GLBT History Month Celebrates Their 5th Anniversary

by Chip Alfred, Equality Forum

2010 marks the 5th Anniversary of GLBT History Month. “In just five years, GLBT History Month has mushroomed into our community’s most collaborative project with over 650 organizations having GLBT History Month links on their Web sites,” stated Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director, Equality Forum, and founder of GLBT History Month.

“Our community has made profound international contributions as reflected by Alexander the Great, James Baldwin, environmental movement pioneer Rachel Carson, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Eleanor Roosevelt, Tchaikovsky, Alan Turing, Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde.”

“Our nation has been enriched by Leonard Bernstein, George Washington Carver, George Eastman, Barney Frank, Philip Johnson, Alfred Kinsey, Annie Leibovitz, Margaret Mead, Suze Orman, Bayard Rustin and Gore Vidal.”

“Our culture would not be the same without Alvin Ailey, Jr., Ellen DeGeneres, Tom Ford, Cary Grant, Keith Haring, Elton John, Jasper Johns, Bill T. Jones, Tony Kushner, k.d. lang, Jane Lynch, Rachel Maddow, Martina Navratilova, Cole Porter, Bessie Smith, Gianni Versace, Andy Warhol and John Waters.”

GLBT History Month celebrates civil rights heroes such as Tim Gill, Barbara Gittings, Jim Hormel, Cleve Jones, Frank Kameny, Bishop Gene Robinson and Matthew Shepard,” said Lazin. Across the spectrum of 155 Icons, we have so much to be proud of in these remarkable role models and historic figures.”

The video below is a two-and-a-half-minute overview video of all 31 GLBT Icons. Then, beginning on October 1, a 30-second video featuring a different GLBT Icon will appear each day for 31 days.

Equality Forum Launches Project 1138 Web Site

Equality Forum, an international gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, has recently launched the Project 1138 Web site.

What Is Project 1138?
Project 1138 increases awareness of the 1,138 federal marital benefits and protections denied to same-sex couples as the result of marriage inequality.

How Did It Originate?
In January 1997, Senator Bill Frist, the Republican Majority Leader, asked the General Accounting Office (GAO) to identify how many federal benefits were contingent on being married. The GAO reported that the number of federal benefits was 1,138.

Share Your Story.

For more than a thousand reasons, YOUR relationship deserves equal treatment under the law. Take a stand against marriage inequality and share your story. Participate in Equality Forum's Project 1138 blog! Separate is not Equal. Separate is not Equality.

Check out their site at www.1138project.blogspot.com