GLAA Announces Distinguished Service Award Winners
Annual anniversary reception honors individuals for contributions benefiting D.C.'s LGBT community
The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (GLAA), the largest nonpartisan LGBT political group in Washington, announced Friday that it is honoring Jerry Clark, Alison Gill and Earl Fowlkes Jr. as the winners of its 2014 Distinguished Service Awards.
The awards, given annually to individuals or organizations serving the LGBT community in the D.C. metro area, will be presented at GLAA’s 43rd Anniversary Reception on Wednesday, April 30.
Clark, a health-benefits consultant, serves as the chair of the D.C. Statehood Coalition, as the political director of D.C. for Democracy, and as a board member of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. He has also served as a trustee for the Law and Society Association, as co-chair of Whitman-Walker Health’s spring gala, and as a member of the Democratic National Committee’s Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council. He served on the board of directors and as a former co-chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and was appointed to the Mayor’s Committee on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington.
Gill, in her role as the government affairs director at The Trevor Project, the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide-prevention services to LGBT youth, coordinates advocacy for LGBT mental health and various policy initiatives at the federal, state and local levels. Gill previously worked as public policy manager at the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), where she focused on ”safe schools” policy issues, including combating anti-LGBT bullying. Gill also advocates on behalf of members of the transgender community through her work at Trans Legal Advocates of Washington (TransLAW).
Fowlkes is the president and CEO of the Center for Black Equity Inc., an international black LGBT organization. He founded the International Federation of Black Prides (IFBP) in 1999 as a way to promote a multinational network of LGBT Pride and community-based organizations. In 2012, IFBP became the Center for Black Equity, with an expanding mission ”to promote a multinational LGBT network dedicated to improving health and wellness opportunities, economic empowerment and equal rights while promoting individual and collective work, responsibility, and self-determination.” Fowlkes previously served as the executive director of the DC Comprehensive AIDS Resources and Education Consortium (DC CARE Consortium) and of Damien Ministries. He has advocated on behalf of LGBT issues and HIV/AIDS for 25 years, and currently serves as chair of Mayor Vincent Gray’s GLBT Advisory Committee.
GLAA’s 43rd Anniversary Reception will be held on April 30, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at Policy Restaurant and Lounge, 1904 14th St. NW. Tickets are $55 and can be purchased online at glaa.org or by calling 202-667-5139.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
