San Diego LGBT Pride Official Souvenir Guide 2014 | Page 31

INSPIRATIONAL COUPLE

DANIELLE LOPRESTI & ALICIA CHAMPION
Danielle LoPresti and Alicia Champion have
been committed partners as well as music and
community leaders in San Diego for the last
decade. Impassioned human rights activists,
the couple created a renewed music scene
in San Diego around diversity and community.
Both openly bisexual, Danielle and Alicia felt
marginalized as entertainers who all too often
had to choose between mainstream “straight”
events and the more exclusively LGBT-focused
ones. They created a large scale music event
that defied the typical separatism between
LGBT and mainstream events that brought in an
audience that reflected the way they saw the
world. In 2004, Danielle and Alicia ambitiously put
on the very first San Diego IndieFest with a mission to celebrate and unify.
Ridiculed by many mainstream local press outlets, the Gay & Lesbian Times acknowledged their
triumph with the event’s first cover feature. Despite rejection, Danielle and Alicia continued year after
year, growing the festival into what’s regarded now as one of the City’s signature events. As activists,
Danielle and Alicia are known for their dynamic and socially-conscious performances, speaking out
passionately about marriage equality, nonviolent conflict resolution, adoption advocacy, safe access
for medicinal marijuana, limits on Hillcrest high rise development and more. 

While seemingly tireless in their efforts, 2013 slowed them down. Last January, on her forty-fourth
birthday, Danielle was diagnosed with advanced stage cancer. She embarked on an eight
month long treatment program including surgeries, intense chemotherapy, naturopathy, and
acupuncture. Danielle and Alicia felt the bond of their love more powerfully than ever before as they
walked together through the agony and downright horror of that time, all while raising their newly
adopted baby boy, and somehow managing to produce the largest IndieFest event to date.
http://www.cbs8.com/story/25372364/lucians-success-story

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