San Diego LGBT Pride announced this year’s award winners, which honor individuals who have significantly contributed to the GLBT community through leadership and activism. The recipients will be honored publicly at this year’s Spirit of Stonewall rally, scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on July 29. The rally location has been moved this year to the main concert stage area of the festival grounds in Balboa Park, just off Balboa Drive and Juniper.

This year’s honorees are:

Dr. Beck has devoted countless hours on various boards and to date has raised nearly $10 million for AIDS organizations, civil rights causes, new foundations and political candidates who openly support the GLBT community. While serving as a board member of the national Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which trains and supports GLBT political candidates and officials, Dr. Beck significantly increased the fund’s membership base in San Diego and coordinated its 10th-anniversary national gala dinner in 2001. He was also a founding board member of the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation.

LeSar, who has chaired and served on The Center’s board of directors for five years, is being honored for strengthening the organization’s financial resources in times of instability and assisting the facility through its remodeling project. She is also a driving force behind The Center’s affordable housing project for LGBT youth, helping in the purchasing process of a 24-unit complex and overseeing its financing and approvals.

In the past year, KPBS Television has aired nearly two dozen programs that specifically frame GLBT issues in a fair and positive light, particularly those involving the quest for same-sex marriage.

As director of the Malcolm X Branch Library on Market Street, Cherry has faced an adversarial storm for opening the facility to a public forum on same-sex marriage, as well as an African-American GLBT film festival presented by Ebony Pride.

Gloria is the district director for Congressmember Susan Davis, and chairs The Center’s fundraising committee while serving on its board of directors. His work in the community extends to such organizations as the Greater San Diego Business Association, the HIV Consumer Council, PFLAG and the Nicky Awards Board of Governors.

Hemphill has immersed herself as a volunteer in the GLBT community over the past 10 years, working the front desk at The Center and assisting in its orientation-training for other volunteers. She also volunteers at the office of Councilmember Toni Atkins and serves as membership co-chair for San Diego Front Runners.

Childers is a frontline activist for several organizations, including the Imperial Court de San Diego, for which she has helped raise funds for AIDS and cancer charities. She is also co-founder of the GLBT Community Children’s Easter Egg Hunt which this year drew more than 300 participants.

Vista Community Clinic is offering a new program for Latino gay men ages 18-30, called the Mpowerment Project, at their drop-in center located at 1275 South Santa Fe Ave.

There are several weekly events, including Latin dance lessons on Tuesdays, a game night on Thursdays starting at 7:00 p.m. and a pizza and movie night on Sundays beginning at 5:00 p.m.

The group is designed to be a fun way to get to know other Latino men in a drug- and alcohol-free environment. Information on HIV and STDs, as well as free condoms and lube are available at the clinic.

Contact Mpowerment Project coordinator Miguel Velez at (619) 808-9468 for more information.

Metropolitan Community Church’s Celebration Choir is sponsoring a fundraiser at Kobey’s Swap Meet at the Sports Arena on May 28, from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Yard sale items (furniture, clothing, household items, etc.) will be offered for sale in an effort to raise funds to send the MCC San Diego Celebration Choir to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for their fellowship’s international general conference “A Future and a Hope.”

Kobey’s Swap Meet is located at 3500 Sports Arena Blvd.

For more information call (619) 521-2222.

A free informational seminar on home buying in San Diego takes place Thursday, June 2, at 6:00 p.m. at ProFund Financial in Mission Valley, located at 3111 Camino del Rio N., Suite 400.

Entitled “From Dreams to Reality: Buying a Home in San Diego,” the workshop will address topics such as the financial benefits of home ownership, selecting the best loan and navigating through home-buying procedures. Pizza and beverages will be served.

The workshop is presented by real estate broker Peggy Walkush and mortgage consultant Ryan Mathys.

For further information, call (619) 549-9441 or email peggy@knoll-walkush.com.

Fraternity House, Inc.’s annual fundraising stroll by the sea, Michaelle’s Walk takes place Saturday, June 11, at Magee Park, located at 258 Beech Ave. in Carlsbad. Registration begins at 10:00 a.m., and is followed by the coastal walk at 11:00 a.m. The complete walk is less than five miles; serious runners are welcome, as are those looking for a leisurely stroll with a return shuttle. A picnic featuring live music, a barbecue-style lunch and kids’ activities will be held at the completion of the walk.

Acoustic singer/songwriter Molly Jenson will perform live, Laura Jane and Franco Z will perform their “Vintage Vegas” revue, and there will be a raffle of merchandise and gift certificates donated by local businesses.

Michaelle’s Walk raises funds for the only two licensed homes serving men and women living with AIDS in San Diego County – Fraternity House in Escondido and Michaelle House in Vista.

For more information on participating in or volunteering for Michaelle’s Walk contact Abby Schwartz, development manager at Fraternity House, Inc., at (760) 736-0292 ext. 103.

Metropolitan Community Church of San Diego is joining with congregations around the world to observe World Day of Prayer for Healing Homophobia at worship services on Sunday, May 29.

“This is an opportunity to highlight that both society and too many faith communities still devalue and reject God’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender children,” Senior Pastor Tony Freeman said. “Homophobia contributes to higher rates of suicide in LGBT teens and LGBT homelessness, lower wages for lesbians, and employment and housing discrimination for LGBT people.”

World Day of Prayer for Healing Homophobia is sponsored by Metropolitan Community Churches, a worldwide denomination of affirming, inclusive faith communities open to all people and at the forefront of ministry to the GLBT community since 1968. Pastor Freeman has invited other San Diego congregations to participate through worship and liturgies, taking place at The Center on May 29 at 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Contact the Church Ministry Offices at (619) 521-2222 for more information.

An ongoing counseling support program for both men and women who use crystal meth is available through marriage and family therapist intern Tom Wall and First Avenue Counseling Centre. The program offers an alternative harm-reduction approach for current substance users who have not been successful with other intervention options. Though abstinence is the eventual goal, the program is designed to meet crystal meth users with where they are at with stigma or shame.

The program offers one-on-one counseling support for men and women, as well as a group called Lifestyles in Transition for gay and bisexual men who use crystal meth.

For more information about the group or about individual counseling, contact Tom

Wall, Marriage and Family Therapist Intern #43024 (Supervised by Daniel

Carr MFCC #31037) at (619) 708-7126 or tom@livecompassion.com.