Press Release: EQTX & EQTX Foundation Announce New Leadership

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Chuck Smith
Deputy Executive Director
(512) 474-5475

Equality Texas and the Equality Texas Foundation Announce New Leadership
New board chairs include appointee under the late Gov. Anne Richards

AUSTIN, Texas (April 14, 2011) – Equality Texas (EQTX) and the Equality Texas Foundation have announced new leadership to oversee the organizations’ boards of directors.

The EQTX Board of Directors elected Anne Wynne to serve as the chair. Wynne, an attorney in Austin, has previously worked in politics as a political appointee under the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards. Wynne served as chair of the General Services Commission, member of the Texas Transportation Commission, and a member of the Texas Turnpike Authority Board of Directors. Wynne has practiced law in Texas for the past three decades. As a straight ally, Wynne joined the EQTX Board of Directors to build a better future for all Texans.

“I joined the push for equality because I wanted to stand up for the rights of others and make sure our kids grew up knowing that equal rights for all people is a fundamental right in our country. Love makes a family and all families should have the same rights that my family has,” said Wynne.

The Equality Texas Foundation is a separate charitable entity, which conducts research and educates Texans about policies and their effect on Texans of all sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions. The Equality Texas Foundation board members elected Whitney Kelly as chair. Kelly, a business consultant from Amarillo, has nearly two decades of experience leading arts and advocacy organizations in the Texas Panhandle.

EQTX and the Equality Texas Foundation welcomed new board members as well. Joining the EQTX Board of Directors are Joseph Hernandez of Dallas (Northern Trust Bank - Vice President Regional C.R.A.); Travis Gasper of Dallas (AIDS Interfaith Network - Development Director); Elizabeth Lopez of Little Elm (Mine Safety & Health Administration – District Secretary) and Rob Giardinelli of Austin (Seagate Technology – Sr. Channel Account Manager). Joining the Equality Texas Foundation Board of Directors are Dave Guy-Gainer of Forest Hill (Retired, U.S. Air Force); Cordey Lash of Dallas (Hilton Anatole - Senior Multicultural Sales Manager) and Kayla Shell of Austin (Dell – Legal Director).

Joseph Hernandez	Travis Gasper	Elizabeth Lopez	Rob Giardinelli

David Guy-Gainer	Cordey Lash	Kayla Shell

As a non-partisan organization with more than two decades of rich history, EQTX has established itself as a policy and advocacy authority at the Texas Capitol and across the state. EQTX has achieved bipartisan support while accomplishing a strong legislative agenda. Both organizations work successfully at the local and state levels toward ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.

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35 days until Harvey Milk Day Conference!

Hello everyone,
Thank you for your interest in the 2nd Annual Harvey Milk Conference to be held in Austin, TX on May 21st and 22nd.

As previously mentioned, seats are going fast for this event. We highly recommend reserving your seat as soon as possible if you plan to attend the conference.

Some question has come up regarding how to reserve your seat if you are a student or if you are not donating via the online system.

Visiting our ticketing system athttp://austinharveymilkday.eventbrite.com/ you will see 2 ticket types. one is "Reservation + Online Donation" and the other is simply marked "Reservation".

The one marked "Reservation" requires no payment information at all, while the "Reservation + Online Donation" option will allow you to use Paypal or a credit card to give a donation while reserving your seat.

Either of these methods will result in an electronic ticket being emailed to the email address you provide which you should print out and present at the door.

If you haven't already gone through this process and are planning to be there please do so as soon as you can.

Remember that these reservations are for the conference, work shops and keynote speeches.

They do not take place of any costs or suggested donations associated with other campaigns or events that are part of this weekend such as the NoH8 Campaign photo shoot or the Out Youth Prom event because those benefit different organizations.

Exciting news:
We just received an anonymous donation of 2 NoH8 Campaign photo shoots. Everyone who has reserved their seating (regardless of whether which means you used to do so) by April 2nd will be automatically entered into a drawing. 2 names will be randomly drawn.

The winners will be announced on May 3rd!

We can't wait to see you all there!

Visit http://austinharveymilkday.eventbrite.com/ to reserve your seat!

