GLBT community and supporters come together for a night of celebration and
discussion; proceeds from dinner to benefit marriage equality in California
SAN FRANCISCO, July 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Human Rights
Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender
civil rights organization, today announced that it will hold its annual Bay
Area Gala Dinner on Saturday, July 26, 2008, at the Westin St. Francis Hotel
in San Francisco. With the theme of "Race for Equality," guests have the
opportunity to contribute 100 percent of their ticket purchase to the ongoing
effort to protect marriage equality in California. Gala dinner tickets are now
available for purchase.
"For the Human Rights Campaign, 2008 continues to prove to be a momentous
year, particularly during this historic fight to preserve marriage equality in
California," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "We are honored to have this
opportunity to help preserve marriage rights for all, and we thank our entire
community for uniting together through their support of and participation in
our annual gala in the Bay Area."
On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court issued an historic ruling
recognizing that committed same-sex couples have a constitutional right to
equality under the state's marriage laws. At this time, anti-equality forces
are working to enshrine discrimination into California's constitution with a
constitutional amendment (Proposition 8) on the November general election
ballot. HRC, which is a part of the Equality for All coalition, has pledged
an initial contribution of $500,000 to the coalition working to protect
marriage equality.
In addition to Proposition 8, speakers at the Gala will highlight progress
made on other issues facing the LGBT community as well, including the
Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA).
Diego Sanchez, a transgender member of HRC's Business Council and pivotal
witness who gave testimony in last month's transgender congressional hearings
organized by HRC and other organizations, will be speaking at the San
Francisco Gala about his personal perspective on the path to fully inclusive
legislation that involves, unites and includes HRC, other organizations,
Congress and the community at large.
"We are lucky to have Diego Sanchez as a speaker at this year's dinner,"
continued Solmonese. "HRC remains committed to passing a fully-inclusive
version of ENDA and doing any and all work necessary to ensure that the entire
GLBT community is protected from workplace discrimination."
HRC helped introduce ENDA 13 years ago to prevent workplace discrimination
based on sexual orientation. ENDA was originally proposed as a piece of
legislation to protect lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender Americans from
employment discrimination at the federal level in HR 2015. HR 3685, a bill
that protects only sexual orientation does not include protections for
transgender Americans. While this wasn't the fully inclusive bill that HRC
wanted, the organization believes the successful passage of HR 3685 bill is a
valuable, albeit incomplete, step forward for the community.
"ENDA is an emotionally charged, heated topic in the San Francisco Bay
Area and HRC is fiercely committed to continuing to work with Congress to pass
an inclusive version of ENDA including protections for transgender Americans,"
said Tom Floyd, co-chair of the 2008 Gala Dinner and HRC National Board of
Governors member. "As part of our on-going effort to promote healing within
our community, HRC welcomes open dialogue and throughout the evening will
engage in conversation to increase awareness, understanding, and unity within
the community in our continued effort for equality for all LGBT Americans."
Registration & Program
To purchase tickets, preview the program agenda, and for more information
about the San Francisco Dinner, please visit: http://sfbayarea.hrc.org/dinner
or call Box Office Tickets at: 800-494-TIXS (8497). When ordering tickets,
all dinner guests will be given the option to designate the ticket price to
the HRC California Marriage PAC.
The PAC was established to fight against the anti-marriage ballot
initiative. Proceeds from the dinner are part of the recent $500,000 pledge
by HRC. In the past year, HRC also provided six full-time staff members and
$100,000 to Equality for All, a large and diverse coalition of civil rights,
faith, choice, labor and communities of color organizations working to stop
and defeat any ballot measure that would deny gay and lesbian couples the
right to marry in California.
The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization
working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By
inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination
against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness
and equality for all.
SOURCE The Human Rights Campaign
Mary Placido of GolinHarris, +1-415-274-7902, mplacido@golinharris.com, for
the Human Rights Campaign
