THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

William Greaves, Mayor Daley's liaison to the LGBT community, opened the program with remarks from Daley, who stated that 'these students have demonstrated great dedication and leadership. (Mayor Daley commends) tonight's award recipients for their hard work and achievements as well as their parents and teachers for support.'

The six girls and one boy receiving scholarships boast a dizzying array of accomplishments and talents. Patience Meeks, a graduating senior at Jones College Prep High School in Chicago and recipient of the Bayard Rustin Legacy Award, plans to attend the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2004. She started her school's gay-straight alliance (GSA) as a freshman, after meeting her first girlfriend. Jones College Prep now boasts the largest GSA of any school in the area with a membership exceeding 100. When asked how she wants to be remembered by her high school community, Meeks told Windy City Times that as a high school student, she was simply 'somebody who stood up for what she believed in, no matter what.' Meeks intends to continue with LGBT activism in college.

Catlyn Origitano, recipient of the GLSEN Chicago Erika & Mala Youth Scholarship, is graduating from Timothy Christian High School in Elmhurst, Ill. Origitano, whose mother nominated her for the award, challenged classmates and teachers in her conservative Christian school when she presented a research report debunking the Bible's alleged condemnation of homosexuality. Origitano plans to major in communications in college, and says she's very proud of the discussion her research project engendered. 'Lots of people asked to see the paper,' she told the audience, 'even those who weren't in my class. It stimulated a lot of debate.' Origitano also said that she was gratified to have helped her classmates and teachers 'conquer some of their fear of the unknown.'

Joel Navarro, recipient of the Barajas-Reese Latino Youth Scholarship, graduates this year from Morton East High School in Cicero. As an openly gay youth, Joel has demonstrated tremendous courage throughout his high school career. In addition to ongoing involvement with his school's GSA, Joel also received certificates of highest achievement in English for 2001 and 2002; received his school's Student of the Month award numerous times, represented Morton East at Cicero Town Hall meetings, and was praised by one of his teachers as 'one of the bravest youths I have ever known.'

Elizabeth Castenada and Stephanie Gentry-Fernandez were co-recipients of the Aixa Diaz Latina Youth Scholarship. Elizabeth is a graduating senior at Morton East High School in Cicero, while Stephanie is a student at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Elizabeth is the president of the Morton East GSA, and organized a successful Day of Silence protest at the school. She also served as youth coordinator for the Day of Silence/Night of Noise demonstration at the Thompson Center, and worked as a student organizer for the national chapter of GLSEN. Stephanie is an undergraduate at UIC and plans to pursue a Master's degree in Latina-Chicana Studies.

Cathy Gould received the inaugural Barbara Gittings Legacy Award. Gould, a senior at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, is a straight ally who joined the school's GSA in her freshman year with a gay male friend and took a leadership role almost immediately. In addition to excelling academically, Gould helped plan and lead GLSEN Chicago's youth leadership summits, brought LGBT speakers to her high school, and helped organize and run two very successful GSA-sponsored dances which attracted students from more than 20 area high schools. Gould is most proud of 'getting freshmen involved in the GSA. I know the GSA is going to continue long after I'm gone.' Gould's parents Arleen and Lou, who attended the awards ceremony, are extremely proud of their daughter. According to Arleen: 'We've always been very open-minded. I went to school at the Art Institute, and we've raised all our kids to be progressive thinkers.' Adds Lou, 'We're actually more proud of her for receiving this award than we would be for an award that was based strictly on academic performance. This award is based on her character. She's open-minded enough to support what's right.'

Jo Nelson, graduating this year from the Illinois Math & Science Academy, received the Al Wardell Youth Scholarship. Nelson, an out lesbian youth, is a champion swimmer in addition to receiving numerous academic accolades; her many achievements include authoring and implementing a fractals course for middle school students. Nelson considers herself a mentor for newly out and questioning youth and feels a strong, visible GSA is a very important part of the coming out process for high school students. Nelson plans to pursue a Ph.D. and eventually embark on a teaching career.

Receiving the GLSEN Chicago Pathfinder award was pioneering educator Toni Armstrong Jr. Armstrong, founder and former coordinator of GLSEN Chicago's Youth Leadership Development program, entered teaching immediately after college and has dedicated her career to mentoring and coaching young people. Armstrong, who was praised by presenter Betty Lark Ross as 'brilliant, passionate, determined and strong,' joined GLSEN in March of 1995 and quickly took a leadership role, spearheading not only youth leadership summits and symposiums but the scholarship program itself.

