Posted May 29, 2025
On Wed., June 18th, from 6 pm to 8 pm, the “Cow Boys” of Charlie’s are wrangling up a Taco Bar extravaganza as they kick off Pride. The dinner will benefit a very unique scholarship at Regis University known as the Cameron Jesse and Joana Lucero Manito Scholarship.
The history of this scholarship sets it apart from all others. When Cameron Jesse enrolled at MSU Denver in the fall of 2022, the 25-year-old gay transfer student from Colorado Springs had big dreams. As a proud member of the MSU Denver Journey Through Our Heritage program, he was given free rein to design a community service project. Knowing firsthand how LGBT students from rural areas lack support services and a sense of cultural identity, he jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with Regis University to create a scholarship inspired by the family of Joanna Lucero.
“Our family had lived openly gay since the 1940s and were among Denver’s first families to lose a son to the AIDs epidemic of the 1980s,” said Lucero’s God Daughter Kali Fajardo-Anstine, who memorialized matriarch Mary López Dussart in her novel Woman of Light.
Jesse was so inspired by the family that his meticulous research uncovered Lucero’s lost interviews with renowned Lesbian archivist Katie Gilmartin. This detailed research set a solid foundation for the scholarship. “I am a Manito, a descendant of people who have roots going back hundreds of years to the Spanish and Indigenous populations in Southern Colorado & Northern New México. I also know the difficulty of growing up in a conservative town. When I learned there was a family of queers just like me who were out of the closet since the 1940’s, I was all in to help create this scholarship,” Jesse commented while doing his research.
Tragically, Jesse died in September of 2023 before the Manito Scholarship was finalized. Lucero told her family, “That boy did not get to live his life. I did, me and all my queer aunties and tio’s, we lived a huge life for many years. I want you to rename the scholarship for that young boy so he will be remembered for what he stood for.”
However, the prospects of continuing the scholarship looked grim as Lucero herself died a few months later. That’s when Charlie’s Denver stepped in. They were so touched by Jesse’s efforts that they hosted a special drag show featuring iconic Trixxie Deluxxe in the summer of 2024 to help raise funds for the scholarship.
“They went all out to honor our son and honor his efforts to create this scholarship.” Said Jesse’s mom, Cindy. “They brought in so many performers, and a memorial video of Cammy. It was a labor of love.”
Charlie’s also committed to continuing their efforts yearly until the scholarship was endowed. Making good on that promise, all proceeds from the Taco Bar Dinner on June 18th will go to the scholarship. The event is $40 per person and includes dinner and an 1800 Cucumber/ Jalapeño Margarita. Tickets must be purchased by Fri. June 18th.
“This young gay student’s selfless dream was to create a scholarship that recognized the early gay communities in Denver, who have been overlooked. Cameron put great effort into a project that would honor those who laid the groundwork for the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.” Said Charlie’s General Manager, Edd Schommer, “What Cameron was doing was very special, and he deserves to be remembered. He did not get to live to see his dream come true, but we at Charlie’s can help ensure his dream lives on.”
Over the years Charlie’s, in keeping with founder John King’s legacy of giving, has raised millions of dollars to support charitable causes
To order tickets, visit https://www.charliesdenver.com/taco-dinner
email CHARLIES@CHARLIESDENVER.COM or call 303-839-8890.
