21st Annual Awards Event Honors Student Leaders Serving the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Larry Buchanan
Phone:    510-206-1465
Email:     albinorhino48@yahoo.com [1]

SAN FRANCISCO, June 2, 2010 - Thirteen high school students, and two graduate students, will be recognized for their dedication and service to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community at the 21st Annual eQuality Scholarship Awards Event on Friday, June 4, 2010, at Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. 

The high school students will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship from the eQuality Scholarship Collaborative, which awards scholarships to students in Northern and Central California who have promoted understanding of and equality for the LGBTQ community.  One nursing student will receive a $5,000 scholarship and one medical student will receive a $2,000 scholarship.

"We are thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of these outstanding young people," said Rich Meiss, Chair of the eQuality Scholarship Collaborative Steering Committee.  "Each year the awards dinner brings us inspiration and hope, as we hear stories of these young people's perseverance and leadership for LGBTQ equality."

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the Bobby Griffith Memorial Scholarship award, one of the named eQuality Scholarships.  The Bobby Griffith Memorial Scholarship is given to an LGBTQ or ally student from Contra Costa County each year.  The initial scholarship was $500, and it has grown to its current level of $5,000 through the support of the Griffith family, who lost Bobby Griffith to suicide, as well as a dedicated group of educators and PFLAG members in Contra Costa County.  The 2010 Bobby Griffith Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to Jason Yuen, who is graduating from Monte Vista High School in Danville and will be attending UC Riverside.

The other twelve 2010 eQuality Scholarship high school recipients hail from Bakersfield, Fresno, Woodlake, San Juan Bautista, Alameda, Walnut Creek, Richmond, and San Francisco.  The students, whose names will be announced at the awards event, plan to study everything from math and pre-law to biology and political science.  Stanford, Mills, Grinnell, McGill, and San Francisco State University are just a few of the universities that will welcome the students this fall.

The eQuality Scholarship Collaborative is the joint effort of LGBTQ employee groups at PG&E, Kaiser Permanente, Genentech, and KPMG, and nonprofit organizations Out & Equal Workplace Advocates and Gay-Straight Alliance Network.  The scholarship program was created in 1989 by PG&E's lesbian and gay employee association (now PG&E PrideNetwork).  To date, the Collaborative has given over $450,000 to more than 190 youth. 

The awards event will take place on Friday, June 4, 2010, beginning at 6 p.m. at Hotel Nikko in San Francisco.  To learn more, visit: www.eQualityScholarship.org [2].