When choosing this year’s theme, the organizers of San Diego Pride made a deliberate decision to repeat the same slogan from last year. Equality. Last year, it was “Equal Rights: No More, No Less.” This year’s theme is “Equality! No Turning Back,” and it echoes the same rallying cry with a stronger voice.

“We deliberately wanted to continue with the theme of equality,” said Phillip Princetta, co-chair for the Pride board of directors. “We demand and expect equality regardless of what the issue is, and we really expect it in California, in the United States and the rest of the world. We’re going to maintain that message and we will not give up.”

The four Pride grand marshals will speak on that subject at the Spirit of Stonewall rally, which will take place Friday, July 28, at 7:00 p.m. on the Jack FM Stage on the festival grounds, which are located at Marston Point in Balboa Park.

Early activist Judy Reif will serve as Pride’s community grand marshal. Her activism dates back to 1970 in New York City when she helped promote the nation’s first Pride march a year after the famous Stonewall Riots occurred in Greenwich Village. Reif also became active in the Gay Liberation Front at that time while helping to organize GLBT dances, cultural performances, small press publications and a lesbian food co-op in an era when health food stores were rare.

“Our annual Pride event is dear to my heart. I came out after listening to the Stonewall Riot broadcast live on PBS radio June 27, 1969,” she recalled.

After arriving to San Diego some 30 years ago, she became active with Lesbians for Political Action, co-produced concerts by the San Diego Women’s Chorus and coordinated Shirttails women’s dances. Reif also served on the San Diego LGBT Pride Board from 1994 to 1999. She works as a fitness instructor and teaches classes for the seniors groups Exercise 4 Life and Silver Sneakers.

Reif will be joined at the rally by three celebrity grand marshals who will also ride in the Pride parade on Saturday, July 29. The other grand marshals are Neil Giuliano, Juba Kalamka and the Rev. Troy D. Perry.

Giuliano is the president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and served four terms as an openly gay mayor of Tempe, Ariz. A longtime mover and shaker in his home state, he helped implement numerous nondiscrimination policies based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Arizona, and is profiled in the book Trailblazers: Stories of America’s Openly Gay Officials.

Recording artist Kalamka, a.k.a. Pointfivefag, brings to the parade his national celebrity as a founding member of the homo-hop crew Deep Dickollective. He is lauded for his thought-provoking dialogue on issues of race, class and sexuality in pop culture, and is the curator for PeaceOUT World HomoHop Festival in San Francisco.

The fourth grand marshal, the Rev. Perry, founded Metropolitan Community Church in Los Angeles in 1968. Throughout his dedicated involvement with the organization, he has stood in the face of adversity, helping to keep the church a safe haven for GLBT individuals rejected by other religious communities. There are now 300 Metropolitan Community Churches across the world, including one in San Diego.

The Spirit of Stonewall rally will also feature a speech by Bixi Craig, publisher of the Lavender Lens, as well as presentations from other notable personalities.

For more information, call (619) 297-7683 or visit the Pride Web site at www.sdpride.org.

Ken St. Pierre has been given Pride’s Community Service Award for his support of active-duty GLBT service members and his opposition to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which bans gays, lesbians and bisexuals from serving openly.

St. Pierre has worked many years with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), both as an employee in the Washington, D.C., headquarters and as a dedicated volunteer here in San Diego.

Despite his extended service to the military cause, St. Pierre remains a civilian. “I’ve never served in the military,” he said.

His career in support of the military started about seven years ago when he joined the staff of SLDN. It was one of his first jobs out of college, and little did he know the job would change his life.

“I was living in Washington, D.C., and I needed a job. I was hired by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network to be their event coordinator,” he said. “With that job, I traveled all over the country planning fund-raising events to talk about this issue.”

“When Ken worked at SLDN years ago as our events manager, we called him Ken-tastic because he was just so good at all he did. He is quick, fun, professional and selfless,” said C. Dixon Osburn, SLDN executive director. “I am thrilled to hear that Ken has received a Community Service Award at this year’s upcoming Pride. It is very well-deserved.”

St. Pierre’s work for SLDN changed from a career position to a volunteer activist after he moved to San Diego. Now a realtor, he is still active with SLDN.

“When I moved to San Diego three or four years ago, the only people I knew here were people I had previously worked with through SLDN. That became my social circle,” he said. “They all had personal stories of being discharged or just being impacted in some way, shape or form. Now I did have a personal story because I had all their stories.”

