Stonewall Inn Gives Back, the official non-profit of the historic Stonewall Inn, celebrated LGBTQ+ leaders, international icons, and the long legacy of the Inn’s activism this past Monday at the 2nd Annual Brick Awards.
The stage was packed with a star-studded roster of performers and presenters, including Murray Hill, Dana Goldberg, Dominique Jackson, Punkie Johnson, Bridgette Lundy-Paine and Tomas Matos.
The awards, hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Peppermint, credited LGBTQ+ movers and shakers across the globe.
Punkie Johnson, Peppermint, and Dana Goldberg
Peppermint lights up the Brick Awards stage.
Kayla Gore received the Community Activist Award for founding My Sistah’s House, which provides emergency housing for transgender and gender-nonconforming people of color in Memphis, Tennessee.
Puck Carlson, an Iowa teen activist and organizer, was honored with the Billy Bean Youth Courage Award. Carlson teamed up with Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Iowa last year to block Iowa’s “Don’t Say Gay” law and book ban.
Daniela Lourdes Falanga, who is known as Italy’s leading LGBTQ+ activist, received the Global Activist Award. Falanga has worked to counsel LGBTQ+ incarcerated individuals, support trans sex workers, and became the first trans woman to be elected president of Italian LGBTQ+ right organization Arcigay.
Jon Tilli, a director at Deutsche Bank, was presented with the Safe Spaces Champion Award. For years, Tilli has been a driving force for LGBTQ+ inclusion within the company, including their participation in World Pride, the Leslie-Lohman Museum, and the Partnership for Global LGBTI Equality.
The evening shined a spotlight on actor, singer, and activist Billy Porter, who received the night’s highest honor, the Icon Award. Porter used his speech to draw attention to the long history of LGBTQ+ activism in the face of adversity and our ability to survive through perilous times, including President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office.
“I came out in 1985. I’m 55 years old,” Porter laughed. I don’t look like what I’ve been through, and we’ve been through a lot.”
The Brick Awards represented an opportunity to remember and celebrate how far we have come, and to acknowledge how much more work is needed in the wake of the recent election.
“[It’s] inspiring after the last couple of tough weeks we have had, knowing it will be a very difficult four years for us as a community, to see everyone rally together!” said Stacy Lentz, CEO & Co-Founder, Stonewall Gives Initiative.
The Stonewall Inn Gives Initiative was founded less than 10 years ago as a vehicle for The Stonewall Inn to have an impact on the lives of the LGBTQ+ community on a global scale. But Lentz could have never predicted just how far their reach would go when they created the foundation in 2017.
“We are in awe of how it has grown, and [we] don’t take the responsibility we have been given to make an impact lightly,” she shared. “The Stonewall Inn is where this fight started and we really want to ensure it stays at the forefront of that fight for LGBTQ+ rights.”
Comedian and Drag King Murray Hill said nights like these offer a stark reminder: we will make a difference as long as we all stick together.
“We need to keep all hands on deck [and] keep hope alive.”
To learn more about the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative visit stonewallInitiative.org.
