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Bobby Griffith Memorial Scholarship

Horizons Foundation 870 Market Street, Suite 728, San Francisco, CA 94102

Since 1990, the Bobby Griffith Memorial Scholarship Fund has funded scholarships for Contra Costa County high school graduates who contribute to the community by improving the environment for LGBTQ youth. The scholarship is awarded through the eQuality Scholarship Collaborative and fiscally sponsored by Horizons Foundation.

Applications are being accepted and must be postmarked no later than February 7, 2011.

Bobby Griffith was a gay youth from Walnut Creek, California, who committed suicide in 1983 after his family would not accept his sexual orientation. After his death, his mother, Mary (along with the rest of Bobby's family) came to better understand and accept what happened to her son. She became an advocate for LGBTQ youth by joining PFLAG.

She was also instrumental in the publication of the 1995 book Prayers for Bobby: A Mother's Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son by Leroy Aarons. This book has now been dramatized as a TV special that was nominated for two 2009 Emmy® Awards.