Pillars of Pride Event Honors 12 LGBTQ+ Elders And Raises $50k

May 18, 2022• byMichael Strangeways

Gen Pride’s PILLARS OF PRIDE event and fundraiser was a huge success this past Sunday, May 15th at Century Ballroom on Capitol Hill raising over $50k. The non-profit group provides programs for Seattle’s growing LGBTQ+ community and is currently actively working on raising $2m towards the construction of an LGBTQ+ Center to be located in the under construction Pride Place which will provide housing for low income queer seniors.

The new housing is located on Broadway, between Pike and Pine Street on Capitol Hill in the heart of the city’s traditional LGBTQ+ neighborhood. GenPride is a partner on the project with Community Roots Housing. The new building is scheduled to be completed in 2023.

The Sunday event is the first of what is proposed to be an annual event that will have the double duty of fundraising while honoring elder community “pillars” for their leadership. The 12 people honored for the first event:

Aaliyah Messiah – nominated by POCAAN
Arnaldo Inocentes – nominated by Pride ASIA
Bill Thieleman – nominated by Seattle Choruses
Breanna Anderson – nominated by Ingersoll Gender Center
Domenico Minotti – nominated by Gay City
Jorge Aguirre – nominated by Entre Hermanos
Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen – nominated by GenPride
Louise Chernin – nominated by GSBA
Lynda Greene – SouthEast Seattle Senior Center (SESSC)
Malie “Tiare” Chanel – nominated by UTOPIA
Martha Zuniga – nominated by Entre Hermanos
Peter Shalit – nominated by GenPride

More info and a chance to donate to the Pride Place project.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to a successful first-ever Pillars of Pride! We enjoyed coming together in community and celebration. With entertainment from the Seattle Men & Women’s Chorus group the SuperTonics, a keynote address by George Dicks, and the extraordinary Aleksa Manila as the emcee, the 150+ guests were treated to a special afternoon. A special thank you to our Honorees that were nominated by GenPride and partner agencies, all of our attendees, volunteers, speakers, and community leaders who joined us on Sunday.

If you haven’t already donated, help us make Pride Place a reality by donating today at genprideseattle.org/pillars-of-pride-donate/ or by using the button below.

DONATE NOW

We also have video of the event available, including inspiring speeches from our honoree at genprideseattle.org/pop#eventvideo

About the Author: Michael Strangeways

As the Editorial Director/Co-Owner, Michael Strangeways writes, edits and does about a million other jobs for Seattle Gay Scene, Puget Sound's most visited LGBTQ news, arts and entertainment website now celebrating its 14th year as a media outlet. A semi-proud Midwesterner by birth, he's lived in Seattle since 2000. He's also a film producer who would like you to check out the Jinkx Monsoon documentary, "Drag Becomes Him" now available on Amazon.com. In his spare time, he gets slightly obsessive about his love for old movies, challenging theater, "otters", vodka, chocolate, "I,Claudius", Lizzie Borden, real books made out of paper, disaster films, show tunes, Weimar era Germany, flea markets, pop surrealistic art, the sex lives of Hollywood actors both living and dead, kitties, chicken fried steak, haute couture and David Bowie. But, not necessarily in that order.