ON Saturday, June 17, 2023, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Alumnus, California State University, Los Angeles Associate Professor and UCLA Lambda Alumni Association Board Member Bobby Rimas presented the 2023 UCLA Lambda Alumni Association’s Alumni of the Year Award to Steven Canals, a UCLA Master of Fine Arts graduate, Class of 2015, for his leadership in the LGBTQIA+ community at UCLA’s 25th Annual Lavender Graduation Ceremony. Steven Canals is the Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning co-creator, executive producer, director and writer of the FX drama series, POSE. Mr. Canals work on POSE has received a Peabody Award, two American Film Institute Awards for TV Program of the Year, plus Emmy, Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award nominations for Best Drama Series, among many other accolades. Mr. Canals also received nominations from the Writers Guild Awards for ‘Outstanding New Series,’ and the Imagen Awards for ‘Best Director – Television.’ Mr. Canals is also the winner of the GLAAD Media Award for ‘Outstanding Drama Series,’ the 2020 Final Draft Awards,’ ‘New Voice Award for TV,’ and The Point Foundation’s Horizon Award, recognizing a trailblazer who has taken a leadership role as an advocate of the LGBTQ community. He has also been featured on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter’s Pride Issue, named to their list of 2020’s ‘50 Most Powerful LGBTQ Players in Hollywood.’ In 2021, The Hollywood Reporter named Steven one of Hollywood’s ‘50 Most Powerful TV Showrunners.’
Mr. Steven Canals was the keynote speaker at UCLA’s Lavender Graduation, where Mr. Rimas stated that “Mr. Canals speech offered great advice and was very inspirational to all attendees at the festive ceremony. His message of persistence, even in the face of adversity, was breathtaking. Steven Canals is truly a phenomenal individual who is a wonderful example of UCLA’s greatness, influence and leadership.”
In addition to being an Associate Professor and a UCLA Lambda Alumni Association Board Member, Bobby Rimas is a Paralegal at the Larson LLP law firm and an Adjunct Faculty Member at the University of La Verne. He is also the Vice Chair of the Special Committee on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for the Stonewall Democratic Club. Mr. Rimas graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in History from UCLA and a Master of Legal Studies degree, cum laude, from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. He is the Past Chair/President of the UCLA Pilipino Alumni Association and Past President of the Los Angeles Paralegal Association.
It is so good to know that the community is being represented by such prestigious members of their own profession! Keep it coming, Rimas and Canals!