Armstrong's support and mentoring of LGBT students played a crucial role in the eventual establishment of more than 50 GSA's in the Chicagoland area. After presenting Armstrong with the award, Betty Lark Ross announced that the Pathfinder Award would hereafter be known as the Toni Armstrong Jr. Pathfinder Award.

Several school GSA's shared the Bonnie Larson PFLAG Youth Scholarship to further the ongoing work of educating their high school communities around LGBT issues. The Glenbard West PRISM Club in Glen Ellyn, the Morton East MEGASA Club in Cicero, the Niles West GSA in Skokie and the Stevenson GSA Committee of the Diversity Club in Lincolnshire received the award.

Stevenson High School, which does not have a GSA per se, seats its LGBTQ and allied youth on a GSA committee within a Diversity Club. According to principal Dan Galloway, he prefers it that way: 'We don't want to separate our school community. We are ALL Stevenson, and intolerance against anyone is unacceptable. But we don't want to single out any one group for any reason, be it ethnicity or sexual orientation.'

But not all students share Galloway's opinion. According to sophomore and GSA committee member Talia Stein, while the Diversity Club does a 'wonderful job,' Stevenson has 'big problems' with homophobia, primarily in terms of students using derogatory language without intervention from faculty or fellow students.

'We're tolerated,' says Stein, 'but not accepted. It's really important to have the visibility that a GSA provides, a club that's JUST about making the school safer for us. We need to ask that the bar be set higher than mere acceptance.'

AWARDS

BARAJAS-REESE LATINO YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP, established 1999, awarded to recognize and honor the anti-homophobia work of a local young man of Latino descent: Joel Navarro, Morton East HS, Cicero.

AIXA DIAZ LATINA YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP: established 1999 in memory of founding Amigas Latinas 'mother' Diaz, who brought vision and commitment to the Latina LBQ community through her organizing efforts, as well as knowledge and encouragement to Latino children through her dedication as a teacher. The scholarship provides financial assistance to young lesbian/bisexual women of Latina heritage who fight homophobia in their schools/communities and are actively pursuing a college education, and financial support to high school gay-straight alliances in schools with large Latino student populations: co-recipients Elizabeth Castenada, Morton East HS, Cicero; Stephanie Gentry-Fernandez, University of Illinois-Chicago.

BARBARA GITTINGS LEGACY AWARD: established 2003 in honor of the pioneer whose many groundbreaking accomplishments include picketing for GLBT rights in Washington years before Stonewall; editing the groundbreaking lesbian magazine The Ladder; being one of the first out lesbians to appear on TV and radio using her real name; and spearheading the movement to remove homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses: Cathy Gould, Maine East HS, Park Ridge.

BAYARD RUSTIN LEGACY AWARD: established 2001 honoring the memory of Bayard Rustin, who organized many of the large-scale actions for which Martin Luther King Jr. became famous. The scholarship is awarded to an African-American student who has shown dedication to advancing civil rights for all, including the LGBT community: Patience Meeks, Jones College Prep HS.

ERIKA & MALA YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP: Established 1996 in honor of two young women who attended prom together in the era before GSA's and GLSEN Chicago made schools safer. Awarded to a student showing outstanding commitment to advancing LGBT visibility and equality in his or her own high school: Catlyn Origitano, Timothy Christian HS, Elmhurst.

AL WARDELL YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP: Given in honor of Al Wardell, a distinguished educator and tireless Chicago-area activist for LGBT rights. Awarded to a student who has shown outstanding commitment to advancing LGBT visibility and equality in his or her own high school and is planning to pursue a career in teaching, social work, psychology, PT/OT/ Speech therapy, sign language interpreting, or any of the 'helping professions': Jo Nelson, Illinois Science & Math Academy.

BONNIE LARSON PFLAG YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP: Established 2003 in memory of Bonnie Larson, a PFLAG mom who by her love and dedication to PFLAG made things better for GLBT youth. The scholarship provides financial support and enthusiastic encouragement to local GSA's: Glenbard West PRISM (Glen Ellyn), Morton East MEGASA (Cicero), Niles West GSA (Skokie), Stevenson GSA Committee of the Diversity Club (Lincolnshire).

Northern Trust Bank provided gifts and flowers to the youth and their families. Sue Bell also presented a $750 check from Northern Trust TNT Pride to GLSEN, and discussed GLSEN's $10,000 matching grant from the Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust.

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