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Positively Living Presents 'Julia Tucker Award' to Mayor Rogero

At the Positively Living luncheon on March 10, from left: Marvelyn Brown, event chair Eddie Mannis, Julia Tucker, Mayor Rogero, and Positively Living Executive Director Steve Jenkins.

At a luncheon on Thursday, March 10, Mayor Madeline Rogero received the third annual "Julia Tucker Award" from the Knoxville nonprofit Positively Living for her promotion of marriage equality and LGBT rights. Positively Living, founded in 1997, provides housing, case management, support and advocacy for people living with HIV/AIDS.

"Positively Living is a warm home and a beacon of hope for those who are most in need. And all of you breathe the very life into Positively Living so it can achieve its goals," Mayor Rogero told the crowd of more than 300 people at the Foundry.

She noted the strong public support and enthusiastic response she received for signing an amicus brief in the marriage equality cases at the Supreme Court last year. She was the only Tennessee mayor to sign the brief. "Overwhelmingly, I have found that Knoxville is a compassionate and open-hearted city," she said, "and by working together, we will build that greater city and world that we want our children and grandchildren to inherit."

The award was named for Julia Tucker, the longtime local community activist and leader on AIDS and LGBT issues. Ms. Tucker, a former member of the old Knoxville City school board, was the first recipient of the award. She was in attendance at the lunch on Thursday. (The second annual award was given to the East Tennessee Equality Council for their work in organizing Knoxville PrideFest.)

The featured speaker at the lunch was Marvelyn Brown, a 31-year-old Nashville native who discovered she was HIV-positive when she was just 19. She has become a prominent advocate for those living with HIV, and is the author of a memoir, The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful and (HIV) Positive.

Posted by On 11 March, 2016 at 9:15 AM