03 June 2009

Eleven scholarships totaling up to $255,000 will be presented to openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender high school students at the sixth annual Matthew Shepard Scholarship Awards Dinner, Friday, June 5, 2009, at 7:45 p.m. at the Hy-Vee Conference Center in West Des Moines (Reception begins at 5:30 PM, Dinner at 6:45 PM, Program at 7:45 PM).

Six Iowa high school graduates, Charles Banta of Calamus, Chloe Coulter of Johnston, Ryan Mickey of Council Bluffs, Thao Pham of Urbandale, Karla Quandt of Carroll and Steven Swim of West Des Moines will receive Gold Matthew Shepard Scholarships worth approximately $35,000 each. Five others, Kyle Bennett of Carroll, Chris Celania of Ottumwa, Ryan Jamieson of Denver, Shelby Long of Marshalltown and Kyle Woollums of Bettendorf will receive Silver Matthew Shepard Scholarships worth up to $9,000 each.

Judy Shepard will headline the Awards Dinner. Shepard lost her 21 year-old son, Matthew, to a murder motivated by anti-gay hate. Matthew’s death moved many thousands of people around the world to attend vigils and rallies in his memory. Determined to prevent others from suffering their son’s fate, Judy and Dennis decided to turn their grief into action and established the Matthew Shepard Foundation to carry on Matthew’s legacy.

CEO of Garden State Equality (New Jersey) Steven Goldstein will present the keynote address. Steven and his partner Daniel Gross were the first couple to have their union covered by the New York Times. Steven has owned a public affairs consulting firm in New York and was co-manager of Jon Corzine's successful 2000 campaign for the US Senate from New Jersey. Spokesman Mike Pace will emcee the evening and members of the Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus will present a special musical performance.

Attorneys Sharon Malheiro and Camilla Taylor will he honored for their successful efforts establishing marriage equality in Iowa. Sharon was co-counsel in defending Judge Jeffrey Neary in the Alons v. Iowa District Court for Woodbury County civil union dissolution case, an expert witness in Varnum v. Brien marriage equality case, and was instrumental in encouraging Lambda Legal to successfully lead both cases, which resulted in victorious Iowa Supreme Court decisions. Camilla is Senior Staff Attorney in the Midwest Regional Office of Lambda Legal, and led Lambda Legal’s successful effort in litigating Varnum v. Brien in District Court and before the Iowa Supreme Court.

The Matthew Shepard Scholarship is named in memory of Matthew Shepard. The Scholarship honors openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Iowa high school students who work to promote tolerance and non-discrimination in their schools and communities.

The Matthew Shepard Scholarship Awards Dinner is open to the press, and interviews with scholarship recipients may be scheduled by calling 515/473-0002 or 515/262-0000. Scholar photos and profiles are available online at eychanerfoundation.org.