The Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance is recognizing Durbin for her work in promoting civil and human rights for gay people in the Santa Fe area. Durbin, of Los Alamos' Communication Arts and Services Group, will receive the award at a dinner at the Hotel Loretto.
The alliance has three criteria for giving Advocate Awards, said Ellie Edelstein, treasurer of the board of director of the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance and coordinator for the dinner. They are ongoing commitment, outstanding achievement and courage. "Our understanding of what Peggy has done at the Laboratory and the community meets our requirements," said Edelstein.
"I was really pleased and thankful to receive the award," said Durbin. "The gay and lesbian community in Los Alamos is more and more visible, more and more active in the community. I think it's a tribute to all the folks on the hill who are out and active and being good examples for the community and Laboratory."
Durbin is female co-chair of the Los Alamos Bisexual Gay and Lesbian Alliance, known as LABGALA, and was instrumental in the formation of the Laboratory's Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Diversity Working Group through Los Alamos' Diversity Office. The working group recently established a World Wide Web page, which can be found at http://www.lanl.gov/people/franks/lgblanl.htm online.
Laboratory subcontract employee Virginia Smith also will receive an Advocate Award at the June 23 dinner for her work in promoting civil and human rights for gay people.
Last year, Todd McElroy of Protection Technology Los Alamos received the same award.
"It's been a tremendously rewarding experience for me because I've seen a remarkable transformation in the people in the community," said Smith. "We've had people who have come to the Los Alamos Bisexual Gay and Lesbian Alliance meetings and they've really transformed because they have a safe environment where they can support themselves openly . . . and in turn they can be more open with their family and friends."
For more information, call 662-5527.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.