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Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards to be HRC keynote
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grants L6BT groups
NGUF signs anti-war
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True Spirit Conference"
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Annual HRC dinner being held in
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The organizers of the Human Rights
Campaign’s 2003 Carolinas Gala are pleased to
announce that former Texas Governor Ann
Richards will be the keynote speaker at the
February 15th event at Greensboro, North
Carolina’s Grandover Resort.
Richards has won widespread acclaim for her
accomplishments as an elected official and as an
inspirational national leader and role model.
Richards burst onto the national scene in 1988
when she delivered the keynote address to the
Democratic National Convention. Beckoning the
nation to unify behind the belief that we can do
better for ourselves and our children, Richards
^ also offered a memorable salute to the achieve
ments of women, reminding her worldwide audi
ence, “Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred
Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high
heels.”
Born in Lakeview, Texas, Richards graduated
from Waco High School in 1950 and attended
I Baylor University on | debate scholarship. After
graduation, she went to the University of Texas at
Austin, where she earned her teaching certificate.
From 1955 to 1956, she taught social studies and
history at Fulmore Junior High School in Austin.
Richards first became politically active at the
University of Texas and remained active, volun
teering in local and statewide campaigns and
working for critical social causes.
Combining her command as a
speaker with years of achieve
ment as Texas state treasurer and
a Travis County commissioner,
teacher and activist, Richards
entered the 1990 gubernatorial
campaign and was elected the
45th governor of Texas.
In the hotly contested guber
natorial race with George W. Bush
leading up to the 1994 elections,
Richard’s support of equality for
all persons regardless of sexual
orientation, and her appoint
ments of qualified individuals who
happened to be lesbian and gay,
were used by the Republican
party to label Gov. Richards as
“anti-family.” Richards, mother of
four, had also agreed to work for
repeal of the Texas sodomy
statutes, statutes that criminalize
certain sexual behaviors only if
they occur between persons of
the same sex. The statutes were
used against John G. Lawrence and
Tyron Garner who were arrested in 1998 in Mr.
Lawrence’s Houston home on the basis of a false
police report filed by a neighbor. Their case is
currently up for review by the United States
Supreme Court.
Funds raised at the Carolinas Gala will further
the work of the Human Rights Campaign as they
advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-
Former Texas Governor, Ann Richards
gendered persons toward the goal of ensuring
that every person can be open, honest, and safe
at work, at home, and in the community.
info: details in Out S About calendor .
February 15. Greensboro, North Carolina
Human Rights Campoign. www.hrc.org.
www.boxofficetickets.com. 800- 494-8497
page 34
Tour de Friends — make your resolutions reality
Womyn's F^ival
roots in Charleston ^
First-ever fundraising bicycle ride to
■ 1 be sponsored by local, regional and
national non-profits with open books
and no middle-man profiteer
by Justin Leach
Every day five more North Carolinians
are infected with HIV. Every week, five
additional North Carolinians with
HiV/AIDS walk into the offices of Alliance
of AIDS Services-Carolina for the first time
looking for help. Each month, 80 North
Carolinians are put on a waiting list —
sometimes for up to a year — to get life
saving drugs. Nothing kills more African
Americans between 25 and 44 than AIDS.
This summer, there is a new event
coming to North Carolina that could raise
millions of dollars this year to help thou
sands of people living with HlV/AlDS.
event’s success will allow for the expansion of
services and programs provided by the Alliance
of AIDS Services-Carolina to a level never before
seen in this state.
Funded and managed by non-profits
There have been similar rides in the past, but
this is the first such ride that is both funded and
fully managed by the agencies benefiting from
the money raised. The Alliance of AIDS Services
- Carolina has joined Food & Friends in
This
m
IT’S KOT JUST A RISE. IT’S IKE HUMAN RACL
June 19-22, 2J03 / 330 Miles NC to DC
Washington, DC and the Fan Free Clinic in
Richmond, VA to produce the only other ride of
this size outside of California and the only such
ride on the East Coast.
Tour de Friends’ riders and accompanying
volunteers will travel four days and 330 miles,
through the very communities who will receive
the money raised by the ride.
Tour de Friends bicycle ride will depart
Raleigh, NC, June 19, travel through Virginia and
end on the Mall in Washington, DC June 22.
It is a true test of endurance. There may be
times when a riders will question their
ability to peddle on to the next rest
stop. But ask anyone who has partici
pated in rides like this and they will tell
you they would never trade the expe
rience for anything in the world.
Terry Milner, a Carrboro resident
said, “Last year, my partner and I went,
to Alaska to ride in a similar event to
raise money for people with AIDS and
it was absolutely incredible! You’re
there on your bike, pushing yourself to
your own limits along with hundreds
and hundreds of other cyclists and
you’re almost overwhelmed by the
incredible realization that you are truly mak
ing a huge difference, it really is life altering.
That’s why we have both decided to participate
in this year’s Tour de Friends as it actually helps
programs right here in North Carolina,”
Lots of help to keep you going
The ride is designed so anyone can partici
pate. regardless of skill level or athletic ability.
see TOUR on 3