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Why I left the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage

Dear Pearle, Last summer, I organized the “Summer for Marriage” Tour for NOM. For 30 days, I traveled across the nation pushing an un-American agenda that harms gays, lesbians, and their families. I’m writing to tell you that I now regret it. Last Friday, in an interview with the Good As You blog, I renounced my past and affirmed my support for marriage equality. You know why? Because during the very summer tour that I organized, I was forced to see gays and lesbians for who they really were: real people with real lives who were hurt by the work I was doing. I directly credit Courage Campaign members like you for playing an instrumental role in my change of heart. And that’s why I’m writing: to ask for your support to continue that work, and to make up for what I’ve done. Can you contribute $5 right now -- $1 for each of the past 5 years I’ve spent working against equality? Courage Campaign will use the money to change more hearts and minds, as they did with mine on that summer tour. I’m asking, david, because I deeply regret the work I did during the summer of 2010 and over the past 5 years as a whole. I helped curtail the rights of gays and lesbians in this country and I want to make up for all of that -- with your help. Throughout the summer tour, Courage Campaign’s Arisha and Anthony approached me several times. I remember sitting on a bench in St. Louis, Missouri alone with Anthony for a few minutes. It was then that I empathized with Anthony and who he was for the first time, although I did not tell him. I understood that my work wasn’t affecting faceless, nameless political targets but instead good people like Anthony who just wanted to participate in all that America is. I know firsthand that anyone can change if they could just see how their anti-equality work is affecting real people. I would like to thank you, the supporters of Courage Campaign and NOM Tour Tracker, for doing the legwork and putting in the time and effort to change my life for the better. Now I want to return the favor by fighting for full marriage equality. I’m writing to ask for your help so that you and Courage Campaign can help make up for what I’ve done. Your $5 contribution will help right those wrongs, and move more people like me towards the side of justice. I am truly inspired by the supportive messages I have received and continue to receive since I announced my support for civil marriage equality on Friday, April 8th. So many have shown me nothing but kindness and support. Now, we need to make LGBT people more visible to people like me. We need to have conversations with people of faith, people with deep-rooted hostility towards equality because of their upbringing. I’m being honest, david, when I say I’ve been there and we have a lot of work to do. If someone like me can be moved, I believe folks like Courage Campaign, and its supporters like you, can move anyone. Please chip in $5 today -- one dollar for each year I’ve spent with NOM -- and together, we can change more hearts one by one. Thank you for your support, and for all the work that you do. Proud to now stand with you, Louis J. Marinelli Formerly with National Organization for Marriage The Courage Campaign is a multi-issue online organizing network that empowers more than 700,000 grassroots and netroots supporters to push for progressive change and full equality in California and across the country.

HRC Weekly Update from Joe Solmonese

Dear pearle, Every year, about 30,000 American children "age out" of the foster care system—they reach age 18 without ever becoming a part of a permanent family. These young people struggle without a support system, without a place to call home, and with no one to guide them into adulthood. A critical part of our work is sparing as many kids as possible from missing out on having a family. We must tear down the barriers between them and the lives they deserve. We know what kind of family a child needs: a loving, stable one. We also know that our capacity to provide that home has nothing to do with sexual orientation or gender identity, and that same-sex couples and different-sex couples are equally capable of raising happy, well-adjusted kids. The millions of American children being raised by LGBT people and same-sex couples are a testament to this. Sadly, some anti-LGBT forces blithely ignore the success of LGBT families and the needs of adoptable kids and promote laws that would bar LGBT people or same-sex couples from adopting. They don't care that the nation's leading child welfare organizations support adoption by gay and lesbian parents, or that the American Academy of Pediatrics supports legislation that allows both partners in a same-sex couple to jointly adopt children. This week, two states' adoption policies made the news. The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the state's adoption ban—the result of a 2008 referendum—violates the state's constitution. This was the right decision. We thank the American Civil Liberties Union for fighting for Arkansas kids and families. In Virginia, unmarried couples cannot adopt. Former Governor Tim Kaine proposed regulations that would prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation, marital status, or religion by child welfare agencies in the adoption process. If adopted, the regulations would make thousands of permanent, loving homes available to Virginia children who desperately need them. Governor Bob McDonnell has expressed his opposition to them—and by doing so, has put anti-LGBT politics over the best interest of these children. He has until April 16 to make his formal recommendation to the State Board of Social Services. Yesterday HRC placed a full-page ad in the Richmond Times-Dispatch urging him to support the regulations. HRC Foundation Family Project Director Ellen Kahn, along with Joe Kroll, Executive Director, North American Council on Adoptable Children Adam Pertman, Executive Director, Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute sent a letter in support of the regulations to Governor McDonnell and members of the State Board of Social Services. This week, there is one less adoption ban on the books, but anti-LGBT groups remain ready to play politics with kids' futures in an effort to harm LGBT people. Efforts to put bans on the ballot or to push them through state legislatures happen every year, and we keep fighting them back. Meanwhile, children age out; they live without families, often without the hope of one. We have to stand up for these kids and speak up for the families who are ready to welcome them. Joe Solmonese President, Human Rights Campaign

Tell a friend: Click here to safely forward this message to a friend. © 2011 Human Rights Campaign Click here to read our privacy policy. Human Rights Campaign 1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036-3278 Phone: 202/628-4160 TTY: 202/216-1572 Fax: 202/347-5323 Contact Us: www.hrc.org/contactus