Kenneth “Kenn” Mitchell will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 36th Annual Gay Appreciation Awards on July 25th. Mitchell has lived a life of service to the LGBTQ+ community for over 50 years. Kenneth J. Mitchell was born, raised, and educated in New Orleans, and he became an activist soon after coming out in the mid 1970s. He has spent a lifetime doing the quiet work of helping to strengthen the LGBTQ+ community.
He volunteered at New Orleans’ first gay community center (Gay Services Center), and became the first president of the local chapter of Dignity, a support group for gay Catholics. Later, with a group of other social workers, he helped start a coming out support group to help people who were struggling with the unpredictable coming out process. He helped found the Louisiana Lesbian and Gay Political Action Caucus (LAGPAC), Louisiana’s first political action committee devoted to empowering the LGBTQ+ community politically.
Later, he helped found the Langston/Jones Society, which aimed to increase the involvement of people of color in LAGPAC. When HIV/AIDS began impacting the community, he worked at the NO/AIDS Task Force, now known as CrescentCare. Initially, he was a volunteer HIV testing counselor, and eventually became a contract therapist for people who tested positive. He also worked with the Hate Crimes Project, helping those victimized by homophobic and racist acts. In 1987, he attended “The Great March” on Washington, a massive protest for LGBTQ+ civil rights. He also helped found Men of Color New Orleans, an organization serving gay men of color in the greater New Orleans area. Part of that organization was a group called ManTalk, a discussion group for men that remains active to this day.
More recently, Kenn served on the steering committee that created NOAGE, and he served on the NOAGE board of directors for several years. Kenn’s service to our community over the last five decades is deeply appreciated, and Ambush Magazine and the Gay Appreciation Awards Committee is very pleased for the opportunity to honor him as the recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The 36th Annual Gay Appreciation Awards will be held on July 25, 2026 at The Marigny Opera House from 6 to 9 pm. General admission tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite at this link https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1993542176314?aff=oddtdtcreator
For more insight into Kenneth Mitchell click on the link below to read an interview of his conducted by Jim Meadows in 2024 https://www.ambushmag.com/an-interview-with-kenn-mitchell/
