Every year, San Diego Pride accepts nominations from the community for the annual presentation of the Spirit of Stonewall Awards. The awards recognize individuals or groups who contribute significantly to the LGBT community through their leadership, activism, and fundraising efforts.
San Diego Pride is honored to recognize the following individuals and organizations as our 2022 awardees:
Alex Villafuerte
Alex Consengco Villafuerte was San Diego Pride’s Marketing and Communications Manager from 2016 – 2021 where he helped increase visibility, stabilize the organization, and bring over $3 million in ticket sales to the Pride Festival thus increasing the organization’s philanthropy.
Trans Youth
Over the last few years, young people across this nation have faced unprecedented challenges. In the face of a pandemic which robbed an entire generation of crucial experiences, our young people have proven themselves to be resilient beyond their years. As the world attempts a return to “normalcy”, LGBTQ youth continue to survive within a society that consistently seeks to harm them.
The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune is honored to receive the 2022 Spirit of Stonewall Service Award. The Union-Tribune’s mission is to spread knowledge, build understanding and create opportunity in the communities we serve. We take great pride in highlighting LGBTQ+ voices and centering LGBTQ+ issues and concerns.
Aidan Lin
Aidan Lin (he/him/his) is a UC San Diego student studying political science. As an Asian American, Latine, and member of the LGBTQIA+ community, he champions diversity, intersectionality, and equity in his work and life. In 2018, while in high school, Aidan co-founded Our Time to Act (OTTA) United, a 501(c)(3) youth empowerment nonprofit organization. Under his leadership as Executive Director, OTTA United has conducted numerous advocacy initiatives in San Diego.
Viejas Casino & Resort
In 2020 alongside much of the world, San Diego Pride was faced with many losses, setbacks, and unknowns. The fate of the organization was at stake and without the ability to host the parade and festival, the outlook was bleak. Viejas Casino & Resort stepped forward and provided over $135,000 in support to San Diego Pride to assist with pivoting events to virtual, hybrid, and pandemic-conscious programming. Their generosity provided the necessary financial and operational support to carry Pride through unprecedented times.
San Diego Women’s Chorus
The San Diego Women’s Chorus (SDWC) is a lesbian-identified, feminist sisterhood of musicians that welcomes members and volunteers from the vastly diverse LGBTQ and straight-ally communities. Founded in 1987 by community activist Cynthia Lawrence-Wallace, SDWC has grown from a group of 14 lesbians gathered around a piano in a private home to a thriving community with over 150 members who believe in the power of music and the power of women
Vanessa Green
Vanessa Green relocated to San Diego in September 2018 to be closer to her children. In May 2019 she began working for Alliance San Diego as the Census and Redistricting manger. In June 2021 Vanessa was hired for the newly created County of San Diego Office for Equity and Racial Justice as Equity Impact Manager.
Trinh Le
Trinh Le is one of five children from a Vietnamese refugee family and grew up in a low-income, immigrant, single-parent household. She holds a dual bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Asian American Studies from UCLA. She has organized in many diverse communities in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast before coming back to San Diego.
Rev. John Fanestil & Guillermo Navarrete, The Border Church
Rev. John Fanestil and Guillermo Navarrete lead the Border Church, hosting weekly services on both sides of the US/Mexico border.
Julia Legaspi
On top of her advocacy as a small-business owner, immigrant, and Filipina, Julia Legaspi is also a well-respected leader and advocate for the LGBTQ community. Her passion is to ensure that transgender individuals – especially transgender persons of color – have the same rights that everyone else does and that they have a seat at the table.
