislative and political strategy, lobbied and testified. Summersgill has been the leading advocate in the District for the legal rights of intersexed people, bringing members of the Intersex Society of North America to brief the D.C. Office of Human Rights staff on intersexuality and it’s medical, ethical and legal dimensions. He also arranged for the first briefing of OHR staff on transgender issues. Summersgill has worked with the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, was active in the reform of Washington’s sodomy law, and created and maintained the now defunct website www.sodomylaws.org, used by lawyers and activists around the world to fight sodomy laws. In Maryland, he successfully worked to protect gay-themed books in the Montgomery County libraries, lobbied to repeal an anti-gay law and served as campaign manager for an openly gay candidate in Baltimore. He is a member of the Rainbow History Project’s advisory board, and works for the National Academy of Sciences as an administrative coordinator. Previously, he was president, vice president, secretary and treasurer of the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance.
SaVanna Wanzer
SaVanna Wanzer is one of the transgender community’s leading grass-roots advocates, working tirelessly to support the GLBT and HIV-positive communities. Wanzer was a founding member of Capital Trans Pride in 2007, and continues to lead this growing organization. She has volunteered with Whitman-Walker Clinic for more than seven years and currently serves on the Clinic’s board of directors. She continues to volunteer and serve the transgender and HIV-positive communities in numerous capacities.
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