In its tenth year, Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards program champions the bravery and resilience of LGBTQ youth

New York, June 25, 2010 - The Colin Higgins Foundation is proud to announce the 2010 Colin Higgins Youth Courage Award winners, a stellar group of LGBTQ youth activists working diligently to bring visibility to some of the most urgent issues facing queer youth today. In spite of obstacles in their personal lives, D' Ontace Keyes, Paula "Sean" McCusker, and Veronica Tirado have made significant contributions to their communities in crucial areas that have intensified for youth during the current economic crisis, including increasing rates of HIV infection, homelessness, and safety from violence.

Making his mark in LGBTQ communities in Chicago and Philadelphia, D' Ontace Keyes is currently a Program Assistant at Youth Health Empowerment, a program of Philadelphia FIGHT. Pointing out that African American youth ages 13 to 29 make up 50% of new HIV infections, D' Ontace explains, "These statistics speak to the importance of empowering and educating LGBTQ youth, especially young men of color who have sex with men." Of his activism, he continues, "Due to all of the stigma I have experienced in my life with homophobia and being an HIV-positive Black gay man, I feel the need to speak up for myself and others in my community. My motto is empower, empower, empower!"

All three of this year's honorees have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives, a fact that should serve as a call to action to prioritize homelessness and economic justice as LGBTQ issues. The National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce estimates that 20% - 40% of all homeless youth are part of the LGBTQ community. Paula "Sean" McCusker's experiences with homelessness in Baltimore served as a catalyst for their* activism around the epidemic of LGBTQ youth homelessness. Sean explains, "The more I learned about how my own homelessness was part of a national epidemic, the more I became involved in organizing around the issue." Sean is currently working with Equality Maryland and the Baltimore Homeless Youth Initiative to create a youth-run drop-in center for LGBTQ youth in Baltimore.

Working with the Safe OUTside the System Collective, a program of the Audre Lorde Project, and FIERCE in New York City, Veronica Tirado has shined in her activism around violence prevention, healing and youth development. "We need to organize and the voice of LGBTQ youth must be heard," declares Veronica. She continues, "Too many LGBTQ youth experience forms of violence – verbal, emotional, sexual, and physical – and we can't normalize it. We are not being true to ourselves if we don’t do something about this now." According to a recent nation-wide survey of organizations serving LGBTQ youth conducted by FIERCE, gender-based violence was ranked as one of the most urgent issues facing LGBTQ youth.

This year's award winners showcase the importance of how ordinary people making extraordinary contributions to their communities ultimately creates a movement, through reaching out, inspiring and supporting others, building communities, and creating safer space. These vital contributions demonstrate the bravery and resilience of LGBTQ youth, especially given the current state of the economy, where critical resources for LGBTQ youth have dwindled across the country. "The Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards program is unique in that it rewards and recognizes LGBTQ youth activists who give so much of themselves to their communities, yet they too are struggling against so many barriers in their lives," says Tierney Gleason, Program Administrator of the Colin Higgins Foundation.

Youth Courage Award recipients receive a grant of $10,000 and will be honored at The Trevor Project Gala in New York City on June 28th. The Trevor Project operates the nation's only 24/7 suicide and crisis prevention helpline for gay and questioning youth. The awardees will also receive an expense-paid trip to attend the National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change presented by the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce in February.

The Courage Awards were established in 2000 to further the spirit and lifework of Colin Higgins, the acclaimed screenwriter/director, who created such films as Harold and Maude and Nine to Five. Following his films that celebrated characters who displayed honesty and integrity in the face of adversity, the Courage Awards were created to honor ordinary yet remarkable individuals whose courage helped to educate and enlighten others about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer experience. For the first five years of the program, Courage Awards were awarded to LGBTQ youth, adults, and allies. In 2005, the program shifted its focus specifically to support LGBTQ youth. Over the last decade, the Foundation has issued 38 awards to activists hailing from 16 states and Puerto Rico. A list of previous winners can be found at www.colinhiggins.org.

