UNH Today

UNH’s annual Pride and Pancakes breakfast commemorated two significant milestone anniversaries Tuesday morning – the 30th year of the event and the 50th year since the founding of the Gay Students Organization on campus – with a program that featured several pioneering figures in UNH’s LGBTQIA+ community and honored the recipients of this year’s Bill Kidder LGBTQIA+ Awards.

The celebration – formerly known as the LGBTQ+ and Ally Pancake Breakfast – filled the Granite State Room in the MUB and was streamed online for additional virtual attendees.

The breakfast and the formation of the Gay Students Organization (GSO) are somewhat intertwined historically despite origins that were decades apart. It took a very public – and, ultimately, 1973年，为使国家统计局得到官方承认而进行的法律斗争, with Gov. 梅尔德林·汤姆森是最坚定的反对者.

Thomson would later infamously deny the GSO a chance to have a pancake breakfast with him following a controversial fundraiser in 1974, unknowingly providing the inspiration for the annual celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community at UNH that would be born nearly 20 years later.

UNH President Jim Dean kicked off Tuesday’s celebration with a brief nod to that history before noting that UNH is proud to be a “community that celebrates all identities.”

主讲人中有1974年的Wayne April和1974年的Paul Tosi, 这两位杰出的人物在1973年的GSO争取认可的斗争中. Tosi, then student body president, spoke fervently in defense of the GSO in front of the university’s board of trustees that year, 最终是阿普尔起诉了该组织的组织权.

Both have since been inducted into UNH’s Diversity Hall of Fame (Tosi in 2019 and April last fall).

April described the outcome and lasting impact of the battles as “mind blowing” before imparting some words of wisdom to younger LGBTQ people.

“Number one, and the most important thing, is when it comes to what’s right, listen to your heart, not your head,” April said. “Fifty years ago, my heart told me there was nothing wrong with me and it was the world that needed to change. My head, and many, many people told me that I was putting myself in personal danger from bigots as well as jeopardizing my relationships with family and friends and torpedoing any chance of a meaningful career if I came out. 但我还是跟着我的心走了，因为现状让我很痛苦.”

Tosi followed with an impassioned thank you to April and the founding members of the GSO for surviving “an onslaught of hate” to fight for inclusion, 这场斗争最终鼓励了托西出柜.

托西说:“你为我树立了榜样，让我向原来的自己敞开心扉。. “我现在有了一个终身伴侣——我们在一起42年了. 我和丈夫乔在我们结婚27周年纪念日那天结婚了. And had it not been for Wayne April, I don’t think that ever would have happened.”

Two of the Kidder Award recipients also had a chance to address the crowd during the proceedings. Brady Barre – president of TransUNH and chair of the Diversity Support Coalition – delivered the student address and later received the Undergraduate Student Award, while Cari Moorhead, dean of the UNH Graduate School, 被授予终身成就奖，并说了几句简短的话, as well.

Jason Green, deputy director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, delivered the guest address, and Nadine Petty, associate vice president and chief diversity officer (and interim Title IX coordinator) at UNH, offered the closing remarks.

以下是今年基德奖的完整获奖名单:

2023 Kidder Award Recipients

True Colors – Pink Triangle Award

For reimagining the LGBTQIA+ student group (formerly Common Ground) to create a more vibrant presence at UNH-Manchester, leading the way for increased engagement amongst other student groups across campus.

John Orcutt – Faculty Award

For ensuring Lambda Legal Society has a strong and growing presence on the Law campus, through consistent LGBTQIA+ inclusion & 倡导努力以及坚定的建议支持.

Evan Beals – Staff Award

For meaningful support of inclusion efforts at UNH through advocating for a more inclusive admissions experience, 与其他部门合作，改善校园环境, 参与校友们真诚的对话 & 社区成员对未来LGBTQIA+学生的看法.

Evan England – Graduate Student Award

For groundbreaking research, through the NH Disability and Health Program, into the experience of Trans patients in the NH medical system and helping to found and co-facilitate the UNH Graduate Student Non-Binary Support Group, a Stonewall Grads initiative.

Brady Barre – Undergraduate Student Award

For exemplary leadership & 持续的LGBTQIA+意识建设工作贯穿许多学术领域 & 遍布校园的学生支持空间，包括Alliance, The Aulbani J. Beauregard Center for Equity, Justice and Freedom, Diversity Support Coalition, SafeZones, Social Work Department, TransUNH, and Women's and Gender Studies Department.

Cari Moorhead – Lifetime Achievement Award

“[She] has, for over 30 years, been part of the march toward equity and justice, using whatever power, influence, 或者是她用来改善我们社区里人们生活的关系. All progress takes a village … but she has been there on the front lines of every fight, reliably and consistently, for more than three decades. 这就是终身成就的定义.” - Anonymous Nominator