For Further Event Information:
215-732-FEST or
www.pridefestamerica.com

For Further Press Information:
Deborah Fleischman
215-735-7356

NATIONAL AIDS CZAR TO ADDRESS PRIDEFEST AMERICA 2002 HEALTH SYMPOSIUM

Health and Legal Panels Offer Professional Accreditation

The nation's AIDS czar, Scott Evertz, will address PrideFest America as a participant in the National Health Care Panel on Wednesday, May 1 from 7:30-8:45 PM at the Prince Music Theater (1412 Chestnut Street). Attorney Evan Wolfson from the Freedom to Marry Project will be one of four attorneys participating in the National Legal Symposium in collaboration at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute on Friday, May 3 from 1:00-2:30 at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute Education Center (Wanamaker Building, 10th Floor, 1010 Juniper Street). PrideFest America is the nation's largest annual gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) symposium and festival.

Admissions to both the National Health Care Panel and the National Legal Symposium each require a $5 Program Pass or are included in the $15 Week-Long Program Pass, which is available through the website at www.pridefestamerica.com. The week-long pass provides admission to over fifty (50) programs throughout the week.

Presented in collaboration with PCHA and co-sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work and 15 regional health care organizations the National Health Care Panel will feature a stellar panel of health care experts. Moderated by Paul Scoles, Board President of PCHA, the panelists include Scott Evertz, National AIDS Czar; Dr. Suzanne Haynes, head of the Office of Women's Health/U.S. DHHS, and Cornelius Baker, Executive Director of The Whitman-Walker Clinic.

"PrideFest America is honored to host this impressive panel with the nation's AIDS czar, the leading woman in women's health care issues and the executive director of one of the earliest and most prestigious AIDS clinics in the nation," said Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director of PrideFest America. "This discussion will focus on issues of the national GLBT health agenda."

In April 2001, President Bush appointed Scott Evertz to serve as the Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, leading an expanded AIDS office that is responsible for both domestic and international HIV/AIDS issues. Since 1992, Mr. Evertz has been a public policy advocate in the State of Wisconsin for people with HIV/AIDS, working closely with then Governor Thompson, to create one of the best service delivery systems in the nation for people with HIV/AIDS. In his professional career, he has worked for a number of AIDS service organizations that provide housing, rehabilitation and hospice care. Immediately prior to joining the Bush Administration, he was providing counsel to an ecumenical, faith-based organization in Milwaukee that operates a housing program for people with HIV/AIDS. Evertz was instrumental in the passage of a Wisconsin State law in 1997 ensuring hospital visitation rights for gay and lesbian partners. He also worked closely with then Governor Tommy Thompson on a successful effort to insert language on national AIDS policy into the 2000 Republican Party platform.

A. Cornelius Baker is the Executive Director of Whitman-Walker Clinic, one o f the major AIDS clinics in the country, having previously served as the Executive Director of the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA). Baker's work addressing the HIV epidemic has included serving as a member of the CDC Advisory Committee Subcommittee on Monitoring the Epidemic; member of the Technical Advisory Committee for the Gay and Bisexual Men of Color Prevention Needs Assessment, U.S. Conference of Mayors; and co-chair of the 1994 PHS Minority AIDS Conference. He is currently a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services panel on clinical practices in HIV treatment, the U.S. Public Health Service/Infectious Disease Society of America's Working Group on the Prevention of Opportunistic Infections, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS. He brings additional experience with HIV policy issues from his work as Confidential Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the National AIDS Program Office (NAPO). In 1993, he received the Courage Award at the Washington AIDS Walk for outstanding leadership in living with HIV disease. In 1998, his accomplishments were honored by the National Lesbian and Gay Health Association, which presented him with the Diego Lopez Award for leadership in HIV/AIDS advocacy.

One of the leading women in health issues today, Dr. Suzanne Haynes serves as Assistant Director for Science in the Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. In this position, she coordinates science initiatives for the Office. For the eight years prior to her appointment, Haynes was Chief of the Health Education Section of the National Cancer Institute, where she launched several community breast cancer screening programs, physician early detection intervention programs, and dietary change and skin cancer prevention programs. Trained as an epidemiologist, she has published 70 articles on women's health and has edited the book How to Increase Breast Cancer Screening in Your Community.
Dr. Paul Scoles has served as President of the Board of PCHA for five years, and is also a member of the boards of the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging and the Delaware County AIDS Network. Actively involved in issues surrounding HIV-AIDS and the problems of health care in the sexual minority community for over ten years, he has taught and lectured on the subjects in colleges, medical schools and other forums around the country.

