Harvey Milk’s Equality Award, Leadership Award and Youth Essay Award are being presented at this year’s Third Annual Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast, May 20, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel.
The 2011 Harvey Milk Leadership Award of San Diego is being presented to the San Diego Unified School District Board of Education, Superintendent Bill Kowba and the Safe Schools Task Force. This year, the Board of Education established an innovative private-public collaborative Safe Schools Task Force and voted unanimously in support of a Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation Prohibition policy that the Task Force created.
“For the first time, our school district will have an anti-bullying policy,” said Kevin Beiser, an openly gay member of the school board. “The school district’s primary role is to ensure students have a safe learning environment so that they may thrive. This is an important step to establish the expectation that we will act swiftly to protect students and create a climate of tolerance, not hate.”
Cheryl Kilodavis is being awarded the 2011 Harvey Milk Equality Award of San Diego. The process of accepting both of her son’s interests and passions, and exploring her own need for acceptance as both a child and an adult, led Cheryl Kilodavis to write My Princess Boy.
Originally written to explain her younger son’s uniqueness to teachers and fellow students, My Princess Boy became more than just a message for them – it became a movement of acceptance for every child who has ever felt left out or misunderstood just because they’re different.
“I think it’s fantastic,” said fellow author Ken Corbett, during a feature segment on the Today show. “What it tells us is these boys, their parents and the social world is no longer the same. There is an audience for this book, and there are people who need this kind of information and this kind of help.”
This year’s Harvey Milk Youth Video Award is being presented to Tantalera Conley, a senior at Crawford CHAMPS High School, who has won several awards for her academic achievements. Next year she will attend San Diego State University, where she will pursue a teaching credential and degree in Liberal Studies.
“I plan to take advantage of San Diego State University’s outstanding teaching credential program and major in Liberal Studies so that I can bring a broad based educational background and love of learning into my future classroom,” she says. “I want to one day be able to make all students in my class feel included. I decided to take part in the Harvey Milk essay contest because I want to make a positive difference in the lives of people in the world.”
More than 1,000 San Diegans gather in celebration of Harvey Milk’s memory at the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast. The event seeks to bring together all San Diegans who support equality and justice in celebration of the life and work of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to office in California. The event is sold out.
