Candidates come out for GLBT forum

The national GLBT community makes up a significant portion of the voting population, and next month, Democratic presidential candidates will have the opportunity to connect to that community during a premiere televised forum.

Presidential hopefuls Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), Barack Obama (D-Ill.), former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson will gather for “The Visible Vote ’08: A Presidential Forum” Aug. 9 at Studio City, Los Angeles, Calif.

Presented by Logo, a GLBT television network, and Human Rights Campaign, a sexual-minority advocacy group, the one-hour forum will be broadcast live in front of a studio audience without commercial interruption at 9 p.m. Live-streaming video can also be seen at logoonline.com.

Margaret Carlson, a Washington, D.C., journalist and columnist for Bloomberg News and Time Magazine, will moderate the forum.

HRC president Joe Solmonese and out musician Melissa Etheridge will participate as panelists, bringing up issues concerning marriage equality, relationship recognition, workplace fairness, the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy banning openly gay servicemembers, hate-crimes legislation and HIV/AIDS.

According to HRC, none of the Republican candidates responded to forum invitations or returned HRC’s questionnaire.

For more information, see www.hrc.org or www.logoonline.com.

Del. Dems host summer benefit

Delaware Stonewall Democrats, an organization that works to advance the rights of the GLBT community through the Democratic Party, holds its fourth annual summer fundraiser from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Aug. 11 at the home of Dr. Jim D’Orta, 123 Silver Lake Drive, Rehoboth Beach, Del.

Featured speakers include New York state Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell (D-69th Dist.); Delaware state Sen. Margaret Rose Henry (D-Second Dist.); Rick Stafford, chairperson of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus of the Democratic National Committee; and members of the National Young Democrats, a youth-led organization that bolsters Democratic legislation and mobilizes young voters.

Fundraising dollars will go to Democratic Delaware candidates who support GLBT issues and legislation.

For tickets and information, see www.delawarestonewall.org or call (302) 645-5195.

Undergrads camp out for equality

Out student leaders and noted community members are gathering this week to network and build skills to ensure GLBT equality in the future.

Over 40 students from universities across the nation — including several Pennsylvania schools — will attend the first annual five-day Campus Pride Summer Leadership Camp through July 29 at Towson University, 8000 York Road, Towson, Md.

Presented by Campus Pride, a nonprofit organization that works to foster leadership skills in GLBT and ally undergrads, the event offers networking and grassroots leadership-building workshops, seminars and training activities.

Students from Carnegie Mellon, Allegheny, Gettysburg and Edinboro universities are attending the camp, said Campus Pride executive director Shane Windmeyer.

Towson University’s Queer Student Union hosts the camp, which features keynote speakers Neil G. Giuliano, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; Sabrina Sojourner, the first openly lesbian woman elected to the U.S. Congress, and Kevin Naff, editor of the Washington Blade.

Participants will receive GLAAD campus media training, a political-organizing workshop from GLBT-advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign and a civil-disobedience workshop from Soulforce, a group that fights GLBT political and religious oppression.

Entertainers and artists are also scheduled to speak or perform each night of the camp, including out author Emanuel Xavier, singer Randi Driscoll and sketch-comedy troupe GayCo.

“We as a GLBT community need to invest in the future of equality by reaching out to young leaders and teaching them about grassroots mobilization and empowerment,” Windmeyer said.

For more information, see www.campuspride.org.

— Casey Bell

Lesbian minister to preach in Levittown

The United Christian Church is hosting a potluck dinner featuring guest speaker the Rev. Dr. Janie Spahr at 6:30 p.m. July 28, 8525 New Falls Road, Levittown.

Spahr, who is guest preaching at the church July 29, will share her perspectives as a lesbian evangelist working to create an inclusive church that honors diversity. Her sermon topic will be “That All May Freely Serve.”

Spahr, a Presbyterian minister, founded the Ministry of Light, which became the Spectrum Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns.

For more information, visit www.ucclevittown.org or call (215) 946-6800.

City to get more rainbow signs

The Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus recently announced that 36 additional rainbow-adorned street signs will be placed in the Gayborhood from Chestnut to Pine between 11th and Broad streets.

The first set of 36 signs was unveiled in April after two years of planning by the Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus and support from City Councilman Frank DiCicco and the Washington Square Civic Association.

Local businesses such as the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown and community supporters have committed funding for printing the latest set of signs, which the city plans to have up by fall.

Rainbow street signs are internationally recognized as a symbol of a city’s commitment to welcoming diversity and inclusiveness.

For more information on the Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus, visit www.gayphiladelphia.org.

— Larry Nichols