There were 1,300 people who wined and dined at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta for the 27th annual HRC Dinner and Gala on May 3 and organizers posted on Facebook the event was the “most successful Atlanta HRC Gala ever!”
Accepting the Visibility Award was weatherman Sam Champion, whose husband Rubem Robierb joined him on stage. Charis Circle, the nonprofit and education are of Charis Books & More, the oldest lesbian-owned feminist bookstore in the nation celebrating 40 years in business this fall, was honored with the Leon Allen and Winston Johnson Community Leadership Award. Elizabeth Anderson, executive director of Charis Circle, accepted the award from philanthropist Edie Cofrin, an HRC member who also gave Charis the seed money to open four decades ago. And Rick Westbrook accepted the Dan Bradley Humanitarian Award on behalf of Lost-N-Found Youth, an organization dedicated to helping homeless LGBT youth get off the streets. The organization’s six-member board held numbered candles representing the number of LGBT youth who die each day on the streets.
U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who hasn’t missed an Atlanta HRC Dinner in 27 years, danced on stage to the song “Happy” and gave a rousing speech that brought participants to their feet.
(Photos by Dyana Bagby and Patrick Saunders)
