Introducing Our 2013 OUTstanding Virginians

2013 Commonwealth Dinner Get ready for a high-energy evening on Saturday, April 6 with Mayor Cory Booker and our 2013 OUTstanding Virginians! For the first time in its history, Equality Virginia extends this recognition to allies for the contributions made on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Celebrate these champions of equality by attending the 10th Annual Commonwealth Dinner. Announcing the 2013 honorees...
  • Viola Baskerville, a longtime ally and supporter of the LGBT community, is a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates and the first African-American woman to seek the Democratic Party nomination for the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.
  • Ted Heck is an advocate for transgender issues and against sexual and domestic violence. Speaking from personal experience as a transgender man, Ted gives talks around Virginia and co-founded the Richmond Transformers, a support group for trans men.
  • Guy Kinman sponsored a billboard project in Richmond during the 1980s featuring statements like “Someone You Know is Gay… Maybe Someone You Love” and listing his personal phone number as a resource for those in need.
  • Congressman Jim Moran is a long-standing out ally of the LGBT community, dating back to his efforts as Mayor of Alexandria to prohibit discrimination of city employees.  He is a founding member of the LGBT Equality Caucus and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 and continues supporting pro-equality legislation today.
  • Our Own Community Press was Virginia’s first LGBT newspaper.  Norfolk's Unitarian Universalist Gay Caucus was the launching pad for the publication in August of 1976. Alicia Herr, Jim Early, and Garland Tillery will be honored for the instrumental roles they played throughout the duration of the paper’s existence
  • Charlotte Patterson is a leading researcher for LGBT Health known for studies of child development in the context of lesbian and gay parented families.
  • Gregg Smith, a former Navy pilot, is a philanthropist and advocate for LGBT and HIV outreach organizations both locally and nationally.