AROUND TOWN: Citizens Project honors Harris, Berthrong, GLF

Blowing snow didn’t deter nearly 150 members of the community who gathered at Stargazers on Feb. 2 to honor Citizens Project award winners Rosemary Harris Lytle, Sharon Berthrong and the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado.

Legacy Award recipient Sharon Berthrong served 12 years on the organization’s board of directors and is “a steadfast supporter of all types of equality and freedom in our Citizens Project microcosm and the world beyond,” said executive director Kristy Milligan. And this superwoman is a musician as well.

Honoring Berthrong, who moved to Denver last year to be with family, the speakers described her:

“Fierce, loyal, respectful, strong, committed, cheerleader, true blue, bleeding heart, enlightened, magnanimous, progressive, compassionate, and most importantly, because she does believe in the power of words: liberal.”

“A Democrat surrounded by Republicans,” she was the county chair and worked on numerous campaigns.

When it comes to sexism, it’s alive, said one speaker, but “Sharon acknowledges it and then steps over it.”

Jan Martin said, “Colorado Springs is a better city because Sharon Berthrong lived here for so many years.”

The Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado received the group’s first award to an organization, for having made “an incredible impact on the Colorado Springs community, making tremendous strides in the advancement of equality and diversity in our city.”

The Divine Award, named for founder Amy Divine, goes to a person “who has worked tirelessly to create a vibrant democracy in which equal rights are protected, individual freedoms are secure, differences are respected, and people fully participate in civic and community life.”

Honoree Rosemary Harris Lytle joins previous winners Mary Lou Makepeace, Dr. Jim White, Pam Jones and Juliet Draper, Lorne Kramer, Richard Skorman, John Weiss and Mary Ellen McNally.

Lytle heads the local NAACP and “keeps that historical organization alive and well in Southern Colorado,” speakers said.

She has been a member of the Angel Network for years. It is an organization of “predominantly black women who provide free cancer-awareness education to underserved populations, as well as mentorship and support for cancer survivors in El Paso County.”

As a columnist for The Gazette in the 1990s, Rosemary “had a great time slaughtering every sacred cow that stood in her way,” one speaker said.

She was also honored as a mother.

In conclusion, speakers agreed, “Rose is Divine because not only is she a tireless champion of civil rights and civil liberties, she is a truly amazing colleague and friend, too. Rose’s commitment to issues of equality and justice permeate every part of her life — they define her.”