Judy, Dennis Shepard to Receive Harvey Milk Legacy Award

Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast to Honor Brandon Wolf with the Harvey B. Milk Leadership Award and Judy and Dennis Shepard with the Harvey B. Milk Legacy Award

PALM SPRINGS —Brandon Wolf will be honored with the Harvey B. Milk Leadership Award and Judy and Dennis Shepard with the Harvey B. Milk Legacy Award at the 14th annual event, the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast committee announced. The popular Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast will take place at the Palm Springs Convention Center on Thursday, May 14 at 8:30 a.m. for coffee hour and 9:30 a.m. breakfast and program.

Harvey B. Milk Leadership Award – Brandon Wolf

Brandon Wolf is a nationally recognized advocate for LGBTQ+ civil rights and gun safety, bestselling author, and survivor of the tragic 2016 mass shooting at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub. He appears frequently on MSNOW and CNN, and has bylines in Oprah Daily, The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and others. Brandon was named one of the Logo TV’s 30 LGBTQ Changemakers, Huffington Post’s 30 LGBTQ Influencers under 30 and Out Magazine’s 100 Most Influential LGBTQ People in America.

In 2019, he became the first Pulse survivor to testify before Congress and returned in 2022 to testify on the rise of anti-LGBTQ hate violence before the House Oversight Committee. Brandon was a national surrogate for Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 campaign and an advisory committee member for President Biden’s 2020 General Election bid. The organization he cofounded after the Pulse Nightclub shooting, The Dru Project, has given over $250,000 in college funding to LGBTQ+ youth since its inception.

Harvey B. Milk Legacy Award – Judy and Dennis Shepard

In October 1998, Judy and Dennis Shepard lost their 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.

The Foundation is dedicated to working toward the causes championed by Matthew during his life: social justice, diversity awareness & education, and equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

Judy Shepard is the founding president of the Matthew Shepard Foundation Board of Directors, and served as its first executive director as well, from 1999 to 2009. In her continuing role as board president, she travels across the nation speaking to audiences about what they can do as individuals and communities to make this world a more accepting place for everyone, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, sex, gender identity and expression, or sexual orientation.

Speaking from a mother’s perspective, Judy also authored a 2009 memoir, The Meaning of Matthew, exploring the family’s journey through the prosecution of Matthew’s assailants, the ensuing media coverage, and their continuing work to advance civil rights. On May 3, 2024, Judy Shepard was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian honor. Originally trained as a teacher, Mrs. Shepard holds a Bachelor of the Arts degree in Secondary Education from the University of Wyoming where she later pursued some post-graduate studies.

Born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Dennis earned a degree in education from the University of Wyoming before marrying Judy in 1973 and settling in Casper, Wyoming, to raise their family. An oil industry safety specialist, Dennis worked for more than 16 years in safety operations for Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, before retiring from that position in 2009. He has served on the Matthew Shepard Foundation board of directors since the organization’s inception, and currently speaks to audiences around the country, particularly to victims’ advocacy organizations and law enforcement audiences about his experiences and the importance of equal treatment of LGBT crime victims and their loved ones. Judy and Dennis continue to make their home in Casper, Wyo.

The breakfast honors the memory of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California and his legacy of groundbreaking inspiration in the struggle to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality.

The event is designed to strengthen coalitions among the many diverse community organizations that work toward equality in the Coachella Valley.

Tickets and sponsorships are available online www.HarveyMilk.us. Co-sponsor tables of eight are available from $750 to $2,500. Tables of eight may be donated for students for $750.00. Individual tickets are available for just $95.00.

This event is accessible for persons with hearing and mobility impairments. Additional student honorees and entertainment will be announced soon.

Order tickets and sponsorship online

www.HarveyMilk.us