For the first time in the seven-year history of the gay community's Hero Awards there was a tie for the title of Prince George Queer Citizen of the Year.
The awards are handed out annually at the Snowflake Ball to recognize those in the gay community and the heterosexual people who support them.
The winners this year are Kevin Eastman and Travis Shaw. Awards spokesman and reigning Queer Citizen of the Year, Valentine Crawford, said the two are polar opposites.
"They compliment each other very well," Crawford said. "The award is about those who deserve thanks regardless of how popular you are or quiet you are. Kevin is someone who has done a great deal to advance the gay pride movement from behind the scenes and Travis is well known out in the public."
Since high school, Shaw has attracted media attention all over the province for his outspoken flamboyance in aid of gay youth coming safely to accept their sexual identity. He is also iconic for his alter-ego - drag queen Foxy De-Rossi.
Eastman is a longtime board member with the various groups that have advanced gay awareness and acceptance and continues to be a driving organizational force in the development of the 15th annual Gay Pride celebrations coming next year to Prince George. He has been a part of the movement for all of those years. He is also a drag queen, under the stage name Anita Hugz ta B'alone.
"Who wouldn't be pleased? But I am also quite surprised about it all," said Eastman. "I do volunteer work because it's the right thing to do. I won the Volunteer of the Year Award last year so I was not suspecting I would win another one this year."
"Not a lot of people say thank you nowadays and for someone to say thank you in a way like this is very meaningful, and I really respect that," said Shaw.
Shaw felt that his citation had a lot to do with a photo in The Citizen of him, dressed as Foxy, alongside mayor Dan Rogers at a meeting of the school district's Gay-Straight Alliance group. A large contingent from the youth group was in attendance at the Snowflake Ball, although Shaw was in Vancouver presenting at a gay men's health conference.
"The centre of my presentation in Vancouver was that article and photograph, and the comments that it got," he said. "Apparently it was a big deal that a drag queen and a mayor were photographed together and when I met (City of Vancouver mayor) Gregor Robertson he said that they had actually held a caucus meeting about that photo."
For the year ahead, Shaw said he intends to keep pushing for social equality.
Eastman said he has a lot of work ahead to prepare for the 15th anniversary celebrations.
"We are in the initial planning stages now, we want this to be a year everyone remembers for awhile," he said. "It has been a long road, and I love what has happened in that time for Prince George. I hear a lot of people say that we're a 'redneck' city, but I think this is a very progressive city. And I know a lot of rednecks who are proud of the progress and want the progress, too, so redneck I don't think is a negative term."
