The Advocate Celebrates 45 Years of Giving Voice to Equality; Human Rights Advocates, Elected Officials & Celebrities Attend Gala

(L-R) Ashley Love, Andrea James (director & transsexual advocate), Calpernia Addams (actress & transsexual advocate)
Here Media/Advocate CEO Paul Colichman (left) and his husband, actor David Milbern

Human rights attorney Gloria Allred
Dustin Lance Black,Oscar winning director of 'Milk'
Here I am with two of the stars of ABC's 'GCB', Marisol Nichols and Mark Deklin
The Advocate's Editor in Cheif Matthew Breen
with Joe Landry, SVP Group Publisher of Here Media/Advocate

The Advocate celebrated 45 years of trail blazing journalism last Thursday evening with a spectacular gala at The Beverly Hilton. Community advocates, elected officials and celebrities all came out to enjoy the event and celebrate how far numerous diverse social justice movements have come in 45 years. The Point Foundation was the honorary charity which benefited from the event, which is good because a lot of times LGBT, transsexual and/or intersex teens are disowned from their families simply for being who they are. Without a family to protect them, many are unable to go to college. So The Point Foundation steps in and says that being authentic and brave enough to be who you are in a land of ignorance and fear is not a reason to not recieve a good education!

It was a very special night for me because I got to see so many friends and co-advocates that I have known for many years. Since I now live in New York most of the year, I don’t get to see my OG LA family as much as I’d like, which made this evening a real treat for me.

The Advocate is known to be the most credible news source on gay and LGBT issues, and they are getting better at reporting transsexual and intersex issues. In a new word full of bloggers that write first, and check their facts later, it’s comforting to have news sources like The Advocate that are committed to accuracy and ethical journalism.

I've written a couple op-eds for SheWired.com, which is the news source owned by The Advocate that focuses on women's stories. I have also been interviewed or quoted numerous times over the years in The Advocate related to transsexual, transgender and intersex stories about media depictions and legislative rights. I am very appreciative for all The Advocate has done in aiding myself and others get our activism and education out into the world. Thank you.

If their 45th Anniversary party was this fun, I can’t wait to see how the 50th will be! See you then!

with The Trevor Project's Laura McGinnis (center) and West Hollywood City Councilmember Abbe Land (right)

with Modern Family's Jesse Ferguson Jeannine Lewis (L), Western Account Director for Here Media/Advocate and Vicki Algeo Keros (R)
(L-R) Alan Uphold (Point Foundation's Development Officer) and his husband Jeff Olde (VH1)
with The Advocate's Andrea Krauss (and Macy Gray performing in the background!)

SheWired's Editor Tracy Gilchrist and The Advocate's Neal Broverman
Bill Kapfer (L) and his husband Eric Scott Baker LA City Councilman Paul Koretz (L) and West Hollywood Mayor John Duran (R)
with The Advocate's Charles Beaudry Culbert (L-R) Chris Tompkins, singer Ben Roman, Ashley Love, DJ with HBO's Entourage star Rex Lee with Kirsten Schaffer, Executive Director of Outfest
fashion designer Andrew Christian (left) and Marcellus (right)
Actor and comedian Jason Stuart (left) and writer/director Billy Clift (right) Outfest board member Joe Keenan (left) and radio host Cary Harrison (right) with Brody Brown with drag star Coco Peru Macy Gray gave a great performance! with The Advocate's Art & Entertainment Editor Jeremy Kisner with Ross Von Metzke LA City Councilman Paul Koretz (center) gives The Advocate a certificate to honor their anniversary. Advocate's owner Paul Colichman (left) accepts the certificate, with Advocate's Editor in Cheif Matthew Breen on stage as well (right)
with celebrity photographer Duane Cramer (L-R) Duane Cramer, Joe Landry, Ashley Love, Steve Villano, Patric Z Rodriguez, Billy Hamilton
(L-R) Longliang Lin, Urosh Pajic, Josh Eddy, Rex Lee, Spencer Collins, Ashley Love
Bruce Vilanch, comedian and writer

Frontiers Magazine includes me in their "Our Heroes in a New Age of Activism" edition

Im happy that Frontiers Magazine, Los Angeles' oldest and biggest LGBT magazine, included me in on in their "Fighting 15 List" (California LGBT activist edition) along with some of my friends like Dustin Lance Black (screen writer of Milk) and Adam Bouska (NOH8 Photo Campaign founder), and more advocates for equality.

