San Diego Pride announces 2013 Spirit of Stonewall awardees

SAN DIEGO — San Diego Pride has announced its 2013 Spirit of Stonewall Award winners, who will be honored at the Spirit of Stonewall Rally, taking place Friday, July 12 at 6 p.m., at the Hillcrest Pride Flag.

The annual awards are designed to honor individuals and organizations that have made a positive impact on San Diego’s LGBT community. Nominations for the awards were received from the San Diego community and the list of recipients is as follows:

Champion of Pride
Cheli Mohamed – 20 years of service to San Diego LGBT Pride

The Champion of Pride Award honors individuals or couples who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the LGBT community during an extended period of years, or who have made an exceptional contribution through the past year.

Friend of Pride
David Boies and Ted Olson – Prop. 8 legal team, American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER)
Cindy Green – LGBT ally, community volunteer

The Friend of Pride Award honors individuals or couples who do not identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, but who have stalwartly supported the LGBT community through an extended period of years or the past year.

Stonewall Service Award
North County LGBTQ Resource Center and Executive Director Max Disposti – service provider

The Stonewall Service Award honors groups or organizations, which may or may not identify as specifically LGBT, but which have greatly supported the community through an extended period of years and/or have made an exceptional contribution in the past year.

Community Service
Sean Bohac – marriage equality activist
Gibran Guido – queer person of color (QPOC) activist
Hector Martinez – LGBTQ advocate
Jeri Muse – Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, LGBT Work Group chair

The Community Service Award honors individuals or couples who are recognized as “up-and-coming” leaders within the community, or whose contributions to the community over the past year carried significant impact.