The Denver Gay Men’s Chorus Kicks Off Pride Week with Julian Rush Impact Award

The Denver Gay Men’s Chorus held their performance of Shout! to kick off PRIDE week alongside the inaugural presentation of the Julian Rush Impact Award, recognizing individuals who have significantly impacted Denver’s LGBTQ+ community.

Rush is a Denver-based pastor who was the first openly gay clergyman and a noted composer, playwright, and administrator who prompted a national debate in the early 1980s when he came out. This year’s award recipients include Jean Hodges, President of PFLAG,  Bob Janowski, a beloved and pioneering figure in LGBTQ healthcare, and Christopher Sloan, who was Grand Marshal at the first Denver PrideFest parade 50 years ago and served as Grand Marshal again this year.

“Each of these individuals mirrors Julian Rush’s passion for service, community-building, uplifting and empowering the LGBTQ community in Denver,” says Johnny Nichols Jr., artistic and managing director of the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus.

Janowski found his life partner Phil at an early age and describes how they’ve stuck together since. When he came out of the closet, he developed a more liberal and progressive view. Since then, he has been an open activist for LGBTQ+ rights through speech and his work.

In his medical practice, Janowski emphasized the care of HIV/AIDS in Colorado during the 1980s and 1990s and attended the pivotal 1986 International AIDS Conference in Paris, France. With researchers from the Denver and Colorado Departments of Health, he worked on clinical trials of multiple experimental drugs to combat HIV and concomitant opportunistic infections. He has also participated in National Gay and Lesbian Health Conferences and ran “Safe Weeks” in clinics serving gay patients.

Sloan, better known by his stage name Christi Layne, is a trailblazing entertainer and activist and a pillar of  Denver’s drag and LGBTQIA+ communities since the early 1970s.

“Christi Layne played such an important role in the evolution of Denver’s gay pride movement,” says Rex Fuller, CEO of the Center, in the press release. “We are so grateful that 50 years after our first Pride event, Christi will lead our parade as our 2024 Grand Marshal.” As Christi Layne, she was named Empress VI in 1979 of the Imperial Court of the Rocky Mountain Empire.

Photo courtesy of ICRME