Welcoming Remarks
Christopher Neff
GLAA President
GLAA 35th Anniversary ReceptionWashington Plaza Hotel
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Good evening. I would first like to welcome you all to the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliances’ 35th Anniversary Reception. I am Christopher Neff, President of GLAA and I am pleased to have all of you here to celebrate the history of GLAA and to honor our 2006 Distinguished Service Awardees.
I’d like to take a moment to thank our sponsors not appearing on today’s program:
- The Mautner Project
- The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
I encourage you to read the back of the program and thank those that have taken the time and money to support GLAA.
** Bob Summersgill –
** Steven Reichert –
I would like to thank the members of the city government and city council for being here. And, lastly, I would like to recognize our out of town guests who have traveled to be here today:
- Ian Palmquist, Executive Director of Equality North Carolina
- Sean Kosofsky, Triangle Foundation
- Toni Broaddus, Equality Federation
- Mo Baxley
For many years GLAA has played a leading role with the Equality Federation of Statewide LGBT political groups:
- Calling for and then Co-hosting with Equality Virginia the first-ever national marriage summit which brought together the largest gathering of LGBT state organizations in the history of the movement in April 2004
- Hosting the Federation’s first fundraiser in 2005.
- And serving on the Board of Directors since 2003.
And that is just a fraction of the work that we do at GLAA. Many of you are here for the first time and I would like to invite you to our meetings, twice a month (see our website). And some of you have known about GLAA for a long time and just need a quick recap of what we’ve been up to.
But the fundamental question for any community organization is, “What do you do, and what vital role do you play in the community today?” And I can tell you that after 5 year of working with GLAA in the LGBT community our work is not only making a difference but it is bettering the lives of DC residents:
- Whether it is providing useful oversight and testimony to committees like the new Health Committee, we urged be created;
- Providing behind the scenes counsel on legislation;
- Lobbying to keep the clubs open on O street;
- Working with Kenneth Saunders in the Office of Human Rights to ensure its further progress;
- Supporting the Metropolitan Police Department's Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, as well as the Office of Police Complaints and the Biased Policing Task Force;
- Working with ACLU to defend civil liberties
- Calling attention to gross misconduct of D.C. agencies
- Co-sponsoring the "We Are Family - Unity Weekend" last October to help our African American brothers and sisters fight homophobia in the black Community
- Working with the Human Rights Campaign, Congresswoman Norton to fight anti-gay congressional riders on the D.C. Appropriations Bill.
- Joining with community leaders like Cornelius Baker, to create the non-profit Foundation for All D.C. Families to conduct voter research and education in anticipation of a threatened anti-gay ballot initiative.
- Or attending rallies and vigils in the community – there can be no doubt that our record speaks for itself.
All of these things GLAA did in the past year. Our principle for work is simple:
- Stand by our principles to help the LGBT community whether its popular or not;
- And fight like hell.
Our job is not to be the biggest, or the most popular. The job of the oldest LGBT civil rights organization in the nation, GLAA, is to stand up for our community and chart the course for the future. I am proud to be a member of GLAA, I am again, pleased to have you all here tonight.
It is now my honor to introduce members of the D.C. Council to present a ceremonial resolution.