Meet the 2010 Youth Courage Award Winners:

[D' ANGELO] D' ONTACE KEYES, 20. Born into an African American family in Chicago, D' Angelo learned the sting of the slurs "faggot" and "gay" coming from his classmates and his mother beginning at age 6. At age 12, D' Angelo escaped his abusive home only to encounter even more homophobia within the foster care system. Struggling with his identity, D' Angelo fought back against harassment and violence by proudly embracing his gay identity and re-naming himself D' Ontace. He pursued his passion for the performing arts and community activism, studying at the Chicago Academy for the Arts and working as the Fundraiser/Special Events Coordinator for Chicago's Youth Pride Center. At age 17, D' Ontace learned he was HIV-positive. Relocating to a new city to attend the University of the Arts, D' Ontace had to overcome homelessness and discrimination due to his HIV status, while learning to live on his own for the first time. Today, D' Ontace is a tireless activist leader in Philadelphia dedicated to providing education and working to break down stigma with LGBTQ youth, with a focus on HIV-positive young men of color. D' Ontace is a Program Assistant at Youth Health Empowerment Project, a program of Philadelphia FIGHT.

PAULA "SEAN" MCCUSKER, 20. Growing up outside Baltimore in a multicultural family and strict Baptist community, Sean fought to come to terms with their* gender and sexual identity. At 16, after coming out as Queer, Sean experienced widespread rejection, and was subsequently kicked out of the Baptist school they had attended since kindergarten. Undaunted, Sean enrolled in a public high school and pursued the right to safe space by organizing the school's first Gay/Straight Alliance. Earning a scholarship to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Sean led the LGBTQ student group and worked to implement diversity trainings around LGBTQ issues. As Sean's activist work gained momentum, financial circumstances took a turn for the worse, and returning home was not a safe option. Sean struggled with homelessness for six months, attempting to continue school without a safe place to live. Sean eventually dropped out of school and decided to pursue activism full-time, realizing that the experience of being homeless and Queer was reflective of a national epidemic facing LGBTQ youth. Sean is currently working with Equality Maryland and the Baltimore Homeless Youth Initiative to create a youth-run drop-in center for homeless LGBTQ youth. (*they/their are Sean's preferred pronouns)

VERONICA TIRADO, 18. Due to financial hardships experienced by their mother, Veronica's family became homeless when Veronica was 13 - a critical time in her life when she was struggling to define herself and take pride in her identity as a Queer-Fem. In spite of the pain and uncertainty she was undergoing, Veronica found a community to give her support, love and guidance at the Safe OUTside the System (SOS) Collective, a program of the Audre Lorde Project. Having experienced violence herself, Veronica was able to begin healing in a positive way through her work with the SOS Collective, which uses community accountability as a strategy to prevent violence directed at LGBTQ and gender non-conforming people of color in central Brooklyn. Shifting her work in a more youth-specific direction, Veronica recently transitioned her activist work to FIERCE, an organization for LGBTQ youth of color in New York. As one of FIERCE's most active members, Veronica is a graduate of the Education for Liberation Project, an educational internship program for empowerment and leadership development. She has excelled in her contributions to FIERCE's Youth Development program and played a key leadership role with other FIERCE members in organizing the first LGBTQ Youth of Color Institute at Creating Change.

About Colin Higgins Foundation
Colin Higgins (1941 - 1988), acclaimed screenwriter, director and producer of films such as Harold and Maude and Nine to Five, established the Colin Higgins Foundation in 1986 to further his humanitarian goals. In addition to the Youth Courage Awards, Colin Higgins Foundation supports organizations that build the power and leadership of LGBT youth (ages 13-24) through grassroots organizing and/or comprehensive leadership development and organizations dedicated to HIV/AIDS service, advocacy and prevention. Colin Higgins Foundation is administered by Tides Foundation. To learn more, visit www.colinhiggins.org.

About Tides
The Tides mission is to partner with philanthropists, foundations, activists and organizations across the country and around the globe to promote economic justice, robust democratic processes, and the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are preserved and protected. Tides is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 that provides an array of services to amplify the efforts of forward-thinking individuals and organizations to make the world a better place. With offices in San Francisco and New York City, Tides provides fiscal sponsorship for over 200 groups across the country, operates and supports green nonprofit centers and granted $108 million in 2008 alone. For more information, visit www.tides.org.