The Capital Pride Alliance has announced this year’s winners of its Heroes Awards, for people who have furthered the cause of the LGBTQ+ community in the D.C. area.
The winners will be recognized at the Capital Pride Honors, which will be held Friday at Penn Social in D.C.
The honorees are:
- Fairfax County School Board member Karl Frisch, “the first openly LGBTQ person elected to local office in Fairfax County and the only out school board member in Virginia.”
- Diana Fitz, an advocate for the LGBTQ+ and immigrant community at Ayuda and the longtime director of Latinx affairs at Casa Ruby.
- Tarik Pierce, a fixture in the local LGBTQ+ sports scene and a co-founder of Pub Crawlin’ for Tots, which collects money and toys for the Toys for Tots program.
- Keith Pollard, an activist with a focus on providing resources and support for homeless LGBTQ people, especially teens.
- Les Henderson, an activist whose work includes the documentation of the specific challenges her identity posed during her treatment for endometriosis.
- Rev. Dr. Aaron B Wade, founding and senior pastor of The Community Church of Washington, D.C. — United Church of Christ.
The Bill Miles Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service will go to Deborah McQueen, a volunteer for the Capital Pride Alliance for 17 years.
The Presidential Award, for “extraordinary contributions and exemplary support of the LGBTQ+ community in the National Capital Region,” will go to the late NBC Washington anchor Wendy Rieger.
