San Diego Pride will honor these awardees in a rally at the Hillcrest Pride Flag on Friday, July 19 at 6 p.m. Read what each of the winners have to say about their history of advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community here.

Paris Quion thrives as Pride’s champion

Paris Quion has been a drag entertainer dedicating herself to LGBTQ+ advocacy for so long, it’s a surprise it took until 2024 to win Champion of Pride when Pride hands out the Stonewall Awards each year. When Sarafina Scapicchio called to congratulate Quion, she said as much. Quion’s advocacy began as a teenager and has only grown from there.

Quion is a huge supporter of the Center and Pride’s year-round education programs after Quion’s family sought resources from the Center when she came out as transgender as a teen. She took up drag as a hobby which naturally led to being asked to helped fundraise. As she said yes, more opportunities arose.

“[It was] a nice way for me to start, because it didn’t feel pressured or it didn’t feel required. It was more like, ‘Oh, this is just something good to,’” Quion explained.

Beyond being a go-to fundraiser, she conducts workshops at government offices, businesses and schools on LGBTQ+ rights and gender sensitivity. At 20 years old she tagged along with older trans people to conduct trainings for the Sheriff’s Department after learning how trans people were mistreated and misgendered while incarcerated.

“While I understand that, yes, this person may have gotten in trouble, I always felt like they don’t deserve to lose their dignity in the process,” she said. Decades later while opening Hillcrest restaurant InsideOut, she got so frustrated with being misgendered by the Health Department inspectors she offered to conduct a free training. They took her up on the offer and she conducts workshops on how to respect trans people in other places as well.

Classroom visits to junior high, high school and college students are part of her efforts to make the world better for LGBTQ+ youth. She is also a volunteer with the library’s Pride Story Hour and has done drag shows for children.

“I kind of had this growing up moment where I was like, ‘Wow, my situation is not the norm. The opportunities that I’m given is not the norm, and the support I was given growing up is not the norm,’” Quion said.

Her entrance into advocacy may have been a natural progression but now she sees it as a necessity. A lot of her accolades are for formal volunteer work but so much of how she helps others is by connecting people who need something with another person who has it. Her vast network and people skills are also a resource she utilizes to benefit LGBTQ+ youth. Quion is an important example of a trans person thriving – and using their success for the benefit of the entire community.

Gallerist Patric Stillman mentors LGBTQ+ artists

Coinciding with the 10-year anniversary of Studio Door, founder Patric Stillman received the Larry T. Baza Arts & Culture Award. Stillman actually knew Baza, a local arts booster who died in 2021 from COVID-19, while working on the Latino Film Fest for many years.

“When I think of Larry Baza, I think of someone who is so completely generous and committed to his communities,” Stillman said in his studio in Hillcrest. “To get an award in his honor just really touched my heart.”

Stillman has a unique combination of skills that make him stand out in the arts community. In addition to the creativity and artistic ability evident in his paintings, he possesses business acumen. He brought both sides of his skills together to open Studio Door, a community gallery and studio, in 2014. Stillman explained while university arts degrees prepare students creatively, aspiring artists often leave with no idea how to go professional.

“There’s lots of barriers for artists,” he said. Stillman has helped many local LGBTQ+ artists kickstart their careers through coaching and professional development. In July, Stillman puts on Proud+, an international gallery show. For many of the LGBTQ+ artists from around the world who get selected, it is the first time their work is on gallery walls which can be a rare opportunity.

“LGBT voices still get quieted by galleries who don’t want their content because they’re afraid someone’s going to be offended,” Stillman said. His mentorship has helped LGBTQ+ artists find new buyers and audiences. He also uses Studio Door as a community resource, with events in partnership with Lambda Archives, Bears San Diego and the Leather community planned for this summer.

“We’ve really been able to utilize this place as a platform to bring community together,” Stillman said. Pride honored Stillman for his efforts to build community between artists, conquer their self-doubt and improve their marketing skills – all in the name of improving LGBTQ+ success and visibility in the arts.

Jordan Daniels’ vocal Community Service

Since moving to San Diego over a decade ago, Jordan “Joho” Daniels has continuously found ways to advocate for the Black, Jewish and LGBTQ+ communities. Today that looks like being on the board of San Diego Black Pride, volunteering in Hillcrest and co-hosting the podcast “Black Fat Femme.” However, that reads like a resume when Daniels’ true work has more to do with his interpersonal skills and vocal advocacy. From his vulnerable social media posts challenging fatphobia to the way he treats people, Daniels lives out his values of supporting others in finding liberation, always learning and leading with empathy.

