Last Friday, SAVE, a South Florida LGBT Equality group, presented its 2015 Campions of Equality recipients. This years recipients were Rodrigo, Heng-Lehtinen, donor services director for GLAAD, Arianna Lint, transgender services director at Sunserve, Mark Rosenberg, president of Florida International University, and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
Heng-Lehtinen was presented the award by his father, former US Attorney Dexter Lehtinen.
Rodrigo's mother, US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was in Europe, so could not attend, but she sent a video:
Rigo, I’m so very proud of you, not just for this wonderful award, but also for living an authentic life that makes you happy,” Ros-Lehtinen said in the video. “With your courage and your advocacy, you continue to build public support and greater understanding about the LGBT community.
Mother’s Day may be a difficult holiday for many families who have not been accepting of their children’s gender identity issues,” Ros-Lehtinen told the Miami Herald. “Our kids deserve to be treated as adults who have struggled to find their authentic selves and families should come to terms with that realization. It can be a painful journey of awareness for both the child and the parent but a necessary one. Dexter and I are blessed to have four adult children and we love each one. Why would we not?
--Rep. Ros-Lehtinen