San Diego Equality Campaign Executive Chair Sara Beth Brooks, Nick Moede, owner of Rich’s nightclub, and Building Bridges for Pride member Dan Horan were among several emerging activists honored at the annual Nicky Award’s ceremony at the Birch North Park Theatre, last Sunday.

The Nicky Awards, one of the oldest GLBT community awards ceremonies in the country, honors local GLBT leaders in all areas of the community, including business, activism and entertainment. Nicole Murray-Ramirez founded the awards in 1976 and proceeds benefit local nonprofit organizations, including the San Diego LGBT Community Center and the Imperial Court de San Diego.

The ceremony’s first awards, The Harvey Milk Leadership Award and the Mayor George Moscone Award, were established by Murray-Ramirez after Milk, the first openly gay person elected to public office, and San Francisco Mayor Moscone, a gay rights advocate, were assassinated in 1978, in honor of their life and work.

Former City Councilmember Toni Atkins presented the Harvey Milk Leadership Awards to Brooks, one of three recipients of the award.

This, “young woman who burst out on the scene with compassion, enthusiasm and energy, and after we suffered the defeat of Proposition 8, this young woman stepped forward and said, ‘We are going to respond in San Diego, 25,000 strong,’” said Atkins. Brooks, along with Moede and Horan, organized the Nov. 15, 2008, march and rally, attended by more than 20,000 people.

Brooks thanked her mentors for the award.

“[I thank] people like Cleve Jones, who worked so closely with Harvey Milk, who took the time to call me and tell me that I was doing a good job and offered me support, with people like Toni. People like Delores Jacobs from The Center. People like Robin Tyler, who take the time to raise the next generation of activists in this community,” Brooks said.

Moede and Horan also received the Harvey Milk Leadership Award.

“After the passage of Proposition 8, Moede, a well-known businessman in the community, became a passionate voice for LGBT equality,” said City Councilmember Todd Gloria, who presented Moede with the award.

“Harvey Milk was someone who believed in standing up and fighting for one’s rights. He would not take Prop. 8 lying down. We should not either. I urge you all to continue the fight,” Moede said.

Horan, the last recipient of the Harvey Milk Leadership Award, has become an ambassador to the community, said City Councilmember Carl DeMaio.

“It’s amazing how I met Dan [Horan]. I was at a Barrio Station event in the Hispanic portion of town, and I saw Daniel representing the gay community. He brought a table. He was there representing us. He was building bridges. A few weeks later, I see him at another event, the All People’s Breakfast on Martin Luther King’s birthday. Again, he’s working at a table and handing out information, building those bridges. And I see him at the César Châvez Breakfast, again, building bridges,” DeMaio said, who presented the award to Horan.

“There are so many people in this room that have done so much more than me. I am so honored to be in all of your presence,” Horan said.

Emcees Monique Marvez and Kyle Fitzgerald presented Marriage Equality USA with the award for Outstanding Community Organization.

“We’ve knocked on doors, we’ve marched in the streets. We’ve phone banked and canvassed. We’ve reached out to the community from San Marcos to Santee to San Ysidro, and it’s the people around us that make a difference and it’s all of you who have helped to make a difference,” said Marriage Equality USA San Diego Chapter Leader Fernando Lopez, adding that the marriage-equality movement has a long road ahead.

Murray-Ramirez presented the George Moscone Memorial Award to San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender and San Diego Fire Chief Tracey Jarman, two public servants who have served the GLBT community for decades.

Kolender changed San Diego law enforcement’s treatment of GLBT residents, Murray-Ramirez said.

“The 1960s and 1970s were decades of a racist and homophobic era in San Diego. Tonight’s honoree, as a police chief and now as a sheriff, is greatly responsible for extending its hands to the gay and lesbian community and changing attitudes concerning homosexuals in San Diego,” he said.

“I am honored to be given the award in the name of George Moscone, the life that we went through, the things he did,” Kolender said.

Jarman, the second honoree of the George Moscone Memorial Award, and San Diego’s first female fire fighter, brought honor and respect to the GLBT community, Murray-Ramirez said.

“I just want to say thank you to the LGBT community. You’ve been there since the day I was appointed. I couldn’t have been more proud of a fire chief to all of you to represent women, gays and lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people,” said Jarman, who with Kolender, recently announced her retirement.

Evans Hotels’ Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel Robert Gleason and Greater San Diego Business Association Charitable Foundation board member Lisa Sanders received the Outstanding Man and Woman of the Year Award respectively.

“Thank you so much for all your support. My family loves you all, and I’ll continue the fight,” Sanders said. Sanders’ father, Mayor Jerry Sanders, received the George Moscone Humanitarian Award at last year’s awards ceremony.

The amount of money raised is still being determined, though Michael Mack, co-chair of this year’s award’s ceremony and co-owner of Hawthorn’s Restaurant Lounge, which hosted a pre-ceremony VIP dinner, said that last year’s Nicky Awards raised more than $20,000.