The podcast with co-host Dr. Jon Paul where they speak to many Black queer and trans luminaries is just one distillation of that. BFF, with 80,0000 downloads over 100 plus episodes, has a motto befitting all of Daniels’ work: “A podcast where intersections of identity are celebrated.”

“[My advocacy is] inherently intersectional, because I’m inherently intersectional. I am fat, Black, queer and Jewish. I have my own neurodivergence,” Daniels said. “We’re working towards a place where all my identities can exist together, and the people who will hold those identities can also thrive together as well.”

The Community Service Award is bestowed upon a younger activist, unlike the lifetime achievement status denoted with the Champion of Pride Award. For Daniels, this is not a final stopping point in his service but an affirmation from and to the community he builds.

“It’s a testament to what happens when we build together,” Daniels said.

Inspiring relationship built on communication, compassion

The Inspiring Relationship Award was brought back to honor Rose Ruybal and Teresa Oyos, who have been together for 38 years. Since meeting in 1986 at The Flame, they have been dedicated to each other and to serving the LGBTQ+ Latino community.

At the Flame, a prominent women’s bar on Park Blvd., Oyos first noticed Ruybal’s beautiful eyes. Beyond the physical attraction, Oyos said “I really liked her aura, her ability to carry on a conversation and ask questions about me.” For Ruybal, she was drawn to Oyos’ energy and vivaciousness. Oyos is also more rooted. Together, they balance each other’s differences.

The toughest period in their lives occurred a year later in 1987 when they got sober through Live & Let Live Alano Club. They had to reckon with their pasts and reconcile their communication styles.

“That’s one of our best skills that we have learned— to really listen to each other and to know that it’s okay to have separateness in your togetherness,” Oyos said. Today, they have excellent communication skills. They prioritize shred interests like road trips, reading, art and dancing.

“[Dancing] is a more soulful way of communicating with each other. Is not just dancing, it’s the rhythm that we have with each other,” Ruybal said. “It’s able to be our bridge.”

At 65 and 75, the Rolando couple dances less often but recently hit the floor at The Center’s Pachanga de Frida. Oyos said, “It made me feel so good that we still have that passion on the dance floor.” Latino Services at the Center is just one of the outlets for their activism. While working at the newspaper Gayzette, Oyos co-founded Orgullo, the first LGBTQ+ Latino organization in San Diego.

At Ruybal’s first ever Pride, the couple rode in a limo for the Gayzette. They marched in different contingents for UCSD, Beinestar and other organizations for years. For the past decade though, they participated as spectators. The special car they get to ride in as Stonewall Awardees is a full circle moment after the limo. Most importantly, they’ll be together.

“We’re so woven together. If we were to cut the cloth, it would just be hard to separate everything. We’ve woven our separate histories and our combined history together,” Ruybal said. “I can’t imagine it being the other way.”

Qualcomm’s steadfast philanthropy

Coinciding with the 50th year of Pride in San Diego, Qualcomm has much to celebrate. Not only is it the 30th anniversary of their employee network group, eQuality, the tech company also is being honored for its philanthropy by Pride.

Qualcomm is a premiere sponsor of San Diego Pride, with their logo on the main stage at the festival on all which is notable as other companies pull back from visible support of the LGBTQ+ community after right-wing backlash. In contrast, Qualcomm has had a contingent in the parade since the ‘90s that now includes 300 marchers.

“We’ve been steadfast in our involvement,” said Craig Funt, SVP, People Strategy and Operations, and executive sponsor of eQuality. The company also donates its booths to PFLAG, so the nonprofit can have a presence at the festival.

In addition to supporting SD Pride, Qualcomm is a major supporter of nonprofit Out in Tech. Beyond their external advocacy and philanthropy, Funt said Qualcomm is committed to supporting its diverse workforce, including transgender colleagues.

“We very much focus on inclusiveness and the ability for everybody to bring their whole self to work,” he said. “We bring speakers from San Diego Pride and from the LGBT Center to really help enrich our culture internally.”

Support for underserved groups goes all the way to the top: Qualcomm’s President & CEO serves on the USPTO’s Council for Inclusive Innovation (CI2), which aims to develop a national strategy for increased participation of underrepresented groups in innovation.

Friend of Pride Dr. Jill Blumenthal reimagines LGBTQ+ healthcare

Dr. Jill Blumenthal, MD MAS, came to University of California San Diego (UCSD) in 2011 to finish her Infectious Diseases fellowship. While at UCSD, she has launched several efforts to make the campus better for LGBTQ+ students and especially to improve LGBTQ+ healthcare. For her exhaustive efforts, she received the Friend of Pride Award as an ally who has done significant advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community.

