Leadership
Nearly four years ago, Justin Kamimoto committed himself to being an advocate for the Central Valley community; starting with the founding of his high school’s (Clovis North) Gay Straight Alliance club. Following his admission to Fresno State, he has been honored with the eQuality Collaborative award from the PG&E Pride Network and is also a two-time Bulldog Pride Fund scholar. In 2011, Justin became the youngest board member of the Fresno Reel Pride Film Festival serving as the director of outreach. That same year launched My Lgbt Plus. In 2012, Kamimoto was named one of the youngest Grand Marshals in the history of the Fresno Rainbow Pride Parade; and he has been named an Out in the Silence Youth Activism Award winner. As a sophomore attending Fresno State, Justin is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in business administration. He is employed by the Fresno State Alumni Association as its online and social media intern. In the future, he also plans on enrolling in the Humanics Certification Program to one day bring forth his own non-profit organization.
Writers
Born and raised on the “south-side safari†that is Southeast Fresno, Hillary Bandera has seen her fair share of the good, the bad, and the ugly. A recent graduate from Clovis North High School, Bandera served for two years as the vice president for the school’s GSA. She is currently attending Willow International Community College where she plans on earning her general education before pursuing journalism at San Francisco State University. A self-confessed bookworm, Hillary is an avid reader who devours everything she can lay her hands on. In no particular order, she also enjoys sandwiches, Dave Brubeck, and a random assortment of the macabre, the groovy, and the fabulous.
Matthew Benitez is a student at Fresno City College and at California State University Fresno majoring in counseling and with a minor in music performance. Matthew was born and raised in the Central Valley in Sanger California, and is also a graduate from Sanger High School where he was previously the president of the Gay Straight Alliance Club. He has helped build his community by volunteering with organizations such as The Rainbow Delegation, and with several high school gay straight alliances. His main goal is to help the LGBT community grow in a safe environment with the help of its straight allies. Matthew one day hopes to succeed in becoming a counselor specializing in LGBT issues.
Seb Harris Frost is a subversive, queer-as-hell, genderfucked performer kid from fabulous, frothy Fresno. After studying Shakespeare, Zie has written, performed and directed a number of theatrical pieces with Wisconsin’s own Proud Theater, has published a chapbook and has developed a love for zeugma. Beyond writing and performing, Seb is passionate about activism and social justice. From queer rights to immigrant rights, from the anti-war movement to education reform, Seb stands in defense of self-determination. Now residing in Seattle, Seb is thrilled to be bringing hir vernacular and literary talents back to the Central Valley
Andrea Hinojosa, better known as Andrea Dinosaur, grew up in Coarsegold and went to high school in Fresno at University High. The past seven years she has lived in San Francisco, Iowa, Walnut Creek and Yosemite. She is majoring in Interior Design and Women’s Studies at Fresno State University. She is passionate about gay and women’s rights, interior design, reading, fashion and music. She has worked as a window display artist and merchandiser at the GAP in San Francisco and Urban Outfitters in Fresno. Andrea one day hopes to open a beautifully decorated Domestic Violence Shelter for Women. She would like to be the proud owner of a really old cranky cat one day.
I plan on writing about lesbian music artists in Fresno who play at a local youth venue on Belmont. I am very excited about this article!
Born in Fresno in 1993, David Nixon was raised for most of his life attending Wesley United Methodist Church—one of the first reconciling congregations in all of California. Because of this, from an early age he was surrounded by the LGBTQQIA community, shaping him later to be a persistent straight ally of LGBT rights. Upon attending Central High School, David joined the school GSA and regularly participated in civil activism. By his senior year, he became president of the club, and co-taught a workshop about the legal rights of students at the 2011 Expression Not Suppression convention. He now lives in Seaside and attends CSU Monterey Bay, and although he does not affiliate with any formal groups, he continues to combat LGBT discrimination, as well as environmental, human, and animal abuse, though visual art, spoken word, written pieces, and social action. He hopes to attain a degree in human communication with an emphasis in creative writing and social change, eventually leading him to a career as a cultural and global issue columnist.
Tucker Russell serves on the ministry staffs of Wesley United Methodist Church and First Congregational (the “Big Red Churchâ€), two historical, progressive congregations in Fresno, CA with a tradition of standing for social justice, diversity, and inclusion. Tucker is soon to be ordained as a Reverend in the United Church of Christ. He is originally from Canton, Ohio. There he earned a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Malone University. In 2006 he made the move to Fresno in order to earn a Master of Divinity degree from Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary. Fresno has been his home ever since. As a gay man with a background in Biblical and Theological studies and the experience of working in and with church communities that run the gamut from Anabaptist, to Evangelical, to mainline Protestant, Tucker cares deeply about ministries of reconciliation and grace. His greatest hope is to help end religion-based hatred and discrimination and to invite persons from all perspectives to have a renewed vision of faith and spirituality that is rooted in unconditional love for our neighbors and caring for the vulnerable and marginalized.
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