Congressional Record entry by Congresswoman Norton honoring GLAA

Congressional Record

(pending)

HONORING THE GAY AND LESBIAN ACTIVISTS ALLIANCE OF WASHINGTON, D.C.
HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a Washington, D.C. institution that has been a local leader in the struggle for equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, and that I have the distinct honor and pleasure of representing in this body: the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C. (GLAA).
Since its founding in April 1971, GLAA has been a respected and tireless advocate in District politics.
GLAA has long been at the forefront of efforts to strengthen enforcement of the landmark D.C. Human Rights Act of 1977.
GLAA played a key role in winning marriage equality in the District, working with coalition partners, D.C. officials and the wider public to craft and implement a strategy for achieving a strong, sustainable victory.
GLAA has fought to ensure that GLBT citizens are treated fairly and respectfully by D.C. agencies from the Police and Fire/EMS departments to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and the Public Schools.
GLAA has pushed for effective public health strategies and accountability in the fight against AIDS.
GLAA has rated all candidates for Mayor and Council in every election since the establishment of home rule, through a system noted for its fairness and nonpartisanship.
GLAA has provided leadership in coalition efforts on a wide range of civil rights issues from family rights to condom availability in prisons and public schools to police accountability.
GLAA has participated in lobbying efforts against arbitrary federal restrictions on the District's budget aimed at lesbians and gay men.
GLAA maintains a comprehensive website of GLBT advocacy materials, and last year launched the GLAA Forum blog to enhance its outreach.
On April 20, GLAA will hold its 39th Anniversary Reception honoring this year's recipients of its Distinguished Service Awards: Joan E. Biren, Sean Bugg, Lou Chibbaro Jr., David Mariner, Michael Crawford, DC Clergy United for Marriage Equality, Rev. Monique Ellison, Brian K. Flowers, Mark Levine, Nick McCoy, Brian Moore, Sultan Shakir.
Joan E. Biren (JEB) is an internationally recognized documentary artist who has chronicled the lives of LGBT people for more than three decades. Her works include the film No Secret Anymore: the Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon; the official video of the 1993 March on Washington, A Simple Matter of Justice; and two groundbreaking volumes of photography, Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians (1979) and Making a Way: Lesbians Out Front (1987). She is president of Moonforce Media, a non-profit video production company that specializes in serving progressive communities, and has worked with the Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her videos have been broadcast on public television and her photographs are in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress, the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard University, and the Academy of Arts in Berlin, Germany.
Sean Bugg, Co-Publisher and Senior Contributing Editor of Metro Weekly, has eloquently and accessibly chronicled the gay experience and upheld a standard of quality for the magazine. He created Metro Weekly’s Next Generation Awards to honor local LGBT men and women under the age of 30 who are making a difference. Prior to his years at the magazine, Sean was a member of ACT UP and was a leading organizer on the protest events Hands Around the Capitol and Hands Around the White House. At Whitman-Walker Clinic he spearheaded the Male Sex Industry Project and Gay Men’s Outreach Education. At the National Society of AIDS Directors (NASTAD), he traveled the country training public health departments in developing effective HIV prevention programs.
Lou Chibbaro Jr. is the standard bearer for gay-focused journalism in the District of Columbia. For more than three decades, most of that time with the Washington Blade, he has been working his extensive Rolodex and sticking his tape recorder in newsmakers’ faces, chasing down leads to get to the bottom of all manner of stories related to the LGBT community. As an indication of his standing, last year he was given a front-row seat at a presidential news conference on healthcare policy. Twenty-six boxes of his notes and files form the Washington Blade Lou Chibbaro Senior Reporter Files at George Washington University's Gelman Library.
David Mariner has provided energetic and innovative leadership as executive director of the DC Center. He has steered the Center through a challenging period that saw hundreds of thousands of expected public grant dollars vanish with the economic downturn. He oversees a diverse array of programs including CenterArts; Career Development; the Crystal Meth Working Group; DC for Marriage; the Elder Think Tank; GLOV; the HIV Working Group; the OutWrite Author Series; the Research, Advocacy, and Education Project (REAP) on HIV/AIDS research; and the Tobacco Working Group. Embracing a model of identifying unmet needs and having the Center address them, Mariner has set an admirable standard for community service.
Michael Crawford, co-chair of DC for Marriage, led an aggressive grassroots organizing effort for the bill.
DC Clergy United for Marriage Equality, co-chaired by Pastors Dennis Wiley, Christine Wiley, and Rob Hardies, organized a broad spectrum of affirming clergy in defense of marriage equality and demonstrated the true diversity of support for this landmark legislation.
Rev. Monique Ellison did outreach and advocacy at community meetings around the city as co-leader of the ANC Action Team.
Brian K. Flowers performed key legal work as General Counsel to the D.C. Council, including superb testimony and briefs against several proposed anti-gay ballot measures.
Mark Levine, counsel for the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, assisted both in crafting the bill and in defending it before the Board of Elections and Ethics and with court briefs.
Nick McCoy did extensive voter canvassing, while he did outreach and advocacy at community meetings around the city as co-leader of the ANC Action Team.
Brian Moore, legislative counsel for the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, played a leading role in perfecting the bill and prepared a masterful, comprehensive committee report, in addition to prior legislative work protecting domestic partners and their children.
Sultan Shakir provided extensive support for the bill on behalf of HRC, including assistance in organizing the Campaign for All D.C. Families.
I ask the House to join me in congratulating the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance.