Conversations with Nicole
By: Nicole Murray Ramirez
Come Celebrate Harvey Milk on May 24!
In the San Diego traditions of the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cesar Chavez Community breakfasts, you are all invited to the 16th annual Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast on Friday, May 24 at 7:30 am sharp!
The 2024 honorees are international civil rights icon Dolores Huerta, Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black, San Diego equality advocate Devorah Marcus, and the City of Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem Ron DeHarte.
And this year for the first time, 50 LGBTQA middle and high school students will be sponsored to attend the breakfast and $6,000 in student scholarships will be presented with the assistance of GLSEN.
Also for the first time in the breakfast’s 16-year history, it is being organized by a LGBTQA+ community committee, with co-chairs well known civic leader Laurie Black, Attorney Bruce Abrams, and City Commissioner Rickie Brown, with vice-chair Ryan Bedrosian of Rich’s San Diego.
The general admission tickets have also been reduced to $85 and the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast will be at a new location: The Marriott Mission Valley, 8757 Rio San Diego Dr.
The inaugural presentation of the newly established Assistant Police Chief Phil Collum LGBTQA Leadership Award will be given to 2024 honorees Lt. Dan Meyer and Officer Akilah Coston, both of the San Diego Police Department, along with Lt. Mike Gonzales of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, and Supervisory Special FBI Agent Brett Kalina.
The recent deployment of the USNS Harvey Milk vessel will also be celebrated at the breakfast, as San Diego has a long history with the legacy of Milk being stationed here while he served as a U.S. Navy Commander in the 1950s. San Diego is also the first city in the world to name a street after Harvey Milk, followed by Salt Lake City, Portland, Miami, and Paris, France.
The breakfast will benefit the San Diego AIDS Memorial, student scholarships, the Hillcrest Historic Banner Project, the San Diego GLBTQ Historic Task Force, and the Harvey Milk Foundation.
Sponsors of the 2024 Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast are the San Diego GLBTQ Historic Task Force and the Harvey Milk Foundation. For further information on tickets, tables, or sponsorship, call 619-241-5672 or 619-254-6372, or visit bit.ly/HMDB24.
Larry Baza to Receive National Honor
Latino/LGBTQ icon, the late Larry Baza, will become the first San Diegan to be inducted onto the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor, located at the historic Stonewall Inn in New York City. The induction ceremony will be held on June 27.
The prestigious honor will include five other national LGBTQ heroes being inducted as part of the 2024 class: the late David Mixner, Cecelia Gentili, Police Officer Charles Cochrane, Sakia Gunn, and ABilly S. Jones-Hennin.
The annual induction ceremony is sponsored by the International Imperial Court Council and the National LGBTQ Task Force.
I am proud to be the founder of this National LGBTQ Wall of Honor, as well as the San Diego LGBTQ Community Wall of Honor located at the San Diego LGBT Community Center.
GLBTQ Vote Endorses Kevin Faulconer
The local San Diego GLBTQ Vote Committee recently endorsed Kevin Faulconer for San Diego County Board of Supervisors, District 3. The committee stated that it endorsed Faulconer “because he isn’t afraid to take stances and tackle serious issues, and be a visible and accessible elected official.”
When Faulconer served as Mayor of the City of San Diego for seven years, he established an outstanding record of support for LGBTQ civil rights.
Faucloner will face off against incumbent Terra Lawson-Remer in the November 2024 General Election.–Nicole Murray Ramirez is a lifelong Latino and LGBT activist and advocate, a longtime city commissioner, and is the Queen Mother of the International Imperial Court of the Americas. He can be reached at nicolemrsd1@gmail.com.
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