2024 Grand Marshals

Corneilus Mabin

Arkansas LGBTQIA+ Diamond Award Honoree

The Diamond Award is awarded based on long term commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community through service, awareness, and inspiring it’s betterment as an ambassador here in Arkansas.

Cornelius Mabin is a native Arkansan who attended Arkansas State University and Philander Smith College, where he majored in broadcasting and political science. He is a native Arkansas and lives in Little Rock with his partner of 30 years James.

In 1983 Mabin was the first African American President of Arkansas’s first LGBT advocacy group, Arkansas Gay Rights (AGR), and was bestowed with the group's 1983 Outstanding Performance Award for pursuits of human rights for Arkansas’s gay community. 

In 2013, Mabin was the first openly gay man of color living with HIV to chair the state's Arkansas HIV Planning Group and was of service for nine consecutive years. His social justice activism includes being named to the Poz Magazine 100 in 2015, in 2016 he led the development of Arkansas’s Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Plan as well as the state’s first Prep awareness campaign, “Prep 2 Live,” and was named as one of 2018's Amazing Positive Persons committed to ending the HIV epidemic.

He partnered with Future Builders, Inc., in 2018 to provide both HIV prevention and Hepatitis C services, for three years, he also produced the state’s multi-site HIV-screening event in recognition of National HIV Testing Day in partnership with Walgreens and Greater Than AIDS.

In 2019, he re-imagined his Arkansas RAPPS (Reaching Affirming, Positive, Progressive, Systems) concept as well as founded, The Strilite Foundation, Inc. into dual 501c 3 recognized entities and open operations to offer direct sexual health services including Prep Navigation and Linkage to Care options within the Living Room Wellness Resource Center complex in Southwest Little Rock.

Mabin joined local colleagues in 2022 in producing the manuscript entitled "Barriers and Facilitators to HIV Care Engagement: Recommendations from People Living with HIV in Rural Arkansas" which was published in The Journal of Rural Health. As well as, facilitated session at the NMAC Biomedical Summit in Houston, TX, hosted the Cornelius OnPoint podcast and appeared on both local radio and TV media outlets.  

He has served as a national board member of the multi-cultural group, Black and White Men Together, Inc., served as a past Gay Pride chairperson, lobbied state congressional delegations on Capitol Hill to increase resources to support with HIV/AIDS resources, served on the board of the Arkansas AIDS Foundation board member, acted as a Royalty Court Member of the Arkansas Diamond State Rodeo Association, serving as the first Black Miss DSRA and has received numerous awards and recognition over his multi-decade career.

Janice Marie Lehmann

Janice Marie has been an advocate, ally, and accomplice to the LGBTQ+ community for over 4 years. She founded Greenbrier Pride and is on the boards of Central Arkansas Pride and the Pride Alliance.

She is a promoter for the Miss Gay America pageant system and she facilitates Safe Zone trainings. She has attended marches and rallies for many marginalized groups and testified at the state Capitol. She supports the art of drag and attends many shows in Arkansas and surrounding states. 

Professionally, she is in her 37th year as a Special Educator and currently serves as a district administrator for the Little Rock School District.