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2023 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 379
Celebrating the life of Rodney Lamont Lofton.

 

Agreed to by the Senate, February 22, 2023
Agreed to by the House of Delegates. February 23, 2023

 

WHEREAS, Rodney Lamont Lofton, an advocate for people living with HIV and AIDS and a champion for the LGBTQIA+ community in Richmond, died on March 14, 2022; and

WHEREAS, a native of the Richmond area, Rodney Lofton relocated to New York, where he worked for a public relations firm with ties to the music and entertainment industry; he also wrote about issues facing the gay community as a columnist for the GBMNews website; and

WHEREAS, in 1993, Rodney Lofton tested positive for HIV and returned to Richmond, where he learned to live with the disease through help from his late mother, Mildred; he ultimately became a compassionate advocate for people with HIV and AIDS, leading awareness and prevention efforts in Richmond and Washington, D.C.; and

WHEREAS, Rodney Lofton moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he created a support group for HIV-positive men; he returned to Richmond again in 2004 and worked as an HIV/AIDS case manager for the health center at Virginia Commonwealth University and the nonprofit organization Health Brigade; and

WHEREAS, Rodney Lofton next served as executive director of The Renewals Project, a nonprofit HIV/AIDS support organization, then joined Diversity Richmond as vice president and deputy director; and

WHEREAS, Rodney Lofton was the first Black person to serve in a senior leadership role at the community advocacy group Diversity Richmond and worked diligently to enhance outreach to “queer people of color” in the community and ensure racial diversity in the organization’s programming and leadership; and

WHEREAS, Rodney Lofton created Diversity Richmond’s Black and Bold Awards to recognize the contributions and achievements of Black LGBTQIA+ members of the community and later created a similar program for Latinos; and

WHEREAS, Rodney Lofton also served as member of the Richmond Human Rights Commission and built strong relationships with local, state, and national officials, and organizations to better serve, support, and represent the LGBTQIA+ community; and

WHEREAS, Rodney Lofton was a sought-after speaker and authored two novels, The Day I Stopped Being Pretty: A Memoir and No More Tomorrows: Two Lives, Two Stories, One Love, both nominees for the Lambda Literary Awards; and

WHEREAS, Rodney Lofton will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his husband, Faron, and numerous other family members, friends, and colleagues; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Rodney Lamont Lofton, a trailblazing community leader in Richmond; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Rodney Lamont Lofton as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.