Here's part of the article below, to see the rest go to: http://www.frontiersweb.com/Features/Exclusive-Interviews/Story.aspx?ID=1278278


Fronteirs Magazine: Features / Exclusive Interviews

Our Heroes in a New Age of Activism Leaders in the LGBT community on what it means to be an activist
by Lesley Goldberg 9/13/2010

What does it mean to be an activist? Answers from 15 of the most involved leaders in the LGBT community might surprise you.

Cleve Jones, a longtime human rights advocate and founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and longtime friend of the late gay-rights crusader Harvey Milk, says anyone can be an activist but he prefers to be an organizer and solve problems working with large groups of people.

Chad Griffin, meanwhile, doesn’t consider himself an activist at all but instead the strategist behind the American Foundation for Equal Rights’ fight against Prop. 8. For Milk producer Bruce Cohen, it means supporting a cause he believes in and doing the little things that go beyond writing a check. And for Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, the term “activist” is too political.
For Rogers Hartmann, the founder of Beat Dystonia who taught herself to walk again, it’s about time and energy. And for scores of others—including such newsmakers as Dan Choi and Charlene Strong—it’s about making a difference in people’s lives.

And for you, it hopefully means finding inspiration from the Fighting 15 and getting involved to make a difference in our community.

Ashley Love

“It can be any action that expresses your message, from writing a song or poem, to protesting with picket signs at a rally; there are many ways one can take a stand for how they feel ... It was actually many people in the Southern California transsexual, transgender, intersex, lesbian, gay and bisexual communities who inspired me to change my life a few years ago. I now believe that understanding, acceptance and protections of our community is possible.” —Ashley Love, LGBTTIQQSA advocate at MAGNET (Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexual and Transgender People)

Dustin Lance Black

“I would refer back to some of the early gay rights ‘activists’ who said, ‘This is our lives we’re fighting for.’ I think that’s still true today, which is why I work not only with stuff that pushes us forward like the American Foundation for Equal Rights, but I also want to work with things like the Trevor Project, which is making sure that we have a safety net in place until a time comes that we have equality, and until the time comes when a child isn’t subjected to the sort of abuse they’re subjected to in their schools, homes and churches ... I try as much as I can to not look at this as a political issue; I try to look at it as a more human issue.” —Dustin Lance Black, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Milk; narrator, 8: The Mormon Proposition

Lt Dan Choi

“Rejecting any false sense of inferiority, helping future generations stand up tall, proclaiming, ‘I am somebody,’ and teaching them the hard-earned lessons to confront our oppressors, ridding them of delusions of abused privilege constitutes the work of the activist. An activist is the epitome of love.” —Dan Choi, former American infantry officer in the United States Army

Chelsea Montgomery-Duban

“Being an activist means fighting through the no’s, the criticism and the ignorance and standing up for your cause ... I have two gay dads that have been together for almost 29 years. They are the people that gave me life, unconditional love and help me follow my passions every day. I fight to defy a society that believes they are unfit parents and that they have somehow managed to raise me incorrectly. My dad and daddy inspire me to be a better person and I fight for them and for all gay families and couples.” — Chelsea Montgomery-Duban, daughter

Cleave Jones

“I’m trying in my life to be an organizer. I think there’s a difference between an activist and an organizer. An organizer works with large groups of people and that is what I find most satisfying about my work. Anyone can become an activist but I suspect one is born an organizer. There’s sort of a compulsion to do the work. I do this work because I love it. I like working with people and solving problems ... and every now and then there’s a really wonderful victory to celebrate.” —Cleve Jones, author-lecturer

Adam Bouska

“Activism is about using your own personal strengths to bring about awareness and change, and whether that applies to a lobbyist gathering signatures, a volunteer canvassing neighborhoods or even a photographer taking protest photos, everybody can be an activist in their own right.” —Adam Bouska, NOH8 Campaign creator-photographer

To see the rest of Frontier Magazine's "Fighting 15" list: http://www.frontiersweb.com/Features/Exclusive-Interviews/Story.aspx?ID=1278278