Moni's At The Equality Brunch 2016

I know I wrote about it on Sunday, but wanted to post more pics from the 8th annual Equality Brunch.  And yes, I was still shaking off the jet lag when I walked into the venue.

In addition to this being a fundraising event for the Houston LGBT Caucus, I was one of several people being honored with awards.  It gave me an opportunity to break bread with and spend some quality time hanging out with my Houston liberal-progressive community family.

We had a few of our Houston political peeps there like CM Robert Gallegos and CM Mike Laster, TX state Senator Sylvia Garcia, Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen, Judge Maria T. Jackson, former Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia and candidates for various offices in the room like Harris County DA candidate Kim Ogg, Harris County Sheriff candidate and former CM Ed Gonzales, judicial candidate Ramona Franklin and Harris County Commissioner's Court candidate Jenifer Rene Pool.

This year I became the second out trans person to receive the John Paul Barnich Award, and I thank the Caucus for honoring me with this award named for a trailblazing member of our Houston LGBT community.

The other awards presented on Sunday and the deserving folks who received them were:

Eleanor Tinsley Award
Erika Richie

Don Hrachovy Award
Maria Gonzalez

President's Award
Melanie Espinosa Pang

Tim Brookover Award
Greg Jeu

The Tony and Bruce Award
Bruce Smith

The 2016 class of Equality Brunch honorees were also surprised by a presentation from Audrey Natividad with Congressional Recognition Certificates signed by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee  (D-TX).

It was a wonderful event across the board.  Capacity crowd, amazing venue, delicious food, and most importantly, the fundraising target of $10,000 was hit.   That money will help get those Caucus endorsement cards out in time for early voting that's starting on October 24.

This year's edition of the Equality Brunch set the bar high for future ones, and enjoyed being there for it.