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For Further Event Information:
215-732-3378 or
www.equalityforum.com
info@equalityforum.com
For Further Press Information:
Fleischman Gerber & Associates
Deborah Fleischman
215-735-7356
EQUALITY FORUM, FORMERLY PRIDEFEST AMERICA,
PREEMINENT INTERNATIONAL
GAY & LESBIAN SYMPOSIUM AND FESTIVAL
APRIL 28-MAY 4
Equality Forum, formerly PrideFest America,
presents the world's most comprehensive
programs about the gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender (GLBT) community on April
28-May 4 in Philadelphia. Equality Forum
features 76 programs and social events by
95 regional, national and international
GLBT organizations.
"Equality Forum reflects an international
GLBT civil rights movement," said Malcolm
Lazin, Founder and Executive Director. "Germany
as our Featured Nation allows us
to learn about and from the GLBT emancipation
of a peer nation."
"Equality Forum offers not only substantive
but also celebratory events, including nine
parties, German cabaret, SwimFest 2003 with
125 competitors from the US and Germany,
art exhibit, BBQ and SundayOUT, the region's
largest block party," continued Autumn
Bayles, Chair, Board of Directors.
Equality Forum features 76 diverse programs
and events. A special highlight of Equality
Forum is Exuberance!, a photo
exhibit of over 300 GLBT Youth in collaboration
with The University of the Arts running
April 23 through May 4. Capturing the uniqueness,
vitality and pride of GLBT youth across
the country, Exuberance! was culled
from over 8,000 photographs by Mike Glatze
and Benjie Nycum from Young Gay America
and photographer Rachelle Lee Smith.
Other highlights include:
- JIM IN BOLD, the world premiere
of a documentary by award-winning filmmaker
Glenn Holsten in collaboration
with Young Gay America, PBS
and MTV. JIM IN BOLD is
the second documentary to be produced
by Equality Forum. Titled after a poem
of the same name by Jim Wheeler,
the young man in whose memory the National
Youth Panel is dedicated, JIM IN BOLD
explores the profound impact of homophobia
on GLBT youth.
- From Pink Triangle to Equality,
in collaboration with the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum. This panel explores
the incarceration and extermination of
German and Austrian gays in Nazi concentration
camps, Germany's treatment of gays after
World War II, to eventual decriminalization
of homosexuality in 1969. The panel focuses
on how legislatively and culturally Germany
emerged as one of the most progressive
nations on GLBT civil rights. Moderated
by Harold Goldman, President of
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia,
the panel features Honorable Volker
Beck, a member of the German Bundestag;
Thomas Niederbuehl, a Munich city
councilman; Dr. Jennifer Evans,
a professor of modern German history at
Carleton University; and Dr. Geoffrey
Giles, a professor of European history
at University of Florida.
- Tom Stoddard National Role Model
Award to Mike Glatze and Benjie
Nycum, co-founders of Young Gay America
for their work on their website (www.younggayamerica.com)
and over 75,000 km of road trips, which
connects GLBT youth worldwide with powerful,
life-affirming messages.
- International Business Colloquium,
examines workplace issues facing United
States and German GLBT executives and
their opportunities to collaborate in
the international business place Justin
Nelson, co-founder of the National
Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce moderates
this insider look with panelists Klaus
Weinrich, President of Volkslinger
Kreis, a consortium of German gay business
managers; Sally Sussman, Senior
Vice President of Global Communications
for The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.;
and Walter Schubert, founder, chairman
and CEO of Gay Financial Network.
- International Business Colloquium's
International Business Leadership Award,
given to Allan Gilmour, Vice Chair
and CFO of Ford Motor Company, one of
the few openly gay executives in the top
ranks of corporate America. The award
will be presented to Mr. Gilmour at a
dinner in Independence National historical
Park.
- International Gay & Lesbian
Leadership Symposium, aired live on
WHYY-FM. Marty Moss-Coane, host
of WHYY's Radio Times, leads a
spirited discussion with Evan Wolfson,
Executive Director of Freedom to Marry
Project; Elizabeth Birch, Executive
Director of Human Rights Campaign; and
Kate Kendell, Executive Director
of National Center for Lesbian Rights.
The second hour with Berlin's Lord
Mayor Klaus Wowereit will explore
Germany's attitude toward gays and lesbians,
how it has changed considerably since
the days of the Holocaust, and what Americans
can learn from this country and its progressive
culture of tolerance.
- International Family Values Panel,
moderated by Evan Wolfson, Executive
Director of Freedom to Marry Project with
panelists Honorable Volker Beck,
legislative champion of gay marriage in
the Bundestag; Alba Martinez, Commissioner
for the Department of Human Services for
the City of Philadelphia and David
Tseng, National Executive Director
of PFLAG.
- International Media Panel looks
at the way the media perceives, covers
and shapes attitudes about the GLBT community.
Professor Katherine Sender from
the Annenberg School for Communication
at the University of Pennsylvania will
moderate this discussion with panelists
Joe Landry, publisher of Liberation
Publishing (owners of The Advocate and
OUT); Chris Crain, Editorial Director
and Chief Operating Officer of Window
Media (publishers of Washington Blade
and New York Blade); and Olaf Alp,
gay German publisher of Mate and Sergej.
- International Healthcare Panel,
moderated by Paul Scoles, PCHA
Board President with Thomas Niederbuehl,
a German AIDS activist; Carmen Vasquez,
Director of Public Policy for LGBT Community
Services Center in New York; and Dr.
James Witek, Chief of HIV/AIDS Medicine
at Drexel University College of Medicine.
