➤ IMPACT AWARD HONOREES from p.
most every other day putting people in hotels.”
Another organization confronting the challenges
of clients during the pandemic is Griot
Circle, the nation’s only non-profi t specifi cally
focused on the needs of queer seniors. José Albino,
the organization’s executive director, and
Griot Circle’s director of strategic collaborations,
Katherine Acey, jointly accepted an award and
paid tribute to the members they serve day in
and day out.
“I stand on the shoulders of our founders and
our current vibrant elder members who refuse
to be invisible, who refuse to be silenced despite
the barriers of racism, sexism, gender, and sexual
orientation oppression,” Acey said in her acceptance
speech.
In an interview with Gay City News following
the acceptance speech, Albino further emphasized
the perseverance of Griot Circle’s members
in the face of a deadly pandemic that has
especially impacted the most vulnerable communities
of color.
“Clearly the pandemic doesn’t have any eyes
but it knows exactly who to attack and who
to kill, and that’s by design,” Albino said. “It’s
rooted in system racism, it’s rooted in classism
and inequities across all sectors including
economics. I think our members have been affected
disproportionately because of it. They’re
older, they’re gay, largely woman, they’ve been
otherised for so long. The history of the otherization
is showing up now in this particular
disease.”
The virtual gala included a fundraising effort
to support Griot Circle’s work, which on the
night of the event raised more than $500. Three
donors were selected for special thank you —
Ann Northrop won a gift basket donated by Li-
Lac Chocolates; Andre Aekins won a coffee machine
donated by Keurig; and David Zink won a
$500 gift certifi cate donated by Brooklyn’s New
Beginning Cleaners. (Barbara O’Sullivan was
the lucky winner of $250 in the evening’s trivia
contest.)
Other honorees featured at the event have
made important strides in boosting trans representation.
Emilia Decaudin, who made history
in Queens this summer alongside Melissa
Sklarz when the pair became the fi rst out trans
Democratic district leaders in New York City,
elaborated on her work in bringing changes to
the gendered rules governing local politics.
In an interview after she accepted her award,
Decaudin said, “Where I see my lane is changing
the norms that are embedded in our language
and our laws and how we refer to people
in general, especially the use of gendered
language and pronouns, as well as sex-based
language like male and female which, while appropriate
in some contexts, is not in others at
the detriment of trans and non-binary people
specifi cally.”
Many honorees’ work extends far beyond
DONNA ACETO
Dubbs Weinblatt, the founder, executive producer, and host of
“Thank You For Coming Out.”
DONNA ACETO
PJ Ryan, creator of the “The Dear You Project” podcast.
DONNA ACETO
Honoree Krishna Stone of GMHC with presenter Cathy Marino-
Thomas, a past Impact Award honoree.
DONNA ACETO
Richard Grossman, president of Halstead Real Estate.
the confi nes of New York City. Brian Silva, the
founder and executive of the National Equality
Action Team (NEAT), is actively engaged in efforts
to mobilize voters nationwide to show up
in November. But he notably redirected the focus
of his speech to the most urgent matter facing
the community: the deaths of transgender
individuals of color. He listed every name of the
transgender folks known to have suffered violent
deaths this year.
“These are the 28 transgender people murdered
in the United States so far this year —
already more than 2019 and these are only the
ones that we know about,” Silva said. “They are
disproportionately Black and brown and women.
Each of them had a story. People they loved
and loved them. Register to vote now, then vote
by mail, vote in person, vote like our community’s
lives depend on it, because they do.”
Another one of several honorees to emphasize
the importance of voting was Aaron Morris,
the executive director of Immigration Equality.
Morris’ organization plays a crucial role in representing
queer and HIV-positive immigrants
and advocating on behalf of those individuals.
“It is such a pleasure to do work with immigrants
and refugees every day, even during the
time when, in the very top parts of our government,
there is a narrative that immigrants are
to be feared, immigrants are bad people,” Morris
said in his acceptance speech. “When that
kind of hate speech comes from the president —
and let’s be honest, it comes from that source —
it is all the more important that all of us every
day counter that with the truth, and the truth
is and always has been that immigrants are the
lifeblood of this nation.”
He added, “Thank you so much for the acknowledgement
— and please do vote.”
Honorees also opted to pay tribute to those
who have helped them in their respective career
journeys, including individuals who have
passed. Tracie Gardner, vice president of policy
advocacy at the Legal Action Center, said her
intersectional work and focus on people living
with HIV/ AIDS would not have been possible
without her support system.
“I think this is an acknowledgement of the
loved and respected LGBTQI folks in my life,
both personally and professionally,” Gardner
said. “I’ve been supported and guided and
taught and nurtured, and if my accomplishments
are even a little bit noteworthy it’s because
of these family members both alive and
no longer with us.”
The event was made possible by the evening’s
presenting sponsor MetroPlus Health
Plan. Other sponsors included Amida Care, the
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, the
Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr., Fund, TD Bank,
and First Central Savings Bank.
Among those presenting honorees with their
awards were Todd Canning, the director of clinical
services for the Partnership in Care Program
at MetroPlus Health Plan, Patrick McGovern,
Amida Care’s chief business development
and policy offi cer; and Cathy Marino-Thomas,
who was a founding member of Gays Against
Guns and serves on the board of Equality New
York. Amida Care’s president and CEO, Doug
Wirth, also presented.
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