Those stories, friends and experiences keep driving St. Pierre to fight for equality for GLBT service members.

For more information about SLDN or to join the local group, log on to www.sldn.org.

All the recipients of this year’s Pride awards are somehow involved in a local GLBT organization, either as a paid staff member or dedicated volunteer. The one exception is Chris Shaw, who has been honored with the Community Service Award. He is being honored not for a position he holds or for the work he has done with an organization, but for his continued financial support of the San Diego community.

Shaw, along with his partner of 24 years, Doug Snyder, is the owner of Hamburger Mary’s and Baja Betty’s restaurants in Hillcrest and is past owner of West Coast Production Company (now Club Montage). As part of the business plan, Shaw budgets funds to give to local charitable organizations.

“The community gives so much to us and to our businesses. Doug and I feel that it’s important to give back to our community as much as we can,” Shaw said. “It’s always been our philosophy to give back to our community ever since the first business, which was WCPC [West Coast Production Company].”

Shaw contributes to The Center, Stepping Stone, Ordinary Miracles, the Human Dignity Foundation and the Greater San Diego Business Association’s Charitable Foundation, just to name a few. He has given back as much as $75,000 each year to these organizations.

“It’s always been part of our business philosophy. It’s always been part of our budget that the community gets a portion of it. No question about it,” he said. “It’s hard to divide it all up. That’s the hard part. There are so many organizations.”

“I don’t think the man knows the word ‘no.’ It’s just not in his vocabulary,” said “Big Mike” Phillips, co-founder of Ordinary Miracles. “He’s never said no to anything that I’ve asked to make a difference in our community.”

The one organization that is keeping Shaw busy right now is the GSDBA Charitable Foundation. Hamburger Mary’s hosts the annual Hillcrest Mardi Gras, which raises funds for both the Charitable Foundation and the Hillcrest Association.

“Right now, I am highly involved in the GSDBA Charitable Foundation. I am on the board there, so that’s a big thing. We do a lot of fund-raisers for that organization, for youth scholarships,” Shaw said.

“Chris Shaw was instrumental in starting the Hillcrest Mardi Gras fund-raiser,” said Tom Abbas, president of the GSDBA Charitable Foundation. “With our share of the proceeds from this event, the GSDBA Charitable Foundation has been able to award over $40,000 in scholarships the last three years.”

“This month, we are giving away 10 $2,000 scholarships. That’s $20,000 worth of scholarships,” Shaw added. “That’s a nice thing to do for the kids; they really need it.”

Shaw said he is honored to be recognized with this award, a tribute that many people think is long overdue.

“I wish he was recognized more often for his charitable work,” Big Mike said. “We are lucky to have a man like him in our community.”

The winner of the Pride Community Service Award, Shaun Travers, said he did not choose to become an activist. He discovered it was just a part of him.

“Ever since I came out, and I struggled with my own identity, coming out to others, I realized that, deep within myself, I am an activist,” Travers said. “I consistently out myself as a bisexual-identified man. I think it would be simple for people to assume that I was gay-identified. I don’t want people to make that assumption because it’s not true. I want to make sure that I step up and that I show up for the identity that is my own. That’s very important to me.”

For the past five years, Travers has served as the director of the LBGT Resource Center at UCSD and represents the university on the San Diego LGBT Community Leadership Council. Other leadership credits include past board member with Planned Parenthood and current board member of The Center.

“No doubt, Shaun’s energy, passion, commitment, vision and leadership style is what sets the tone in making UCSD’s LGBT Resource Center the welcoming, supportive and cutting-edge space that it continues to be for students, faculty, staff and alumni,” said Samuel Santos, Travers’ assistant. “Clearly, UCSD and the greater LGBT community benefit from the essence and hard work of Shaun Travers. He’s compassionate, smart, witty, driven and a great role model for the LGBT community.”

Because of this list of reputable experiences, Travers does not always consider his efforts to be sign-carrying activism but rather outreach and education.

“In my position, I have the opportunity to consistently and regularly educate around gender identity and sexual orientation issues. I rarely frame what I do as activism because in the context of my work it’s education and outreach. Although it can be understood to be activism and I think of it very often as activism.”

When Dana Harwood came out as a lesbian in 1992, it came as a shock to her mom, Bobbi Harwood.

Just a few days later, Bobbi equally surprised her daughter by connecting with the San Diego chapter of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).

