North Texas Legal Hospice’s executive director gets award
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| Roger Weddel |
Roger Wedell has been named this year’s recipient of the Black Tie Dinner’s Kuchling Humanitarian Award.
Each year since 1983, the award has been presented to individuals who have made extraordinary gifts on behalf of the LGBT community.
“It is an incredible honor,” Wedell said, adding that it was unexpected. “It hasn’t quite sunk in really.”
Wedell said he will be humbled to have his name listed alongside past winners, who include the likes of John Thomas, Bill Nelson and William Waybourn.
“They are the founders and kind of the ancestors of our movement locally,” Wedell said.
Black Tie Dinner co-chair Deiadra Burns called Wedell a “rare leader.”
“As a man of faith, integrity and scholarship, he leads by example and is an inspiration to us all,” Burns said.
Wedell has been executive director of the North Texas Legal Hospice for the last seven years. The Legal Hospice provides services to low-income people with HIV/AIDS and other terminal illnesses.
Wedell is former president of the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance; co-chairman of the Religion and Faith Committee of the Dallas Human Rights Campaign Steering Committee; a member of the Ethics Advisory Commission for the city of Dallas; and a former member of the steering committee for the Dallas Chapter of Texas Partnership for End of Life Care.
He has served as a consultant to the Collin County Gay and Lesbian Alliance and a panelist for the Dallas Morning News’ Time Out for Diversity Program.
He also was a member of the work group on amending Dallas’ nondiscrimination ordinance to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
From 1994 to 2000, Wedell served as executive director of Tarrant County AIDS Interfaith Network.
From 1993 to 1994, he served as a program coordinator for the AIDS Outreach Center in Fort Worth.
From 1994 to 1995, he served on the AIDS Coordinating Council of Tarrant County.
From 1995 to 1997, he served on the board of Leadership Lambda.
A former adjunct professor of religion at Texas Christian University, Wedell was the Arlington Ministerial Association’s Minister of the Year in 1993.
E-mail editor@dallasvoice.com
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition, July 6, 2007.