91´«Ã½

CHICAGO – The 91´«Ã½’s Rainbow Round Table (RRT) announced Donna Braquet as the 2020 recipient of the Rainbow Round Table Award for Political Activism.

This award was established to honor an individual, group, or organization that has demonstrated positive and lasting change for LGBTQIA+ individuals. Innovation, collaboration, risk-taking, and being a change-agent are all taken into account as part of the criteria for the award.

"The Rainbow RT is proud to award the Political Activism Award to Donna Braquet," Rainbow RT Chair Megan Drake said. "Donna's work with Voices Out Loud at the University of Tennessee has extended beyond the boundaries of campus to make the University of Tennessee and East Tennessee a welcoming place for LGBTQIA+ folk and allies”

“Voices Out Loud is a community archive that collects, preserves, and shares East Tennessee’s LGBTQ+ history and culture,” said Donna Braquet. “I mentor practicum students, interns, volunteers, and those taking for credit courses in History, Information Sciences, Anthropology, and Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville to create this regional archive. This year 41 students have worked to scan, process, transcribe, index and promote LGBTQ+ collections and oral histories. I am honored to have my work acknowledged by the Rainbow Round Table and look forward to accepting the award on behalf of the entire East Tennessee LGBTQ+ community.”

The Rainbow RT Award for Political Activism will be presented virtually at a later date due to the cancellation of the 2020 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference.

To learn more about Rainbow RT Awards, please visit .

The Rainbow Round Table of the 91´«Ã½ is the oldest professional association for LGBTQIA+ people in the United States. It is committed to serving the information needs of the LGBTQIA+ professional library community and information and access needs of individuals at large. It is home to Rainbow Book Month (tm), a nationwide celebration every June and the Stonewall Book Award, the oldest award honoring LGBTQIA+ books. Rainbow RT is committed to encouraging and supporting the free and necessary access to all information, as reflected by the missions of the 91´«Ã½ and democratic institutions.