Reunion

Hosted by Sister Roma and Juanita MORE!, Reunion was an evening of fabulous entertainment, inspiring presentations and a heartfelt celebration of LGBTQ history makers.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our Gala was again presented virtually. Click above to enjoy the show.

2021 Honorees

History Makers Awards

Presented to Jewelle Gomez, Daniel Nicoletta and Frances Stevens

For decades, we have celebrated History Makers at our fall Gala. The award is given annually to individuals for significant artistry and contributions to LGBTQ history and culture. This year’s honorees were selected with significant public input, including an open nomination and voting process.

Clio Award

Presented to Tina Valentin Aguirre

The Clio award is presented to a group or individual for advancing understanding of LGBTQ history and culture.

Tina Valentin Aguirre (they/them/theirs) has fundraised for organizations that focus on HIV, health, and the arts, including Mission Neighborhood Health Center, the NAMES Project Foundation, and LYRIC. Since 2020, Tina has been the district manager of the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District. Prior to that, they served as Associate Director, Institutional Giving at Shanti, raising money for HIV, cancer and LGBTQ senior services, as well as for Pets Are Wonderful Support (PAWS). Tina is a poet, movie director, and opera producer, holding a B.A. in communication from Stanford University.

Jewelle Gomez (CaboVerdean/Wampanoag/Ioway) is a novelist, essayist, poet and playwright. Her eight books include the first Black Lesbian vampire novel, The Gilda Stories (in print more than 30 years); recently optioned by Oakland’s Cheryl Dunye (“Lovecraft Country”) for a TV miniseries. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies, including No Police=Know Future, Luminescent Threads: Tribute to Octavia Butler, Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora, Red Indian Road West and Love, Castro Street. Her plays about James Baldwin and Alberta Hunter were produced at the New Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco, where she was playwright-in-residence, and in New York City.

She is the former president of the SF Public Library Commission, where she still sits on the Hormel Endowment Committee. She’s the former director of grants for the SF Arts Commission and Horizons Foundation. She was on the founding board of GLAAD and the Astraea Lesbian Foundation.

Daniel Nicoletta is a freelance photographer who began his career in 1975 as an intern to the LGBTQ movement photo documentarian Crawford Barton. Nicoletta also worked in Harvey Milk’s camera store in the Castro district and he was involved in Milk’s victorious election as one of the first openly gay elected officials in the world. Nicoletta’s body of work maps his long romance with San Francisco and its people, especially the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. The first solo book of Nicoletta’s work, LGBT San Francisco—The Daniel Nicoletta Photographs, was released in 2017 from Reel Art Press and is distributed by DAP/Artbook. 

Nicoletta’s work has also been featured in numerous settings, including books; periodicals; films; and archival collections, including the New York Public Library’s Wallach and Berg Collections and the Bancroft Library at University of California, Berkeley. In the press section of his website you will find his résumé, press clippings and web links to articles about his work.

Frances “Franco” Stevens founded Curve, the most successful lesbian magazine in the world, connecting lesbian community, changing the way lesbians are seen by the mainstream, highlighting the transgender experience, raising awareness of attacks on LGBTQ rights and amplifying the work of lesbian activists. Franco co-founded The Curve Foundation to empower the Curve community—lesbians, queer women, trans women and nonbinary people of all races, ages and abilities. The Foundation spurs storytelling and cross-generational dialogue by supporting journalism inspired by the tradition of Curve magazine, investing in the next generation of intersectional leaders and bolstering community archives to ensure LGBTQ women’s culture and history are known.

Franco has served on the board of GLAAD, was a founding board member of the San Francisco LGBT Center, and has worked extensively to promote lesbian visibility and educate media professionals on the lesbian market. Franco is the subject of the new documentary, Ahead of the Curve.

Juanita MORE! is a denizen of the limelight. For almost three decades, the laudable hostess has blitzed San Francisco with high glamour, drag irreverence, and danceable beats that have illuminated the entire city. MORE! continues to be a heaping dollop of generosity and a sprinkle of nerve. She inspires those around her to make positive differences in their lives and communities — and doing it all with timeless elegance and an innovative spirit. Most recently Miss MORE! holds the title of Empress of the Imperial Council of San Francisco — one of the oldest LGBTQ non-profit organizations globally.

To date, MORE! has helped to raise over $1 million dollars for local charities — among them GLBT Historical Society, Our Trans Youth, Q Foundation, Queer Lifespace, Transgender Law Center, and more. MORE! tirelessly fundraises for organizations in San Francisco that are adamant about helping communities in the seven-by-seven thrive, all while shining light and offering support to those who’ve been overlooked for far too long.

MORE! embodies what it means to be a conduit of connection. MORE! brings the people together to fundraise; celebrate community; to demand social change around San Francisco and elsewhere. Her culinary expressions are an extension of what mothers have been doing in their kitchens for generations — which, simply states, is sharing “loads of love.”

Sister Roma, The Most Photographed Nun In The World ™

For more than three decades Sister Roma has been one of the most outspoken and highly visible members of San Francisco's Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. From fighting on the front lines in the war against HIV/AIDS to creating the Sisters’ Stop The Violence campaign to taking on social media giant Facebook as the creator of the #MyNameIs movement, Roma has dedicated more than half of her life to community service, activism and fundraising. But don't get it twisted, this Sister is no Saint! Her colorful wit and sharp tongue have made Roma one of San Francisco’s favorite entertainers and emcees, landing her front and center on the main stages of SF Pride, Folsom Street Fair, and Easter in the Park where she emcees the infamous Hunky Jesus Contest. A frequent guest on television and radio, Roma is blessed to travel the globe as an LGBTQ ambassador and event host, striving to uphold her Sisterly vows to expiate stigmatic guilt and promulgate universal joy.

We were pleased to welcome California Attorney General Rob Bonta, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, California State Assemblymember David Chiu, California Board of Equalization Member Malia Cohen, California State Assemblymember Evan Low, San Francisco District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, California State Assemblymember Phil Ting, and California State Senator Scott Wiener.

Entertainment

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Randy Alfred

Cruisin’ the Castro Walking Tours

HomeLight

Kylie Minono

Maria Powers & Bobbi Marshall

Lito Sandoval

Spectrum, LGBTQ+ Employee Network at Dolby Laboratories

Tito’s Handmade Vodka

Cornelis Van Aalst & Jeffrey Robinson