PRIDE 2010 | The Rev. Carol West was one of the grand marshalls for the 2010 Tarrant Pride Parade. Tarrant County Gay Pride Week Association announced the 2016 honorees for Grand Marshal, Honorary Grand Marshal, Raina Lea Awards, and Banner Honorees.
An awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at the Pride Opening Ceremony located at the Fort Worth Water Gardens in Downtown Fort Worth. The opening ceremony includes an official ribbon cutting to kickoff Pride Week in Tarrant County and the changing of the lights at Avenue of Light to pride rainbow colors for the duration of Pride Week (Sept. 28-Oct. 9).
Pride Banner Honorees
The Briggle Family
Adam and Amber Briggle are the proud parents of MG (8) and Lulu (4). They recently hosted Attorney General Ken Paxton for dinner in their home, so that he could meet their transgender son and see firsthand that trans kids like MG are just as amazing and wonderful as any other child.
Adam and Amber have appeared on all major news outlets in DFW, and several more across the state, as they have advocated for their son and the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming kids and adults throughout Texas. During the lead up to the Paxton dinner, Amber had the opportunity to be a guest on the public radio program Texas Standard. Their activism and advocacy gained momentum last spring after Amber did a TEDx talk on “Pioneering the Space Between: Parenting a Transgender Child,” and Adam has written several blog posts on this subject, some of which have been reprinted by the Dallas Morning News.
Grand Marshals
David Reed
David currently serves as president of the Tarrant County Lesbian and Gay Alliance. He has been an LGBT and AIDS awareness advocate in Tarrant County for nearly 20 years.
Rhonda Mae Wall of Food
Rhona Mae Wall of Food is a food pantry program started by Rhonda Mae and Hayward (Yogi) Anderson in 1989. Since 1989, they have raised over $608,022 in support for the AIDS Outreach Center Food Pantry.
Rhonda Mae’s Wall of Food is currently performing shows at Club Changes on the first Thursday of each month and at Club Reflection on the third Thursday of each month. The Wall of Food became a National Recognized Organization in 2013.
Carol Cappa
Carol Cappa is the Co-Chair of the Tarrant County Stonewall Democrats, and has served as past president, vice president and membership chair over the years. Additionally, she and her partner, Sue Spell, attended the LGBT March on Washington in April of 2000 with over 7000 people from across the country.
Honorary Grand Marshals
Dallas Bears
The Dallas Bears is a non-profit, charitable and social organization based in Dallas, Texas serving the greater Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. Our membership consists of gay men from all over the Greater Dallas region who consider themselves to be part of the Bear Community, their Admirers and Allies.
First Congregational Church
First Congregational United Church of Christ is a progressive Christian church founded in Fort Worth over 100 years ago and part of the United Church of Christ. First Congregational Church has a long heritage of full affirmation of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender people and continually seek to embrace those who are forgotten or undervalued. Members of FCC are involved in many outreach programs throughout Fort Worth, including Pride Week, and were also Trans advocates at the recent school board meetings in support of equal rights for all students at FWISD schools. They are pastored by the Reverend Lee Ann Bryce.
2016 Raina Lea Community Service Award Nominees
David Mack Henderson
David Mack Henderson has a long history of advocating for LGBT rights in Tarrant County and is the current President of Fairness Fort Worth. Most recently he led the proactive fight for transgender equity and inclusion at FWISD garnering national attention for FW as a city comprised of progressives willing to stand up for what is right.
Ruby Harse
Ruby Harse is the Fort Worth PFLAG Publicity Vice President, responsible for the organization’s monthly speaker program and public relations, a role that she’s held for 10 years. Fort Worth Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (FWPFLAG) promotes the health and well-being of LGBT persons, their families and friends through support, education, and advocacy, to end discrimination and secure equal civil rights. A volunteer and supporter of the Tarrant County Pride Parade and Picnic, Q Cinema, the AIDS Walk, and Fairness Fort Worth, Ruby has twice meeting with Texas state legislators to advocate on behalf of her son and LGBT families.
Rachel Carr
Rachel Carr is a transgender woman in her 60s. She is currently treasurer of Tarrant County Stonewall Democrats, secretary of PFLAG Fort Worth and president of DFW TG Ladies. She has participated in many transgender panels at TCU, UT Arlington, TCC South, TCC Northeast and Planned Parenthood Dallas. She has developed, coordinates and presents the LGBT presentations in the Diversity Awareness class required of all FWPD Academy recruits.
For more information, go to the Tarrant County Gay Pride Week website.