PFLAG TUCSON 2010 SCHOLARSHIP
WINNERS
Bretton Barber
Bretton is a second year law student at the University Of Arizona James E.
Rogers College Of Law. Bretton stated in his essay application that since he
came out at the age of fourteen he has been active, both politically and
socially in the gay community. He hopes that by becoming a lawyer he can work to
further the rights of the LGBT community. His activism and dedication is
reflected in the many organizations to which he devotes much of his time. He is
treasurer of Pride Law, volunteers with the Pride Law legal clinic, has actively
helped to raise funds to send students to the Lavender Law Conference, the
largest LGBT law conference in the country. He has secured an internship with
the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties for the fall semester of 2010. One
of Bretton’s professors described him as intelligent, independent and loyal,
talented and modest. Another compared him to the energizer Bunny. We are proud
to present this award to Bretton and know that he will make a tremendous
contribution to our community. Congratulations Bretton!
Christian Bracamonte
Christian Bracamonte describes himself as a 20 year old, bisexual, Latino, first
generation junior at the University of Arizona, majoring in Family Studies and
Human Development. His involvement with the U of A’s Activism group, Pride
Alliance, made him aware that the positive changes he wanted to bring about in
the world could be accomplished on an individual basis through LGBT Marriage and
Family Counseling. He hopes to continue his education at Arizona State
University’s Family and Marriage Therapy MS program or Counseling Psychology PhD
program, both of which have endorsed the Guidelines for Psychotherapy with
Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients of the American Psychological Association.
Christian has volunteered for the U of A’s Social justice Programs and Pride
Alliance. He assisted the first Director of LGBTQ Affairs, Cathy Busha, in
planning the First Annual Rainbow Graduation in the spring of 2008. He is most
proud of his participation in the SafeZONE and the LGBTQ Support Group on
campus. Christian was described by one of his professors as “someone with a keen
intellect and a good heart who works tirelessly to break down the artificial
borders that exist between different groups of people.” Another states that if
PFLAG is looking for a candidate who is active on the campus and in the
community, who speaks up against injustice and works to make their campus and
community a safer place for LGBTQ people, then Christian is more than qualified.
We agree and it is our honor to grant you this award. Congratulations.
T. J. Duffy
T. J. Duffy is not your average college student, neither are his achievements.
They are well above average and extraordinary. He returned to school in 1997,
took classes at Phoenix College and received his Creative Writing Certificate in
2001. He completed his AA at Pima Community College and is now close to
completion of his Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing this spring and planning
to start graduate school in the fall. T.J. has survived many adversities and
lives with chronic health issues, but these difficulties have only made him more
attuned to the problems of others and a more acute observer of the human
condition. He hopes to use his degree to teach and continue writing. T.J’s
academic advisor states that there are many in the LGBTQ community who have
struggled with health, addiction, trauma, discrimination and other issues that
T.J. has faced, many have made significant contributions in spite of and in some
cases, because of the obstacles, yet he stands out because of his commitment and
his ability to channel his difficult experiences to help others. He has never
allowed his own problems to prevent him from volunteering for too many to
mention LGBT programs. He also has an impressive list of academic achievements.
PFLAG is proud and pleased to be able to contribute to the achievement of T.J.’s
dream of obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing. Congratulations T.J.