“It was a total shock to me when she came out,” Bobbi said. “I didn’t know anybody I could talk to. I didn’t feel comfortable talking to friends. I didn’t know any gay people. It was just a very sad and lonely time for me.”

In the few days after her daughter’s coming out, Bobbi found an announcement in a local paper about PFLAG. It was a random discovery that has changed both mother and daughter’s lives.

“I could not believe that there was an organization like this, and that I found it especially when I needed it,” Bobbi said.

“My mom called me a few days after I came out and said, ‘Did you know they have a group for people like me?’” Dana said. “She found it on her own, and even though she wasn’t crazy about the idea at first, she soon became an active PFLAG parent.”

Bobbi attended her first meeting five days after her daughter came out, and she admits it was an uneasy start. She felt she did not belong and could not relate with the group of parents and friends.

“But by the time I left, I realized I did have a lot in common with these people and I needed to be there,” Bobbi said. “I felt like I did belong and I could really relate. I felt so much better after I attended the first meeting that I just couldn’t wait to come back the next month.”

Bobbi has been with PFLAG ever since. Her involvement has grown from being a concerned mom to being an active and dedicated leader. She has served as PFLAG’s secretary, treasurer and eventually president. Today, she still works with the help line, the Pride festival booth and chapter membership.

Her tireless dedication to supporting the community extends beyond PFLAG. She has been an advocate for Scouting for All, has presented speeches for gay-straight alliance groups at high schools, has written letters in support of GLBT causes to the San Diego Union-Tribune and volunteers with Youth Pride, Mama’s Kitchen, Monarch School and the Travelers Aid Society.

Her dedication to her daughter, involvement in the GLBT community and contributions to many organizations has earned Bobbi Pride’s Friend of the Year award.

“I am so proud of my mom and all the volunteer work she does for so many different organizations,” Dana said. “My mom had never been very politically active until joining PFLAG. Now she fights for my rights as a lesbian much more actively than I do.”

“It was something I never was involved in, knew about or ever cared about. When it’s your child, it’s a lot different,” Bobbi added. “I think about rights, responsibilities, and I want my daughter to have the same things that my son or other people’s children have. A lot of things are not fair and I wanted to do my little part to help.”

Her dedication encourages many people and has inspires others to get involved.

“Bobbi doesn’t need to do anything special to inspire others in PFLAG,” said Sherry Cohen-Richards, one of her close friends. “Her hard work is apparent and people want to rally around someone like Bobbi who is so dedicated. Her great sense of humor and easygoing manner is part of what makes Bobbi so likable.”

Bobbi will be marching in the Pride parade with her daughter, as well as working at the PFLAG booth at the Pride festival. For more information about PFLAG, log on to www.pflag.com or call the help line at (619) 579-7640. Bobbi may even answer.

Even though Sandra Usi Ramírez has been in the United States for the past 14 years, after emigrating here from her native home of Acapulco, she still struggles with the English language. When she starts talking about her work with the local transgender community, her accent is quite strong.

“I get so excited when I want to talk about why I do this. I want to talk about a lot of things. With the language, I get confused,” Ramírez said.

She has no problems, however, talking with people. As a male-to-female transgender, Ramírez has been awarded the Champion of Pride award for her tireless work educating the Latino transgender community. She has worked closely with the former Binational AIDS Advocacy Project in San Diego, The Center’s Latino Services Program, Bienestar and Christie’s Place.

“I am just so happy to do this – to get everybody together and inform them that we are not alone,” Ramírez said. “Educate them; that way they can educate the others, to get the benefits of what we can learn.”

Ramírez has gathered and shared information about transgender legal rights, immigration and naturalization issues, intimidation from police officers, health care, HIV prevention and support, psychology, self-esteem and more.

“I am working hard to educate the transgender girls,” she said.

“I think that Sandra, for the Latino transgender community, has contributed so much,” said Carolina Ramos, The Center’s Latino Services coordinator.

Ramírez has been facilitating a weekly transgender discussion group for the past six years that is now part of The Center’s Latino Services.

“She’s been very instrumental in bringing education to the group,” Ramos said. “She brings in teachers and makes them aware of things around them, and talks about issues that affect them.”

Ramírez’s work has gained a great deal of respect within the community. She has also been honored with the 2003 Angel Award from Christie’s Place and the 2005 Transgender Day of Empowerment Award.

“It is an honor for me, but I do it from the bottom of my heart. I don’t expect so much recognition,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to know that the community knows what the Latino community is doing.”