- James Wheeler National Youth Panel,
created to remember the homophobic-induced
suicide of a gifted gay teen. Moderated
by YoungGayAmerica Co-Founder, Benjie
Nycum, this forum explores current
issues among GLBT youth with Elizabeth
Wheeler, Jim Wheeler's 17- year old
sister; American Idol 2002
finalist Jim Verraros; Young Gay
America organizer Scott MacPhee;
Derek Henkle, who successfully
sued his school district for failure to
protect him against harassment; and Simon
Wist, a 17-year-old apprentice at
Cologne's leading gay travel agency.
- Ten Years in the Trenches: A Decade
of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, presented
by Service Members Legal Defense Network
(SLDN) with key players in the fight to
lift the military's ban on GLBT participation.
- National Religious Colloquy,
the preeminent discussion of religion
and the GLBT community, from gays in the
clergy to marriage and inclusion. The
Right Reverend Charles E. Bennison,
Bishop with the Episcopal Church Diocese
of Pennsylvania leads panelists Rabbi
Denise Eger, a leader of gay inclusion
in Reform Judaism; Daayie Abdullah,
a gay Islamic leader; Reverend Barry
Stopfel, the first openly gay ordained
Episcopalian priest; and Mary Hunt,
a Catholic author and co-Director of WATER.
- GLBT Travel in Germany, moderated
by Thomas Boemkes, Eurorpean Director,
IGLTA, with panelists Ron Cartieri,
President of International Gay & Lesbian
Travel Association; Ricarda Lindner,
Marketing Manager for the German National
Tourist Office in North America; and Daya
Holzhauer, Pride organizer in Cologne.
Since its founding in 1993, Equality Forum
has become the world's largest annual gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT)
symposium and festival. It has expanded
from a three-day conference of 15 regional
organizations to a full week of events featuring
international, national and regional leaders
on a broad range of compelling issues. With
76 programs and social events presented
by 95 regional, national and international
non-profit organizations, Equality Forum
is the most in-depth program of the emergence
of a vibrant international GLBT community
and its civil rights aspirations.
For further information, call 215-732-3378
or visit the website at www.equalityforum.com.
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EQUALITY FORUM
APRIL 28-MAY 4
DAILY MAJOR PROGRAMS
April 23-May 4
Exuberance! - A Celebration of GLBT Youth
in North America
over 300 photographs capturing the uniqueness,
vitality and pride of GLTB youth across
the continent
Monday, April 28
VIP Kickoff Party - 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Conversation
Hall, City Hall. By Invitation Only.
Ten Years in the Trenches: A Decade of
Don't Ask, Don't Tell - 8:15 to 9:30 PM
in collaboration with Servicemembers Legal
Defense Network
Tuesday, April 29
International Healthcare Panel - 7:30 to
8:45 PM
National Religious Colloquy - 9:00 to 10:15
PM
Wednesday, April 30
Coalition Activism to Legislative Victory
- 7:30 to 8:45 PM
International Family Values Panel - 9:00
to 10:15 PM
Thursday, May 1
International Media Panel - 7:30 to 8:45
PM
in collaboration with GLAAD and NLGJA
From Pink Triangle to Equality - 9:00
to 10:15 PM
in collaboration with the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum
Friday, May 2
International Gay and Lesbian Leaders Symposium
- 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
aired live on WHYY's Radio Times
JIM IN BOLD world premiere - 9:00 to 10:00
PM at the Kimmel Center
by award-winning documentary filmmaker Glen
Holsten in collaboration with Young Gay
America, PBS and MTV
National Role Model Award - 10:00 -10:30
PM
awarded to Mike Glatze and Benjie Nycum
of Young Gay America, with tributes by Broadway
actors from The Laramie Project, and musical
salutes by American Idol 2002 finalist Jim
Verraros and Munich's Gay Schuhplattler.
Saturday, May 3
Immigration Panel - Noon - 1:15 PM
GLBT Travel in America - 1:30 to 2:30 PM
International Business Colloquium - 2:45
to 4:00 PM
Jim Wheeler National Youth Panel - 4:14
to 5:30 PM
International Business Leadership Award
- 8:00 PM
presented to Allan Gilmour, Vice Chair and
CFO of Ford Motor Company at a dinner co-chaired
by Scottie Ginn, Vice President of IBM and
John Alchin, Executive Vice President and
co-CFO of Comcast Corporation
Sunday, May 4
SundayOUT - 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM (12th &
Locust)
PARTIES AND SPECIAL EVENTS AT EQUALITY
FORUM
Fraulein Party - April 30 at 10:00 PM to
2:00 AM (Trust)
Wilkommen Party - May 1 at 10:00 PM to 2:00
AM (Woody's)
German Cabaret with Fraulein Piggy and Herr
Gene Pascale - May 2 at 9:00 to 10:00 PM
(Prince Music Theater)
Exuberance! Youth VIP Party - May 2 at 10:30
to Midnight (The University of the Arts)
JetSet - May 2 at 9:00 PM to 2:30 AM (Shampoo)
Cabaret featuring Gay Schuhplattler - May
2 at 11:00 PM to Midnight (Prince Music
Theater)
SwimFest 2003 - May 3 at 9:00 AM to 4:00
PM (Swarthmore College)
BBQ - May 3 at 4:00 to 8:00 PM (Kahn Park)
Girl Fever with DJ Lyla Love 0 May 3 at
9:00 PM to 2:00 AM (Sisters)
Youth Party with DJs Chris Costanzo and
John E - May 3 at 10:00 PM - 2:00 AM (Chrome)
Liberation with DJ Angelo Kortez - May 3
at 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM (Transit)
SundayOUT Party with DJ Tommy Daz - May
4 at noon to 6:00 PM (Trust)
Tea Dance - May 4 at 6:00 -10:00 PM (Circa)
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