The late civil rights leader Jean Harris and late Senator Jenny Oropeza will be memorialized this year at the Human Rights Banquet organized by the Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club on Oct. 15, aboard the Queen Mary.
The Woman of the Year Award will be renamed after Jean Harris and granted to her posthumously, and, as a new addition to the lineup of awards, the Jenny Oropeza Ally of the Year Memorial Award will be given to Oropeza’s former chief of staff, Sharon Weissman.
The event, in its 30th year, will also honor Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, LA County Assessor John Noguez, Honor PAC, The Art Theatre, Member of the Year David Hensley and President’s Special Recognition Honoree Sergio Carrillo. The main award of the night, the Michael Longergan Memorial Award, will be announced later this month.
“We are honored to have such outstanding leaders in our community to recognize,” Â said President Cory Allen. “It is a small token of our appreciation as an organization, to thank these leaders for the great work they have done and continue to do.”
The club, chartered under the California Democratic Party, is one of the oldest LGBT Democratic Clubs in Southern California and was formed out of protest when the Briggs Initiative was first introduced in the late 1970s and the Human Rights Banquet was started in 1980. A complete list of honorees and ticket information can be found at lblambdadems.org/banquet.
