PrideIndex Announces 2026 Esteem Awards Honorees Celebrating Black LGBTQ+ Leadership, Service, and Cultural Impact

The 2026 Esteem Awards are set to honor a new class of community leaders whose work spans public health, advocacy, arts, social services, education, media, and Black LGBTQ+ visibility.

PrideIndex announced that eleven individuals and four organizations have been selected for the nineteenth annual Esteem Awards, a community-centered recognition program honoring local and national leaders whose work supports African American and LGBTQ+ communities. The 2026 ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, July 18, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. The free public event will also include a poetry slam.

According to PrideIndex, the Esteem Awards have recognized individuals and organizations since 2007 for sustained contributions across entertainment, media, civil rights, business, the arts, and community service. Honorees are selected based on the impact of their work, with input from community members and past award recipients.

This year’s honorees reflect a broad and necessary truth: Black LGBTQ+ leadership is not one lane. It is health equity. It is art. It is policy. It is barbecue, ballroom-adjacent brilliance, social services, education, faith, journalism, community organizing, and that sacred ability to keep showing up when institutions are still trying to catch up.

Chicago Honorees

The Chicago honorees include Dr. Travis Gayles, CEO of Howard Brown Health, recognized for outstanding service among men for his work advancing public health and LGBTQ+ health equity. Dominique Leach, a chef, pitmaster, and founder of Lexington Betty Smokehouse, will receive outstanding service recognition among women.

Myah Brown, a Black trans advocate from Chicago’s South Side, will be honored for outstanding service in the transgender category. PrideIndex highlighted her more than twelve years of work creating safe spaces and advancing advocacy for queer and trans people of color.

Other Chicago honorees include Darius Caffey, founder of The Closet Unlocked and director of institutional partnerships for Black Alphabet NFP, as a future leader; The Chicago Women’s AIDS Project for social services and community-based organization work; UBtheCURE LLC for institutional impact; Peter Gaona for artistic expression; and Jerry Jones for special recognition.

National Honorees

National honorees include Kevin G. Smith, an educator and director of programs and events at NACME, Inc.; Dr. Brandynicole Brooks, a trauma-informed leadership expert and founder of The Complete Compassion Project and Sleep Sweet Junebug, Inc.; and Dr. Elijah Nicholas, whose work intersects HIV policy, transgender rights, veteran equity, reproductive justice, and AI-driven public health programs.

Brothers of the Desert, a Coachella Valley-based nonprofit supporting Black gay men and allies, will be honored for outstanding service in the social services and community-based organization category. Founded in 2017 and incorporated in 2020, the organization has awarded more than $20,000 in scholarships to LGBTQ+ and Black students.

The national slate also includes GLMA, recognized as an LGBTQ+ healthcare professional organization working toward health equity for LGBTQ+ patients and providers; Wyatt O’Brian Evans, a journalist, author, advocate, and founder of Wyattevans.com, for artistic expression; and Rayceen Pendarvis, a longtime Washington, D.C. host, activist, emcee, and community figure, for special recognition.

Why This Matters

For Icon City News, this announcement sits squarely in our public square: Black queer visibility, community infrastructure, independent media, health equity, and the long labor of making sure our people are not only remembered after struggle, but celebrated while building.

The Esteem Awards are not simply handing out plaques. They are documenting a living archive of service. In a media climate that too often reduces Black LGBTQ+ communities to crisis, backlash, or symbolic representation, recognitions like this help name the builders: the people creating clinics, stages, safe rooms, scholarship pipelines, stories, and spaces where our communities can breathe.

That matters because visibility without infrastructure is decoration. These honorees are doing the infrastructure work.

The nineteenth annual Esteem Awards will take place July 18 in Chicago. More information and updates are available through PrideIndex and the Esteem Awards website.

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