SF AIDS Foundation Ed Mark Cloutier and Horizon’s Foundation Ed Roger Doughty at the Gala. Photo by Rink..

Horizons Foundation began their gala with the Montclair Women’s Big Band playing jazz, salsa, and of course, big band music with its big, bold brassy sound. There was much to celebrate, in that Horizons had its largest year of grant making with over $2 million in community investments. Gala Co-chair Wendy Storch opened the event, saying, “As we kick up our heels and enjoy the company of friends old and new, it feels so right to come together in joyous celebration.” Gala Co-chair Gary Johnson said, “It’s a part of who we are. LGBT people have always found a way to find each other - but meeting openly and unapologetically like this is a relatively recent development in our history.” Storch added, “Even here in the Bay Area, too many LGBT people still feel more at home hiding in the closet than laughing on the dance floor.”

“We are making history with the slow but steady erosion of homophobia and heterosexism - erosion until they are no more,” said Horizons Executive Director Roger Doughty. “This is possible by countless acts of courage and hundreds of thousands of LGBT people stepping out of the closet.” He said, “We as LGBT people are part of a great human movement toward embracing the full diversity of human rights. It’s a movement that is powered sometimes by outrage, but always by hope and pride and a fierce belief that no human being should be counted as second class, ever.” He was not remiss in addressing the ENDA situation and discrimination against transgender people, saying, “When you call on our beloved Speaker to put gender identity back in ENDA, you are helping to push history along.” He remarked with pride how in the two years since Horizons founded the LGBT Community Endowment Fund, it has grown to over $4 million. But he said he was not satisfied until that Fund raised $100 million over the next 20 years or so - primarily from bequests and planned gifts. The Endowment Fund will provide the first-ever consistent, permanent funding for the Bay Area’s 400,000 LGBT people, addressing issues including civil rights, health and human services, arts, and education.

Doughty said with donations from people and organizations, Horizons is able to make schools safer for queer youth, to help our elders age with dignity, and to fuel the brilliant advocacy work being accomplished, and so much more. He spoke of LGBT Wise as a major new grant program in partnership with The California Wellness Foundation, which will increase the capacity of LGBT organizations serving LGBT elders in the Bay Area - a population that is critically underserved and growing.
Doughty said he was thankful for “the powerful mix of donors and doers, activists and allies, who come together, not just that night but every day at Horizons.” He added, “It is our enormous privilege to work with all of you, helping our LGBT history to move along and be one of the great stories of all times.” He said, “In case you didn’t realize it, this is a movement in which you can dance,” and invited everyone to hit the dance floor and dance to the Montclair Women’s Big Band.

Then up a few floors in the Lodge, Paula West serenaded everyone with her lush jazz, blues, salsa, and classic interpretations. It was great to see same-sex couples dancing the night away to bosa nova, rumba, mambo, cha cha, waltz, and other forms of expression on the floor. Couples danced to West upstairs, to the Montclair Band downstairs, and later to the deejay genius of Page Hodel’s spinnings. Afterwards they treated themselves to dipping fruit, marshmallows, and cookies into the four-tier chocolate fountain that flowed freely for all. Equality in chocolate!