VISIBILITY BALL

Juan Contreras began his work as a Dallas community organizer in 2010, building partnerships to bridge the gap between communities like Oak Cliff and much needed programming. Juan began growing those partnerships with local media, venues, and fellow nonprofits to establish the first LGBTQ+ summit held locally, spotlighting issues like immigration in the LGBTQ+ space. In 2012, Juan sought to create an entertainment space to showcase the heritage, diversity, and achievements of the Hispanic/Latinx and LGBTQ+ communities in Texas. Thus, was born Texas Latino Pride Festival, an annual event that celebrates the meaningful intersections of Hispanic/Latine culture and music with queer pride and causes.

Held each year during Hispanic Heritage Month, the festival supports local artisans and small businesses, awards grants to grassroots community partners, and is free to attendees. In 2014, Juan formed Texas Latino Pride, a nonprofit organization to grow the festival. Texas Latino Pride hosts various events throughout the year that provide free HIV/AIDS testing and other services to the LGBTQ+ community in Dallas while celebrating the music, art, and joy of queer Latine community.

Furthering his commitment to community welfare, Juan serves as the International Director of Advocacy for the AIDS Healthcare Foundations affinity organization, Latino Outreach and Understanding Division (LOUD). Through LOUD, he dedicates his efforts to making a positive impact on the community, showcasing a multifaceted commitment to both professional and community-oriented endeavors. In his professional role, Juan is a Business Controls Specialist at Bank of America supporting mortgage and other business lines while championing community leadership in North Texas. As the co-chair of the Hispanic/Latino Organization for Leadership & Advancement (HOLA), he actively contributes to employee growth and engagement initiatives. Juan extends his civic involvement through volunteer roles with organizations like the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and Somos Tejas. Juan has a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Armed with a background in food and hospitality management, he applies his expertise to enhance his family’s taquerias in Dallas.

Portia Cantrell is the founder of The Silver Pride Project, dedicated to advocating for equality and equity and creating safe social spaces for seniors of the LGBTQ community. SPP provides LGBTQ senior-specific programming in Dallas, including weekly Coffee & Conversation meetups at local libraries, weekly Rainbow Rec at the Reverchon Recreation Center, and LGBT Prom for those that were unable to attend their high school proms as their authentic selves. During the Covid Pandemic, SPP implemented Tele-Friend, connecting senior LGBTQ persons with youth via phone calls to reduce the social isolation of elders in the community.

A retired Trauma Nurse and native of Chicago, Illinois, Portia engaged in supporting the LGBT community in Dallas shortly after moving here eight years ago. She volunteered with the Resource Center of Dallas as an intake clerk and a nurse with the Nelson-Tebedo Clinic. Portia has served on the Municipal Library Board for the city of Dallas, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson’s Senior Advisory Board, and as a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Dallas. Portia’s service as a member of the Board of Directors for the Coalition for Aging LGBT spurred her creation of SPP.

Portia currently serves the City of Dallas as the District 2 Senior Affairs Commissioner, appointed by former Mayor Pro Tem Adam Medrano and reappointed by Councilman Jesse Moreno. She works as a SAGE (Service & Advocacy for Gay Elders) Certified Cultural Competency Trainer, providing Diversity and Inclusion training for Dallas Parks & Recreation administration and staff.

Portia resides in Dallas with her wife Dr. T’Anya Carter, their canine fur baby Nina, cantankerous cat Jodi and their half cat WhiteCat. Portia and T’Anya are currently working to establish the Carter Institute For Recovery, a treatment and recovery center for nurses suffering from Substance Use Disorder, with a target opening date of April 2023.

Congresswoman-Elect Jasmine Crockett worked tirelessly to protect the rights of all LGBT Texans in the face of relentless Republican attacks on basic human dignity and decency. Once elected to the Texas House as the Representative for House District 100, Jasmine put her values as a civil rights lawyer, of equal justice for all, into practice as she did everything in her power to uplift LGBTQ voices, and stand up for LGBTQ rights. Jasmine joined the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus and worked to reduce harm targeted at LGBTQ youth. Her staff was reflective of the richness and talent of the community, with over 70% identifying as LGBTQ+. When the Governor called a third special session to terrify our trans kids and their parents, Jasmine worked to hold the line against these transphobic attacks. As Texas lawmakers launched a campaign of hateful legislation, Jasmine created a safe-haven in her office for advocates who needed it. Hearing days at the Capitol can be long and difficult, which is why she always made sure that there was food and drink, along with somewhere to sit and vent with other advocates, free from the hostility of the committee room and even the Capitol halls. At her direction, Jasmine’s staff was a dedicated resource to support those preparing to testify against anti-LGTBQ bills. Through this, Jasmine built an enduring bond with the LGBT advocacy community that would be relied upon time and time again as we worked together to defeat dozens of anti-LGBTQ measures. Jasmine could not be more proud to have received this recognition from the Dallas LGBT Bar Association, but insists that the recognition be shared by all those advocates she’s worked with, from parents, to lifelong activists, to those newly in the movement because they had no other choice. Working alongside everyone in this community fills her with hope for the future, and determination to keep doing the work.

Robyn Pocohantas Crowe (she/her), popularly known as Pocohantas Duvall, is a founder of The House of Rebirth “THOR” which is a local “transformative housing initiative and community safe space led by Black Trans Women to develop sustainable resources and enhance and protect the lives of Black Trans-Identified Women.” As an action-oriented person, she was moved by the murder of Muhlaysia Booker and the loss and pain of many Black Trans women in the DFW community. Channeling her pain she decided to “provide life giving resources to under-served Black Trans-identified women.” In the same way that she loves and pours into the young Black Trans girls and women, she is loved and protected by her own community-based family. She is part of the pageant house, House of Duvall, with Sally who is her gay mother. She is also part of the House of Armani, and her gay father is Nunu Armani. She is also loved and protected by her drag mother Fantasia Suggs. Read more from our interview with Pocohantas in 2019 here: INTERVIEW.

Jayla Wilkerson was the first recipient of the Justice Award in 2019. Wilkerson worked as an Assistant District Attorney for Dallas County from 2015 until 2018. When news broke about Dallas County Prisons mistreating transgender detainees, she resigned from the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office. Wilkerson now serves the City of Dallas as an Assistant City Attorney.

In 2017, Wilkerson also founded Transgender Pride of Dallas. That year, she partnered with the Dallas Resource Center to launch the very first Transgender Pride in Dallas. In 2019, when the City of Dallas moved the annual Pride Parade, Wilkerson organized the Pride is a Protest March in response to the complaints many members of the community had about the new location for Dallas’ Pride Parade.

Wilkerson has organized the Dallas Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) for the past two years, and is also the 2019 Secretary of the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas.