On Tuesday, January 30th, join the City of West Hollywood and its LGBTQ+ Commission at the Rainbow Key Awards Ceremony honoring the 2023 Awardees, where we will honor those who have made outstanding contributions to the LGBTQ+ Community.

 RSVP HERE: https://rka2023.splashthat.com - the event is free and seating is first come, first served. 

The City of West Hollywood has, since 1993, presented Rainbow Key Awards to people and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the LGBTQ+ community. Previous honorees have included activists, artists, civic leaders, educators, community organizations, and many others. Contributions, whether by an individual or a group, may be in many forms, including the arts, community action, humanitarian action, sports, medicine, armed services, leadership potential, benefit to the global gay and lesbian community, or in other ways. More than 155 Rainbow Key Awards have been presented since the award’s inception.

This year, we will be honoring:

• Bert Champagne, a volunteer in the Community who has worked for AIDS Walk LA for more than 32 years, served as a Board Member of the California Lesbian Project, and has volunteered for more than three decades at Project Angel Food. Bert currently is the Vice President of Sheryl Lee Ralph’s DIVA Foundation and has been part of DIVAS Simply Singing for more than three decades.
• Nahshon Dion is a multi-talented artist, author, producer, and host of TRANSBRATIONS, a YouTube show.
• Reverend Stephen Pieters, a gay pastor in West Hollywood who became well-known for his extensive AIDS activism after his own AIDS diagnosis in the early 1980s. His soon-to-be-published memoir, Love is Greater than AIDS: A Memoir of Survival, Healing, and Hope, will chronicle his life story. Sadly, Rev. Pieters passed away in 2023, and this award will be presented to his family posthumously.
• Steven Reigns, West Hollywood’s inaugural Poet Laureate, whose writings focus on the gay experience and people with HIV. He has taught poetry workshops across the country to LGBTQ youth groups and people living with HIV.
• Brody Schaffer, a young, 8-year-old dancer who inspires other children to be themselves by fiercely dancing on his social media channels and other dance projects, including TV ads and Nickelodeon programming.

While the event is free, seating is limited, so we ask that you please RSVP. Seating will be first come, first serve, and in the event of full seated capacity, very limited standing room will be available.

Parking is available at the 5-story parking structure besides the City Council Chambers - those parking in that structure and attending the ceremony will have their parking validated. The City Council Chambers are also served by The City of West Hollywood's Free Cityline Commuter Shuttle or LA Metro bus routes 10 and 16,