From Staff Reports

Officials with Black Tie Dinner on Thursday night, March 28, announced the 16 organizations chosen as local beneficiaries of the 2019 dinner. The list includes 15 returning local beneficiaries and one new local beneficiary, along with the event’s national beneficiary, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

This year’s dinner will be held Nov. 2 at the Sheraton Dallas Downtown. Black Tie distributed $1,185,000 to its 2018 beneficiaries.

Blac Tie Co-chair Nathan Robbins described the 2019 beneficiaries as a “diverse, exciting group of incredibly hard-working organizations that make an enormous impact in our local LGBTQ community.”

He added, “Selecting our beneficiaries is one of the most important and difficult decisions our board makes every year, but also the most exciting because of the incredible work these organizations are doing in our community.”

Local beneficiaries returning in 2019 are AIDS Outreach Center, AIDS Services of Dallas, Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star,

Cathedral of Hope, Celebration Community Church, Equality Texas Foundation, Lambda Legal, Legacy Counseling Center, Northaven United Methodist Church, Promise House, Rainbow Roundup, Resource Center, Trans Kids & Families of Texas, Turtle Creek Chorale and Uptown Players.

New to the beneficiary list this year is Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas.

Black Tie Dinner also officially unveiled the theme for its 2019 Dinner: “Be.”

Co-chair Jeremy Hawpe noted, “We chose this year’s theme for a few reasons. One, it’s an acknowledgment that for members of our community, sometimes just ‘being’ yourself is an act of bravery and inspiration.

“‘Be’ also gives us an opportunity to build on that idea throughout the year and provide a call to action to our supporters and community to be supportive, to be welcoming and to be involved as we continue to push for equal rights and equal dignity for the LGBTQ community,” he added.

Black Tie officials will be announcing more details in the months to come, including award winners, special guests, speakers and more.

For more information about the beneficiaries, the BTD organization and the annual dinner, visit BlackTie.org.