By Aaron Drake Editor

Each year, Point Foundation awards outstanding LGBTQ scholars with financial support, mentoring and leadership training to better themselves and the larger LGBT community—2012 is no exception. Seven of this year's Point Foundation scholarship recipients hail from Southern California, and all have managed to excel despite being marginalized because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Some facts about this year's recipients:

The 2012 Point Scholars are a highly diverse group: 45 percent self-identify as non-white, 41 percent are female and 28 percent are first-generation college students. Unfortunately, some have experienced blatant discrimination, or were abandoned by their families because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Yet they all have demonstrated academic excellence, leadership skills and a strong commitment to community involvement.

The 29 new scholarship recipients join 47 current Point Scholars, for a total of 76 students who will receive financial assistance and programmatic support from Point during the 2012-2013 academic year. Point scholarships help pay for tuition, room and board, books and other expenses—in addition to professional mentoring, community service projects in the LGBTQ community and leadership training.

Meet all seven of the SoCal recipients here.