LANCASTER – Hundreds came out to the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds Saturday (May 31) for AV PRIDE 2014 – an annual event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) people in the Antelope Valley.
The festival kicked off at 1 p.m. with Lavender Graduation, a ceremony honoring the academic achievements, courage and pride of local LGBTQ and straight ally students graduating from elementary through college.
“If you look at the statistics, LGBT students are not focused on where they’re going to go to college, they’re not focused on their future career goals, they’re focused on survival when they’re in high school,” said OUTreach Center Board President Sanie Andres. “For us to be able to honor that with Lavender Graduation is such a positive step for our community.”
Eleven of the 18 Lavender Graduates were present for the ceremony, and they represented high schools from across the Valley, as well as Antelope Valley College.
Overcome by emotion, Andres encouraged the students to advocate for the next generation.
“Thank you so much for being brave, courageous, willing to be out, willing to be proud of yourselves, and for being an example to us of what we wish we could have done in our youth,” Andres told the students. “Thank you for being role models, thank you for being future parents, future professionals… teach the next generation, teach your children to be better than we were, to be better than the generations before us were,” Andres continued.
Congratulations to the 2014 Lavender Graduates!
Daniel Alvarez, Littlerock High School
Nestor De Los Rios, Antelope Valley College
Gerali Diaz, SOAR High School
Jackee Famularo, California Virtual Academy
Jazmine Lagunas Guerrero, SOAR High School
Mina Halim, SOAR High School
Faith Hobby, Antelope Valley College
River Jackson, Quartz Hill High School
Aniyah McDaniel, Vista San Gabriel Elementary School
Zander Morales, Littlerock High School
Christian Pineda, Highland High School
Alexander Rodriguez, Eastside High School
Stephanie Sandoval, SOAR High School
Sam Seghetti, Saugus High School
Andrew Taban, Canyon High School
Selene Valencia, Antelope Valley College
Mercedes Witt, SOAR High School
Sutan Wright, Opportunities for Learning
Traditionally hosted on college campuses throughout the nation since 1995, Lavender Graduation recognizes the accomplishments of LGBTQ and straight ally students.
Lavender symbolizes an important part of LGBTQ history. It combines the pink triangle that gay men were forced to wear and the black triangle designating lesbians as political prisoners in Nazi Germany. LGBTQ activists took these symbols of hatred, combined them, and created a symbol and color of pride and community. Saturday’s ceremony was the second Lavender Graduation held in the Antelope Valley.
For many more pictures from AV Pride 2014, visit our Facebook page.
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EducateEveryone says
I promote education for EVERYONE. Do I need to expand my comment? (-:
Bryan says
I was so happy to see this article!! Congrats to the graduating kids and best of luck to whatever endeavors they decide to pursue!
Not a Big Deal..... says
As I commented on another post, it was a pretty tame event. If you were looking for gay people kissing each other and performing striptease, you would be sorely disappointed. There were, however, quite a few people promoting puppy adoption and playing chess.
If you were expecting a den of iniquity when lots of titillating imagery, you should probably go to the Antelope Valley Fair. The Pride event was one of the most tame events I’ve ever been to.
RED says
@Sean, you obviously have some weird issues with gay people. You need to work that out, it’s not the a.v.Times that’s your problem
Sean says
AV Times has been pushing the gay agenda since the very beginning. No surprise here. Should be names Gay V Times. Why are you trying so hard to make us accept this? smh
Momof1 says
Exactly. I wonder, if it were a Christian based event would they promote it just as equally & positively? No thy wouldn’t.
William says
So, you’re comparing an LGBT event with a religious one. How silly of you?
RED says
@mom of1, how is a churches event, the same as graduation. Promoting graduating?
William says
Must be why you keep coming back here, Sean. You were the first one to post a comment on the article.
The closet is getting a little old for ya.
Zeke says
Agree 100% Sean. The gay agenda is always pushed, as if it was normal. It’s not.
William says
So, Zeke. How come you didn’t use the phrase right wingers always use when referring to the ‘gay agenda’?
Y’know, having it ‘shoved down your throat’.
I guess you don’t mind having things shoved down your throat anyway.
No one’s ever had an agenda shoved down their throat. However, the right wingers (aka ‘fright wingers) seem to be obsessed with using a term related to oral sex to describe what they think is happening to them. Too darn funny. Linda Lovelace is laughing in her grave.
These are some of the same people who originally called THEMSELVES ‘teabaggers’ till they finally found out what THAT meant. Then, they got themselves UPSET when everyone else called them that.
And, these silly people want to run the country when they can’t even make sense when they speak.
RED says
@zeke, what is if it’s not normal? You consider yourself normal? Only you and other homophobics are normal and your the judge. That’s about you and you’re insecurities not 1 article.
Bob says
Sean you are 100% correct! Goodbye AV Times!