The Grand Marshals for the 2009 GLBT Pride Parade have been announced! Each nominee for these positions were selected based on their tireless efforts, commitment, and outstanding contributions to the community; areas such as social, political, health, welfare, education and business. It is their continued mentoring, volunteer efforts, generosity and leadership that ushers our community in a better future, and over 1,200 members of the Houston GLBT Community helped in determining who, amongst the fourteen outstanding individuals and four amazing organizations, shined brightest over the past year in representing the core values that make up our community at large.
Grand Marshal - Organization: Legacy Community Health Services.
Legacy community Health Services is a full-service, Federal Qualified Health Center that provides comprehensive, primary healthcare services to all Houstonians in a cultural sensitive, Judgment-fre and confidential environment. Legacy has a 30-years history of providing Healthcare services to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender community and contines to focus may of its services on this community, specializing in HIV/AIDS testing and treatment. We accept Medicaid, Medicare, and most health insurance plans and offer slidig fee scales at three locations in Houston. Generous financial support from individual, business and charitable foundations allows Legacy to provide no-cost or low-cost healthcare service to over 20,000 men, women and children each year.Grand Marshal - Honorary: Mike and Linda Bratsen
"After finishing Lobby Day in Austin, 2001, my husband I drifted off to Austin's center for gay youth which was having an open house. There we met a young man from Houston, Steven Bratsen, who had recently been outed to his parents who were distressed at learning their beloved son was gay. They had been encouraging him to attend counseling to help turn him around.We spoke to Steven about our many years of involvement in PFLAG-Houston and suggested that he try to get his parents to come.
Steven appeared at the next meeting, and he brought his parents, Mike and Linda Bratsen, to the following one. They were distraught about Steven and Linda cried throughout this first meeting. The following month, Linda marched with Steven in the Pride Parade.
Linda soon volunteered to take over the PFLAG library, and when the next year's Pride Parade came near, Mike built the float. Each year, Mike and Steven, along with several Santa Fe , TX citizens, continue to build the float's frame and with the help of Linda and other PFLAG members, they assemble and decorate each float, several of which have won awards.
Linda has been PFLAG's librarian for seven years, writes book reviews for the newsletter, served on the PFLAG board for five years, supported the establishment of a GSA in Santa Fe High School, and represented PFLAG at the Texas Counselors Association convention. Mike and Linda have participated in the Easter fundraiser for Bunnies on the Bayou and have been PFLAG representatives at Empower and the International Festival. They are also members of PFLAG's Speakers Bureau.
Linda and Mike Bratsen have given nearly eight years of dedicated service to PFLAG's goals in the Houston and Santa Fe communities with their unconditional love and continuing affirmation of GLBT people."
- Sue and Jim Null, PFLAG-Houston
Honorary Grand Marshals 2004
Grand Marshal - Male: James Knapp
For eight years, James Knapp has been the Artistic and Managing Director of the Bayou City Performing Arts, a choral umbrella organization that includes Gay Men's Chorus of Houston. Men's Chorus of Houston had been struggling with waning numbers prior to his appointment in 2001 with the average audience size was below 300 for concerts. Under Knapp's leadership, the chorus has grown to over 100 singers and has moved from local churches for performances to downtown venues; first the Wortham Center, then to the Hobby Center and, for the last three years, in residence at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, home of the Houston Symphony. The average audience size is now 1200. Under Knapp's direction GMCH has been called by Mayor Bill White "the best face of diversity" of Houston in his presentation of "Gay Men's Chorus Day" on June 13, 2004.James Knapp's commitment to outreach in the GLBT community includes several fundraisers with the men's chorus for groups such as AIDS WALK/Foundation of Houston, Bering Omega House, Black Tie Dinner, Human Rights Campaign, EPAH, Bayou City Boys Club, Houston GLBT Chamber of Commerce, Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church, Legacy Clinic and Montrose Counseling Center. Always dreaming of a women's chorus and his commitment to the Lesbian community he started the Bayou City Women's Chorus (BCWC) in 2005. The group started with 12 singers at the first rehearsal and now has grown to over 50 singers of lesbian, bisexual and straight singers. Realizing the beautiful relationship between the singing men and the women of the GLBT community and its supporters, Knapp founded the Bayou City Chorale combining the talents of the men and women together. This group premiered at Jones Hall in 2007 with a benefit performance of SING FOR THE CURE for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Over 130 performers received a very favorable review from Houston Chronicle critic Charles Ward.
Knapp has served on GLBT panels at local community colleges regarding GLBT issues in the arts, and in 2006 was named the Artistic Director of GAY GAMES VII, Sports and Cultural Festival in Chicago, Illinois. He artistically represented the City of Houston and conducted a chorus of 300 singers from all over the world. Knapp has been the driving force for so many of the distinguished contributions of Bayou City Performing Arts to the GLBT community. James Knapp has embodied the mission of excellence in music while providing a nurturing Environment for its membership and offered a tremendous source of pride, unity and support to the Houston GLBT community and beyond.
Grand Marshal - Female: Fiona Dawson
Fiona Dawson is a professional event planner, marketer, fundraiser and leader of volunteers in the Houston community. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from The University of Essex, Colchester, England. Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Fiona volunteered and worked in Bangladesh and Portugal before making Houston home in 2000. Fiona's entry into the LGBT community was the following year when she worked for Casa de Esperanza de los Nios as a caseworker for abused, neglected and HIV-positive children in foster care and adoptive homes. From 2002, while working for the Houston Area Women's Center, Fiona volunteered in Omega House helping provide compassionate care to people with ends stages of HIV/AIDS. It was when Fiona came on staff at Bering Omega in 2003 and soon started volunteering for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) her LGBT activism took off. Fiona has formerly chaired the Houston HRC Gala and the Houston HRC Volunteer Committee. She currently holds five volunteer leadership roles in HRC, three at the National level (National Board of Governors (BOG), BOG Executive Committee and BOG Performance Management Co-Chair) and two locally; Federal Club Co-Chair and 2009 Gala Table Captain Co-Chair. The combination of these roles demands more than 500 volunteer hours and a significant personal financial commitment each year. Fiona travels to Washington DC three times a year for meetings and has participated in lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. As Co-Chair of the Houston Federal Club, Fiona shares the responsibility of annually raising and maintaining over $350,000, which directly facilitates lobbying on the Hill and the election of fair-minded candidates at the national, state and local level. Further, Fiona's HRC volunteer work supports research, educational efforts and outreach, to encourage lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans to live their lives openly and seek to change the hearts and minds of Americans to the side of equality. Fiona has been honored with Outsmart's Gayest and Greatest Awards in 2006, 2007 and 2008 when she was awarded Female Volunteer, Female Fundraiser and runner-up Female Community Hero. In addition to her primary volunteer commitment to HRC, Fiona is known for giving her time and financial support to many local LGBT community events whenever possible. In January 2008, in order to gain the right to vote, Fiona became an American citizen and celebrated with a voter registration party, raising funds for local organizations. Alongside her support of the LGBT community, Fiona has been on the board of the Houston Association of Volunteer Administrators (HAVA) since 2002. Her expertise in volunteer management has led her to teach at Rice University, the University of Houston, the Texas Governor's Volunteer Leadership Conference and at the City of Houston's Neighborhood Leadership Institute. Fiona has worked at BBVA Compass since January 2008, recently joining the department of Corporate Reputation and Responsibility. She is the lead of diversity and environmental issues, bringing her passion and knowledge in these areas to help the company make an impact in the communities where it does business.
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