photo by Chris Bosch

Host Frank DeMayo, as Glinda the Good Witch, stands with Dorothy Awards co-chair Joshua O’Connell.

It started as a way to raise a few dollars while honoring those in our community working hard to make it stronger, more connected. Yet in only its seventh year, the New Haven Pride Center’s Dorothy Awards have become an institution that is an event worth looking forward to each year.

The 2010 event promises to be no different, with a group of deserving honorees. The event will take place at Fantasia in North Haven, occurring this year on February 27 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. As in previous years, there’s dinner and dancing, with entertainment provided by Deborah Wang and Fullsound Band (an excellent five-piece combo that uses technology to create an even bigger sound), and Frank DeMayo, a creator of the event and a former co-chair, returns as host.  Simon Rich and Joshua O’Connell are taking their second and third spin, respectively, as the co-chairs of the event.

The year’s theme, “Brick by Brick,” while an illusion to the yellow brick road, also serves as a reminder that we in the community have built things to where we are today, one brick at a time, led by leaders such as this year’s honorees: Michael Morand, Leif Mitchell, Dena Castricone and The Imperial Sovereign Court of All Connecticut.

As associate vice president of Yale University for New Haven and State Affairs, Michael Morand has been a prominent community member for decades.  In 1989, he was the first openly gay elected official in the state, and during his four years as an Alderman in New Haven he organized a movement to pass a gay and lesbian civil rights ordinance in 1990, and tried in 1993 to pass a domestic partnership ordinance that failed by one vote.  That vote led to a community groundswell that resulted in the creation of the Pride Center.  In the last 15 years, the office of New Haven and State Affairs has provided over $200 million into the community surrounding Yale, with the aim of enhancing and strengthing it. Morand’s efforts throughout his career to enhance life for the GLBT community in and around New Haven makes him a worthy honoree.

Leif Mitchell also has Yale ties, as his day job is at Yale’s Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS.  In that capacity he serves a liaison within the HIV/AIDS community, and is a co-chair of the AIDS Life Campaign in the state. Yet even with all of that in motion, he also serves as co-chair of the Connecticut Chapter of GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which aims to improve life in schools and work towards creating educational opportunities that serve to encourage a prejudice-free environment.  Mitchell also serves as a member of the GLSEN advisory council.

Dena Castricone has spent the past two years founding and serving as the first president of CABO, Connecticut’s first GLBT chamber of commerce, and currently the only one in the state. In that time, CABO has continued to grow, showing the strength and unity of GLBT-owned and -friendly businesses within the state, and allows the community to have a better clue of those businesses who are supporters. CABO’s efforts have been recognized with the National Rising Star Chamber award from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce due to its rapid growth. Dena day job is as a lawyer at Murtha Cullina LLP, where she works in construction and business litigation.

Finally, the NHPC is recognizing an organization celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Imperial Sovereign Court of All Connecticut.  When you go to a Court performance, you get a great drag show by some fantastic entertainers, but the important detail is that they do many nonprofit shows throughout the state each year, and don’t draw a salary from the organization, meaning the tens of thousands of dollars raised go directly to nonprofit organizations throughout the state.  The organizations that have benefited from this incredibly generous organization have ranged all over the map, from the Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective and True Colors to Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation and the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen.

photo by Chris Bosch

Some silent auction items await their bids.

The event brings back the annual silent auction, with over 75 items collected from the community to help raise additional funds for the nonprofit New Haven Pride Center.  There is also a live auction component, where three of the higher-ticket items are put out to a live bid, and each year there’s a lot of excitement that builds over the live auction component.  One big-ticket item that won’t be in the live auction is a full wedding package, particularly well timed given Connecticut’s marital status becoming legal over the past 18 months, and is an interesting choice for those who may be planning on getting hitched soon.

The Center has announced a varied and generous list of sponsors for the 2010 event, including this very magazine.  Other sponsors include Day Pitney, Yale University, the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, United Illuminating, Yale-New Haven Hospital and the New Haven Advocate. The businesses not only support the Center with their sponsorships, but they also remind the larger community of their support of GLBT causes.

The Dorothy Awards has over the years honored over 20 deserving community members who have strived to make a difference, despite obstacles, and reminds us in the community that we can all make a difference, improve life for the entire community and at the same time have fun while doing it.  This year’s awardees are a particularly motivated bunch, and each in their own way have made life just a bit better for all of us, something from which we can all learn.

Tickets for this year’s event are still available at the Pride Center’s Web site. Tickets are $100 per ticket, or $750 per table (10 seats per table). Tickets can be reserved until February 23.

Tags: 2010, 37-3, EARLY FEBRUARY