Three years ago, Thea Quiray Tagle, 25, was having a discussion about “allies,” or friends of the GLBT community, when she realized needed to come out as queer. The young doctorate student at the University of California San Diego had known that she was more than an ally for some time, but to continue her work in the community she recognized she needed to come out – at least to friends, if not family.

The decision, along with her activism, opened up new worlds for Quiray Tagle and was part of the reason she earned one of six $1,000 GLBT youth scholarships this week that Parents Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) awards annually.

PFLAG’s six award recipients are local students who are currently enrolled in college or graduate schools, or who plan to attend college next year. PFLAG awards the scholarships in recognition of outstanding contributions to the GLBT community.

“I feel a sense of validation by being awarded this scholarship from PFLAG,” said Quiray Tagle, who helped start the local chapter of the Gabriela Network, a Philippine U.S. women’s solidarity organization, participates in AIDS Walk events and delivers meals to people living with HIV/AIDS. “It is good to know that people are responding and are appreciative of the kind of work that I have been doing for some time.

“Considering my own background and coming out process, it is an honor to be awarded a scholarship by such an organization, and it is also a motivator to continue to do the work I am doing,” the 25-year-old student pursuing her master’s degree in women’s studies said.

The scholarships are not only offered to youth. Forty-eight-year-old Karen Vigneault, a librarian and first-time recipient of the Miracle T. Kelley Scholarship, has been a queer activist since the 1980s.

“I wasn’t the best student when I was growing up,” admitted Vigneault, a local member of the Native American Kumeyaay Tribe who helped start the first GLBT Native American group, Nations of the Four Directions, in 1991. “Being awarded this scholarship and going on to receive my graduate degree allows me to be a role model for the youth in my tribe, who, along with the general GLBT community, often forget we were the first gay people in the country.” When Vigneault completes her education, she will add to her list of firsts, becoming the first California Native American to have received her master’s degree in library science, she said.

“Our community has so many great youth and students who are involved in the community and that will go on to make a difference in the world,” said Olivia Dorman, PFLAG’s scholarship chair. “There are many straight students out there who are awarded a variety of scholarships all the time, but the PFLAG scholarships allow us to recognize and shine a spotlight on our very wonderful queer youth and students,” she said.

Dorman said that although PFLAG received sufficient applications for judges to be selective this year, the organization had hoped to attract more. She would not, however, say how many people applied for the scholarship, which PFLAG has awarded for the past seven years.

“Low numbers in the amount of applications that are being turned in is a problem that many organizations offering scholarships are having,” Dorman said, explaining that scholarship officials at UCSD have mentioned a lower number of applications at their offices as well. “PFLAG would like to get the word out to the community that we offer such awards to students locally.”

This year, a committee of five community members, including a past award recipient and people who work in the education field, chose PFLAG’s scholarship recipients.

“The selection process this year was tough because we had extremely talented individuals who applied, especially in the area of arts, but some were not actively involved in the community, which is part of the criteria,” said Dorman, who explained that the organization hopes to establish a scholarship that emphasizes the arts in the future.

Dorman also noted that establishing a memorial scholarship fund is a great way for people to honor somebody who has died or someone they really care about.

Perhaps one day some of this year’s recipients will return the gesture to thank PFLAG. Quiray Tagle noted she hopes that receiving the award will further her coming out process to family. “While I am open in all aspects of my activism and organizing, I still am not open about being queer with family. But I told my mom the next time she is in town she can look forward to attending a PFLAG meeting with me.”