Needless to say, Ramírez is excited about a new Transgender Area at this year’s Pride festival. The space brings together several organizations, including EAGER (Expectations Around Gender Expressions and Roles), FTMI (Female-to-Male International), Project STAR (Supporting Transgender Access to Resources), TCC (Transgender Community Coalition) and Transgenero 2000.

“We are going to have a booth at Pride. It’s something new,” Ramírez said. “I am going to be there with other organizations, other transgender groups, and I am going to be telling [people] about information about transgender [people] for anyone who comes to our booth.”

Ruth Howell has a unique perspective of the Stonewall Service Award, since she remembers the 1969 riot that has been attributed as the start of the modern-day GLBT rights movement and for which the Pride award is named.

Now, as vice president of the Diversionary Theatre’s board of directors, she’s quite proud to be affiliated with the organization that has been honored with that same award.

“I personally remember the Stonewall Riots when I was a very young teenager,” Howell said. “I also remember when Diversionary first started. The idea of celebrating who we are is so important in every way – and an artistic way is especially important. I think the Diversionary [Theatre] has done an exemplary job throughout the years.”

Diversionary has been given the Stonewall Service Award for its stalwart support of the GLBT community for the past 20 years. The theater ranks as the third oldest company producing GLBT stage presentations in the country and has staged nearly 100 shows in the past two decades.

“It’s the end of our 20th anniversary year, so it’s a really nice recognition of the work that we’ve done in the past,” said Dan Kirsch, Diversionary Theatre’s artistic director. “It just sets us on a path of continued success.”

Diversionary has been honored for its theatrical work several times this past year, adding several feathers in its artistic cap. The GLBT theater was awarded two Patté awards for theater excellence, as well as a top award from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle.

“I think that people can and should be exceedingly proud of a theater like Diversionary,” said Tim Irving, a regular director at Diversionary. “Not only because of how it serves the GLBT community, but because of how well-respected and highly regarded it is in San Diego’s theatrical community. Diversionary is not some odd little stepchild in the San Diego theater scene.”

“To be able to have an open arena where you can be comfortable as an actor to tell a really moving story that sends a message is fulfilling as an actor,” said Matthew Weeden, currently performing in Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly at Diversionary. “It’s really rewarding to be able to perform works that are not regularly done. I previously performed in Twilight of the Golds. It’s a show that is not done very often.”

When Pigs Fly opens Diversionary Theatre’s 21st season and is an official event of Pride’s Cultural Arts Week. The show is very appropriate to this year’s celebration – it is costume designer Howard Crabtree’s “dream autobiography” of putting on lavish musical extravaganzas, like Florenz Ziegfeld, only gay.

“He wanted to write this musical review about being larger than life, having a happy life, being who you are and accepting who you are,” Weeden said. “I think it’s very important to watch this show and see these people being very crazy and zany and being who they are. I think that’s what Pride is all about.”

For more information about Diversionary Theatre, log on to www.diversionary.org. The theater is located at 4545 Park Blvd.

Most people employed with the county are already serving their communities as part of their job description. The workers that participate in the San Diego County Employees Charitable Organization (CECO) have been recognized with the Stonewall Service Award because they go one step further to assist not only the community as a whole, but also the GLBT community in particular.

More than 4,000 employees take a payroll deduction to raise money for nonprofit organizations. It’s a tradition that was established here in San Diego almost five decades ago.

“The County Employees Charitable Organization was established in 1958 for county employees to donate monies to various nonprofit organizations within San Diego County,” said Jennifer Uebbing, CECO’s president. “Through the years, we have donated about $25 million to nonprofit organizations. County employees value the community they live in and strive to improve it through donations to CECO.”

For the past 20 years, the group has granted funds to many GLBT organizations, including Mama’s Kitchen, Auntie Helen’s Fluff-n-Fold, The Center and North County’s Fraternity House.

“I think they are very modest. They make a difference to the broader community in addition to the LGBT community,” said Alberto Cortés, executive director for Mama’s Kitchen. “They have been supporting this organization since 1994. Over that period of time, they have awarded close to $43,000. They have been a consistent supporter of this organization.”

CECO also supports St. Vincent de Paul Village, Mountain Health Community Services and the Alpha Project.

“Every year, they have this ceremony where they invite all their grant awardees. It was a room packed with all different kind of organizations,” Cortés said. “I was also struck by the breadth of their impact.”

“The County Employees Charitable Organization is honored to receive this award,” Uebbing said. “County employees are proud that we are able to give back to the community.”