“Each year, The Advocate‘s ‘Champions of Pride’ issue profiles LGBTQ+ activists, artists, politicians, and more from each state who are changing the world for the better. Each Champion is a fine example of how LGBTQ+ people can make a difference in local communities and beyond,” the intro reads in The Advocate’s 2020 Champions announcement.
Here are the 12 from New England (excerpted from the article in the June Advocate):
Massachusetts
Sandy Ho is a formidable disability justice activist with a bevy of trailblazing accomplishments. She began in 2012 as founder of the Thrive mentoring program. The first of its kind, Thrive matches young disabled women with their elder counterparts in Massachusetts.
An assistant professor of English and Creative Writing at Mount Holyoke College, Andrea Lawlor, 49, shook the LGBTQ literary world with their 2017 novel Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl, about a queer shapeshifter who is a sexually unapologetic force of nature plumbing the depths of LGBTQ life circa 1993. This year, Lawlor was awarded the Whiting Award for emerging authors.
Maine
Sebastiane Sacerdoti-Ravenscroft, a nonbinary lesbian activist born in San Francisco and raised in England, is now chair of Portland Pride. “As a foreign transplant to Maine, one of the least racially diverse states in the nation, I wanted to work to bring all corners of the community together for the singular purpose of celebrating, advocating, and fighting to be counted.”
The Belfast Area High School senior [Syd Sanders] is Maine’s first transgender valedictorian and possibly the first in the U.S. He was also the first trans representative to Maine’s Boys State program, where young people learn about government. Sanders’s superintendent calls him a “rock star.” The youth is bound for Harvard University and aims to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Vermont
Toby MacNutt, the 33-year-old, disabled, nonbinary artist (in a wide-range of mediums, including writing, textiles, and dance) was one of the featured creators of the I AM…: Exploring What It Means to Be a Vermont Artist exhibit at the Vermont Arts Council’s Spotlight Gallery.
At 75, François Clemmons who starred as Officer Clemmons in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, describes his friendship with Fred Rogers as the most significant relationship of his life. “It was spiritual. It was emotional. He supported me in a way that I had never had.” Now Clemmons is sharing his own story in his new memoir, Officer Clemmons.
New Hampshire
Lane Joslin’s testimony before a New Hampshire legislative committee considering a ban on trans girls participating in sports was so persuasive that it led the committee chair to rise up and successfully defeat the bill. The 15-year-old trans teen says, “I am proud of who I am. Our humanity does not depend upon how others perceive us. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.”
When she isn’t playing drums in downtown Seacrest, N.H., Palana Belken is serving on the town’s city council. She’s the first transgender person in the state to hold that distinction. She’s also a registered lobbyist and activist who educates, organizes, and provides much-needed support and affirmation to trans communities and their allies through her work heading the ACLU of New Hampshire’s Trans Justice campaign.
Rhode Island
Last year, Tiara Mack announced her candidacy for Rhode Island Senate District 6. A staunch advocate and activist, she’s already spent years in the state’s House fighting for issues that impact her community. “As a Black queer person, it was scary to think about running for a state-wide seat at 26 years old,” she says. “Marginalized people and their stories are desperately needed at the center of policy if we want to create meaningful change for who our communities work for, which should be everyone.”
Earlier this year, Cassie Sutten Coats co-launched Open Door Health, the first primary care and sexual health clinic in Rhode Island dedicated to providing safe, affirming healthcare to LGBTQ people.
Connecticut
At 62, Deborah A. Simmons, a Black bisexual woman who created an accredited music program at one of Connecticut’s community colleges, has also become a master craftsperson. She has built two boats and restored the Mayflower II (a replica of the original). “Receiving a gift of Iroko wood from the construction of the replica slave ship La Amistad, also at the shipyard, I built another boat, Mende Liberte,” says Simmons.
A former representative in the Connecticut State House of Representatives for 10 years, Evelyn Mantilla became the country’s first out bisexual state official in 1997, and later served as that body’s Deputy Majority Leader. The 57-year-old Latina currently works at the public affairs firm Grossman Solutions, LLC.
Read the complete list of The Advocate’s 2020 Champions profiles here.
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