Locals receive Pride of Essex County Awards for LGBTQ advocacy

Photo Courtesy of Glen Frieson
Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr., second from left, presents Pride of Essex County Awards to, from left, South Orange Village Trustee Bob Zuckerman, Newark Pride Inc. board President Sharronda ‘Love’ Wheeler, and OUT Agency founder and CEO Julio C. Roman in recognition of their support in the struggle for equality for the members of the LGBTQ community.

NEWARK, NJ — Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr., the Essex County Office of LGBTQ Affairs and the Essex County LGBTQ Advisory Board hosted a Pride Month celebration on Thursday, June 30. During the ceremony, DiVincenzo presented Pride of Essex County Awards to South Orange Village Trustee Bob Zuckerman, Newark Pride Inc. board President Sharronda “Love” Wheeler, and OUT Agency founder and CEO Julio C. Roman in recognition of their support in the struggle for equality for the members of the LGBTQ community.

“Every year in Essex County, we celebrate Pride Month and our LGBTQ community. It is our opportunity to raise awareness about issues that affect this segment of the population and recognize outstanding members of our own LGBTQ community,” DiVincenzo said. “Our three honorees have done the difficult work in their respective fields of providing support, protecting human rights and promoting understanding.”

“Essex County has been a pioneer in advancing LGBTQ rights thanks to the leadership of our county executive. Under his leadership, the county began providing health insurance coverage to partners of Essex County employees regardless of their sexual orientation in 2007, the Essex County LGBTQ Advisory Board was created in 2011, programs offered through the Essex County Office of Small Business Development provide education to LGBTQ-owned businesses about the government procurement process and most recently the establishment of the Essex County Office of LGBTQ Affairs in 2022, where I am honored to serve as the first director,” Director Reginald Bledsoe said.

Zuckerman was elected to the South Orange Village Board of Trustees in May 2019 and became the first openly LGBTQ trustee in South Orange’s history. From 2013 to 2019, he served as the executive director of the South Orange Village Center Alliance, the nonprofit organization that manages the special improvement district for downtown South Orange. Zuckerman is also an Essex County native, having been born in Newark and raised in Livingston. After spending several years living in Brooklyn and Manhattan, Zuckerman and his husband, Grant Neumann, a vice president at Random House, returned to Essex County in 2014 to make a home in South Orange.

“I must thank County Executive DiVincenzo because it is a tremendous honor to be recognized here today for my work as the first openly LGBTQ village trustee in South Orange. I may be the first, but I am confident that I won’t be the last,” Zuckerman said. “Pride events are happening all over Essex County now and that is a testament to all our collective work. It is important that we, LGBTQ people, have a seat at the table to continue doing the work and advancing initiatives.”

As president of the board of directors of Newark Pride Inc., Wheeler has stabilized the organization by gaining a 501(c)3 nonprofit status, BOD insurance, corporate sponsorship, and increased participation in programs, services and resource referrals. She is also a self-employed senior care consultant and, in her role as an Angels Care Community Advisor, she contracts with multiple insurance agencies to determine how to best meet their medical needs. Wheeler was employed for 12 years at SHP Management, where she managed data-informed, state-funded programs that provided social services to senior citizens, families and developmentally disabled persons. She has been recognized for three consecutive years by NJ LGBTQ Political Powerlist of 100 individuals who are making strides in the state, each year moving up on the list from No. 70 to No. 21.

“It’s an honor to be here and receive this recognition. I don’t do the work to be recognized, but I do it because there’s work to be done and somebody must do it,” Wheeler said. “I do everything I do wholeheartedly, and I am grateful to have people I can call to put it all together and make things happen for people. I’m seen as a bridge to the services and help they need.”

Since age 16, Roman, a safe space expert and LGBTQ rights advocate, has dedicated more than two decades of his life to creating LGBTQ safe spaces and advancing the health equality and social justice initiatives of black and brown LGBTQ communities, and other marginalized communities affected by HIV/AIDS and its related health, social and economic disparities. His experience lies extensively in safe space design, HIV prevention and harm reduction programming, community engagement, LGBTQ advocacy, leadership development, and LGBTQ organizational development. Roman is a founding memberof two LGBTQ centers in Newark. He currently serves on the board of directors at ARK of Freedom Alliance, a national anti–human-trafficking organization, and serves as an LGBTQ commissioner for Newark.

“We hear about acts of violence against black and brown people, transgender individuals, which shows that the constitutional rights and freedoms of LGBTQ persons or those who exist at its intersections are not guaranteed,” Roman said. “I am honored to be receiving this award, not only for myself but for all the black and brown, queer and LGBTQ individuals who have partnered with me on building safe spaces and building community.”