Charles Krupa / AP
Democratic presidential candidate South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg during a campaign stop at a dairy company in Londonderry, N.H., Friday, April 19, 2019.
Friday, April 26, 2019 | 2 a.m.
Since its founding in 1980, the Human Rights Campaign has invited presidential candidates to speak at various fundraising events nationwide about LGBT rights and equality.
But for the first time this year, the LGBTQ advocacy organization will welcome an openly gay presidential candidate to speak at its 14th annual Las Vegas gala: South Bend, Ind., mayor and democratic candidate for president Pete Buttigieg.
Buttigieg will serve as the keynote speaker for the fundraising gala on May 11 at Caesars Palace. The event will recognize achievements in LGBTQ rights nationwide and in Southern Nevada, and will honor members of the Las Vegas community for their commitment to gay rights and equality.
“It’s really about all of the work we’ve done as a community here in Las Vegas, celebrating all of that work and that progress, but not forgetting all of the work that lies ahead,” said Latoya Holman, co-chair of the gala and a founding member of HRC Las Vegas.
In addition to Buttigieg, HRC president Chad Griffin will make an appearance, and there will be musical performances from transgender soul singer Shea Diamond and the Las Vegas Mass Choir. The event will also include a silent auction featuring over 125 items ranging from beauty and wellness products to Celine Dion tickets, as well as a live auction, a celebrity red carpet and plenty of photo opportunities.
The evening will center on the theme of “R U IN?” — IN standing for inspired, involved and invested in LGBT rights and equality.
“That’s really what we want from the people attending,” Holman explained. “If you don’t know what you’re doing, let’s get you inspired, get you involved and get the work done.”
The evening’s honorees, Cox Communications public affairs director Stephanie Stallworth and the Pinocci-Wrightsman family, will receive the Ally of Equality Award and the Equality Leadership Award, respectively.
Stallworth was selected because of her commitment to diversity and representation at Cox and her extensive involvement in the annual Las Vegas pride parade.
“She really was the brain person behind building out the LGBTQ employee resource group they have there at Cox that now we know is so huge,” she said.
Under Stallworth’s leadership, Cox has consistently had the largest corporate presence at Pride. Although Stallworth identifies as straight and is not directly impacted by anti-gay bigotry, she takes a strong stance on gay rights and therefore acts as a model ally, Holman said.
The Pinocci-Wrightsman family was selected for their collective commitment to advancing LGBTQ rights and representation in the Las Vegas area. The family consists of two married men who were one of the first open, same-sex couples in the Las Vegas community and who went on to raise two now-activist daughters.
“They’ve been really an integral part of the growth of the Human Rights Campaign in Las Vegas,” Stallworth said.
Beyond the night’s honorees, there is much to celebrate when it comes to advancements in LGBTQ rights and equality in Las Vegas and Nevada, said Briana Escamilla, the Nevada state director for the HRC. According to HRC’s annual equality index, Nevada scores in the highest-ranked cohort for equality.
But Escamilla added that there is still room for improvement in the state. For example, there is a bill circulating at the Nevada statehouse that would eliminate the so-called “gay panic defense,” which has historically been employed by those who’ve committed hate crimes against gay people, sometimes leading to more lenient convictions.
The bill was brought forward by the Nevada youth legislature, Escamilla noted.
“It’s a group of young people that gets to bring forward one bill every session, and that’s the one bill they chose to bring forward,” she said. “It’s indicative of where our youth are.”
Tickets are still available for the gala, but are selling fast, Escamilla and Holman say. They can be purchased online at hrc.org/lasvegasgala and start at $185. Proceeds go toward HRC’s volunteer-driven advocacy.