The National Legal Symposium will feature a distinguished panel of jurists, authors, and attorneys including authors Joyce Murdoch and Deb Price, and attorneys Jean E. Dubofsky, Esq., Chris Wolf, Esq. and Evan Wolfson. The group will discuss issues which are at the center of the state and federal courts and reflect the emerging changes and rights for gays and lesbians in the nation.

Joyce Murdoch and Deb Price are the co-authors of Courting Justice: Gay Men and Lesbians v. the Supreme Court, a 50-year examination of how the U.S. Supreme Court has dealt with gay and lesbian rights. A triumph of investigative reporting, it was named one of the Washington Post's Book World's "Raves and Faves" of 2001. Since 1957, a fascinating array of gay men, lesbians and bisexuals have been forced to consider whether the Constitution's grand promises of liberty and equality apply to gay Americans. In their history-making epic, Murdoch and Price look at the forces that shaped how the nation's highest court has reacted to gay pleas for equal rights - from the surprising 1958 victory of a tiny homosexual magazine to the 2000 defeat of a gay Eagle Scout. Murdoch and Price are also the co-authors of "And Say Hi to Joyce: America's First Gay Column Comes Out," which tells the story of Price's pioneering, nationally syndicated gay column.

Christopher Wolf has been a leader in the pro bono litigation efforts challenging enforcement of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" policy governing gays and lesbians in the military. In 1998, Wolf represented Master Chief Petty Office Timothy McVeigh in his successful challenge to the U.S. Navy's proposed expulsion of him based on information obtained illegally from America Online. That case made law under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and produced a stinging criticism of the application of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" by U.S. District Judge Stanley Sporkin. In 2000-2001, Wolf represented Army lt. (Reserve) Steve May, an Arizona state representative whose statements about being gay in a legislative debate before being called onto active duty were used as a basis for proposing his involuntary discharge from the Army. Following the recommendation of a Board of Officers for dismissal, the Army eventually agreed to allow Lt. May to serve his full term of service.

Evan Wolfson is Director of the Freedom to Marry Project. He was formerly the marriage project director for LAMBDA Legal Defense & Education Fund and co-counsel in Baehr v. Anderson, the historic Hawaii marriage case. Citing his national leadership on marriage and his appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court in Boy Scouts of America v. James Dale, the National Law Journal named Wolfson one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America.

The National Health Care Panel will be eligible for two credits as a pre-approved provider of continuing education in social work by the Pennsylvania State Board of Social Work Examiners. The National Legal Symposium, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, on Friday, May 3 from 1:00-2:30 PM at the Prince Music Theater (1412 Chestnut Street) will offer four CLE credits to members of the Pennsylvania Bar and other state bars.

Since its founding in 1993, PrideFest America has become the nation's largest annual gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) symposium and festival. It has expanded from a three-day conference of regional organizations to a full week of events featuring international, national and regional leaders on a broad range of compelling issues. With more than 60 programs and social events presented by 80 regional, national and international organizations, PrideFest America 2002 is the nation's most in-depth program of the emergence of a vibrant GLBT community and its civil rights aspirations.

Some of the highlights of this year's tenth anniversary festival include Tseng Kwong Chi: A Retrospective, an exhibition of approximately 85 works is the first-ever retrospective of this important postmodern photographer; the Tom Stoddard National Role Model Award to MTV at the Kimmel Center in recognition of their distinguished contributions to social change in the GLBT community; Living in a Rainbow Nation: Gay & Lesbian Dynamics in South Africa with an all-South African panel focusing on contemporary issues for gay black and white South Africans such as apartheid, constitutional protection, and AIDS in South Africa; and a National Religious Colloquy moderated by Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson to Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, among other national, international and regional programming.

For further information, visit the website at www.pridefestamerica. com, or call 215-732-FEST.

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