After starting her career in medicine with treating HIV patients, she is now a clinician and the Director of PrEP Services at the Owen Clinic. The clinic started with HIV care but has expanded to HIV prevention and more recently, gender-affirming services.

In 2018, she co-founded the Transgender and Nonbinary Community Advisory Board, giving trans and nonbinary individuals input in research. “While there was a strong interest in doing research with those communities, there wasn’t really a reciprocal relationship,” Dr. Blumenthal explained.

Part of her role has been to teach others how to provide LGBTQ+ healthcare and make sure that healthcare is being provided in a comprehensive, coordinated way. She co-founded an LGBTQ+ healthcare elective so trainees learned about the many aspects of LGBTQ+ healthcare earlier in their education, from intake, to voice training, to sexual health, to gender-affirming surgery. She wants all providers to know how to treat LGBTQ+ individuals and others with unique needs, not just a select few.

Dr. Blumenthal also developed and is the co-medical director of the UCSD Gender Health Program after growing frustrated with everyone working in silos. “No one knew who was doing what. And in creating a formal program with a program manager and also hiring someone to work on insurance authorization specifically for the program, we’ve been able to bring more patients into the very appropriate and inclusive care so that they can hopefully meet all of their gender affirmation goals.” 

From patients, she has heard horror stories of inequities in medical care. She is motivated by the desire to make medical care person-focused and more just.

“It’s not fair that anyone should be treated less than, especially in a health system where someone is coming for help,” Dr. Blumenthal said. “Individuals should always feel safe and that nothing that they bring up should feel like that will make it harder for them to receive the care that they need.”

Longterm, she hopes to create a brick-and-mortar building at UCSD for LGBTQ+ individuals to receive comprehensive, inclusive care.

Dharma Bum Temple engaged as Light of Pride

As Pride formalized its interfaith services and advocacy, Dharma Bum was always on board as the “token” Buddhist Temple. Founder Jeff Zlotnik has marched with the interfaith coalition, co-lead the interfaith Pride Parade blessing, and spoken at Light up the Cathedral for many years. This year, Dharma Bum received the Light of Pride award for being a spiritual home to many in the LGBTQ+ community since its founding in 2008.

“The community really has been built from that initial intention of creating space that everybody was welcome to just be themselves,” Zlotnik said.

While the temple is currently located in Hillcrest, even at its original location at a loft in Downtown, it had dedicated leaders and attendees in the LGBTQ+ community. Unlike many temples that have designated LGBTQ+ programming or special nights for People of Color, Dharma Bum kept everyone together. This was not a conscious decision to have or not have those unique programs, but the need never developed as the general community was very representative.

“How are we so diverse? I don’t have an answer to that, other than we practice what the Buddha taught, which is loving kindness and compassion to everyone all the time,” Zlotnik said.

Plus, Dharma Bum is not a place where others must shed their religions. In fact, many queer couples who are Mormon, Catholic, or Evangelical attend to find an inclusive faith community while still holding on to their beliefs, even if they are not welcome in those institutions.

The temple also does not adhere to a specific type of Buddhism, whether that be Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, or another tradition. They do however practice engaged Buddhism, meaning community service is important. Members do prison outreach and teach meditation, they conduct food distributions, knit hats for unsheltered people, and clean up Hillcrest after the Pride Parade. A big aspect of the temple is also its recovery programs which pairs Buddhist teachings with aspects of the 12 Steps. For people who are uncomfortable with the higher power aspect of AA and other programs, this is a place where they can receive recovery support.

“If we get ourselves, whether it’s addiction, whether it’s depression, whatever it is, if we get ourselves healthier and happier, then we can be of greater service to others and do less harm,” Zlotnik said of the recovery programs.

The temple is not a retreat in the wilderness where it is simple to meditate but is located in the city center. The members are taught not to focus so on their own peace that they ignore the inequities of the world around them. In addition to having half its members from the LGBTQ+ community, Dharma Bum steadfastly advocates for the LGBTQ+ community through interfaith coalitions and its commitment to help Pride in whatever way they need most, which in this case is cleaning up Hillcrest after Pride weekend each year. Zlotnik will again speak at Light Up the Cathedral as Dharma Bum receives the Light of Pride award on Wednesday, July 17 at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Other Stonewall awardees

The founding leadership of San Diego Pride is named the Hero of Pride on the 50th anniversary of San Diego Pride. Learn about some of those founding leaders and the history of San Diego Pride in 50 photos.

This year’s community grand marshal is LGBTQ+ and allied educators and library workers. To read about efforts to protect and support queer youth despite national backlash, visit sdnews.com.

East County Queer and Trans Coalition won the Spirit of Stonewall Service Award. Read about community building in East County aquí.