GenPride Blog

Fredriksen-Goldsen, Ph.D., a professor and Director of the Goldsen Institute at the University of Washington and is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar and activist addressing health inequities across underserved, resilient communities.

Karen is the founder of GenPride, Shanti Seattle, and Rainbow Research Group of the Gerontological Society of America.

Characterized as an international leader in health, aging, and longevity research, Karen is the Principal Investigator of multiple landmark federally funded studies, including Aging with Pride: National Health, Aging, and Sexuality/Gender Study (R01) the first national longitudinal study of LGBTQ+ midlife and older adult health designed to identify health and wellness trajectories.

She …

Bill is a founding member and has always brought his cheerful spirit and empathetic heart to their work and community of members of all ages. He has engaged and gently educated younger singing members helping to enlarge the circle of acceptance and appreciation for our history within our chorus. Even now, Bill is involved in working on a Historical Archives project for SMC. 

Bill’s “Gay Life in a Nutshell.” 

Growing up in a middle-class family on Long Island, New York, there was, from a very early age, a sense that my shoes were on the wrong foot. I was quite a sissy …

Lynda Greene, the Executive Director at the Southeast Seattle Senior Center located in one of the most diverse zip codes in the nation, 98118.

Lynda has been a pioneering, proactive, and powerful ally for the LGBTQ community. The Southeast Seattle Senior Center is celebrating over 60 years of providing services, activities, and support to promote self-sufficient and fulfilling lives for aging adults in our multi-cultural community.

As the Executive Director, Lynda is responsible for the development and implementation of the annual and long-term fundraising and strategic plan, program planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, budgeting and financial monitoring, management of people and volunteers, oversight …

Domenico ‘Nic’ Minotti is a longtime supporter of Gay City and is in his eleventh year as a member of the Board of Directors of Gay City.   With more than a decade of service on our Board and as a volunteer, Domenico has provided endless support to Gay City. Whether hosting dinners at his home with homemade Italian meals or offering his expertise in designing health services, Domenico has been an incredible asset to the organization and an influential leader in our communities. 

With Gay City he has served as secretary, chair of the community connections committee and on task forces to review …

Joel’s role as the PrEP Navigator is to help members of the Latino Community to access available health services with an approach to people at high risk of getting HIV. Additionally, He is the host of the radio program “Mucho Gusto” transmitted every Sunday at 2 pm on 99.3 FM. Joel works at EH because he believes that involving yourself in the struggle is the key to create a socially just world where everyone has the same opportunities. Joel was nominated for this honor by Entre Hermanos because of his widespread recognition in the Latino LGBTQ+ community since the 90’s, and for being …

She is a Community Leader, a trailblazer, and an advocate for both the African American community and the LGBTQIA+ community. As a fierce representation of the LGBTQIA+ community, she and her partner maintain the last standing African American Book Store (LEM’s) for more than 20 Years. For 31 + years, she has worked at POCAAN, providing services for people on the margins, including those affected by and with HIV/AIDS. Currently, she manages POCAAN’S SAGE Senior Medical Mobile Services program, providing services to senior citizens at Senior Centers across King County with mobile Health Services designed for those with barriers to traditional Medical Services. …

Arnaldo Inocentes, Ambassador for Pride ASIA. Arnaldo is a pillar within our community. As an ambassador with Pride ASIA, his history spans decades of advocacy and leadership for the LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities.  

Arnaldo started as a soloist with the Seattle Men’s Chorus (SMC) and has performed with SMC in some of the major concert halls in the US, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia.

In 1995, Arnaldo started a group called Cabaret Q where the “drag chanteuse” persona began.
In 1999, Arnaldo began his solo cabaret shows in Seattle’s Capitol Hill and has since performed his one-person cabaret in Portland, Las Vegas, …

Martha Zuniga,

the Deputy Director of Entre Hermanos. She has worked there for more than 10 years, first as a volunteer, then as a Medical Case Manager, and Prevention & Care Program Manager. Her main goal at Entre Hermanos, and in her life, is to support, educate, and advocate for the people affected by HIV, especially those from minority communities. Martha was chosen by Entre Hermanos for her role as one of the founders of the organization. Like Joel, she has been in the community and part of Entre Hermanos since the beginning and is fondly recognized by all.   

About the nominating organization: …

Malie Tiare Chanel, who was chosen by Utopia. Born in Fagatogo, American Samoa, Malie was raised in Saleufi, Apia & Seattle. Her passion stems from the cultural upbringing in her village setting, as well as values instilled in her by her grandparents. There were always village events that required participation or contributions. She was taught about sharing with her neighbors, inviting passersby for meals, or helping distribute food to families in her village surroundings during any environmental or health disasters. It became a natural thing for her to do back home. At a young age, she became accustomed to giving as well as …

Dr. Shalit was born in New York City and raised in New Jersey and Massachusetts. He went to college at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, then moved to Seattle where he obtained his Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Washington in 1981. Realizing in his mid-twenties that he wanted to be a physician, he enrolled in the University of Washington Medical School, from which he graduated in 1985. He completed residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington in 1989.  His involvement in HIV care started in the early 1980s while still in medical school. 

In 1990 Dr. Shalit …

Louise began her involvement with GSBA in the 1990s and was appointed President & CEO in 2002, a role she served in until retiring at the end of 2020. Through her tenure, Louise led GSBA to become the largest LGBTQ+ chamber in North America. The GSBA Scholarship & Education Fund wouldn’t be the program it is today without Louise, having issued over $5 million to LGBTQ+ and allied throughout her leadership of the organization. Her activism stretches across multiple movements, including Vietnam War protests in the 1960s and 1970s, the anti-nuclear movement, the Women’s Rights Movement of the 1970s, and the LGBTQ+ Civil …