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Greetings,
Press Release For Immediate Distribution For
Additional
Information or Questions, please contact: Howard Bayless, Chair;
205-445-4843
Equality Alabama Announces
2005 Award
Winners Presentations to be made at annual Banquet on September
10th in Birmingham
Equality Alabama is proud to
announce the 2005 award winners.
These individuals and organizations represent the best and
brightest of our community. The award winners will receive their
awards at a banquet on September 10, 2005, at the
Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. We are proud to honor
these members of our community who have worked so hard to create
equality in Alabama, says Howard Bayless, Chair of Equality
Alabama. Board Member Zach Childree says the Day of Equality is
important to the GLBT community because it is "plug-in-time".
"The event allows us to encourage each other in our fight for
equality, which will be especially important in 2006 when the
radical Christian right will be doing everything in their power
to further disenfranchise another minority group." he said. The
following is a list of this year's award winners:
The David White
Equality Award for Lifetime
Achievement Barbara Collins and Felicia Fontaine,
Huntsville
Equality Alabama
Leadership Advocacy Award -
State Representative Alvin Holmes of Montgomery
Equality Alabama
Chairs Award - Ken Baker of
Montgomery
Equality Alabama
Leadership Mobilization Award
- Norma Mitchell of Montgomery
Equality Alabama
Leadership Education Award -
Patty Rudulph of Birmingham
Equality Alabama
Leadership Youth Award- Paul Carnes
of Dothan
A number of local and
nationally acclaimed speakers
will participate in the 2005 Day of Equality. Mandy Carter of
SONG (Southerners on New Ground), renowned New York AIDS
activist Charles King, and Evan Wolfson (Freedom to Marry) will
share their hopeful message of full inclusion and equality.
Howard Bayless, current Board Chair for Equality Alabama, will
address the attendees. The emcee for the banquet is long-time
activist and Birmingham notable Patrick Cather. During the day
on September 10th there will be workshops and discussion groups
offered at no charge for the community. Banquet tickets are
available for $40.00 per person and reservations are required.
Sponsors are invited and vendor tables are available. For more
information contact: Howard Bayless 205-445-4843. Information
about the Award Winners Barbara Collins and Felicia Fontaine of
Huntsville will receive the 2005 David White Equality Award for
lifetime achievement. At a time when pre-Stonewall gay rights
activists are few and far between in Alabama, one Huntsville
couple has served as inspiration to many during their more than
a quarter century together. The Navy, Vietnam, a baby, divorce,
out-of-the-closet, reentering the service, Memphis, a master's
degree, Alabama Conference for Personal Rights, Metropolitan
Community Church, professional counselor's license, Samaritan
Family Services, primary progressive multiple sclerosis, breast
cancer, Civil Service, retirement and the National Organization
for Women are just part of the story of this courageous couple
who were joined in Holy Union in 1980, and 20 years later joined
in a Vermont civil union. Fontaine was the first "out" person to
graduate from Memphis State University following the APA 1973
declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder. Shortly
after they moved to Huntsville in 1982, after Collins completed
her third enlistment and came out of the closet, they
immediately threw their energies into the gay community. In
1999, the couple was among the Lynchburg 200 who participated in
the "Stop the Hate" forum with 200 other invitees from Jerry
Falwell's group. Gay-supportive individuals had an opportunity
to dialogue with 200 anti-gay rights conservative Christians. In
2002, Soulforce Alabama became the second state group recognized
by Soulforce, Inc. This led to an outreach to Chief Justice Roy
Moore in response to the dicta issued in a case in February
2002. Justice Moore agreed to a private meeting during which he
was exposed to the concept of spiritual violence against sexual
minorities and the damage it produces.
The lifetime achievement award
is named for David White, a
long-term gay rights activist from Birmingham.
+ + + The 2005
Equality Alabama Leadership Advocacy
Award will be presented to state Representative Alvin Holmes of
Montgomery. Considered by many to be THE legislative
spokesperson and defender of gays and lesbians in Alabama,
Holmes has put his political career on the line by standing up
as a very outspoken defender of human rights for gay people, not
only in the legislature but also in the news media. Holmes has
repeatedly defended the gay and lesbian community against
attacks from extremists, on several occasions standing virtually
alone in the legislature. This year, Holmes offered $5,000 to
anyone who could show him Biblical restrictions of marriage to a
man and a woman. The amount was increased after he originally
took to the House floor to declare, "I've got $700 here, and I
will give anyone this $700 if they come up and show me in this
Bible where it says that marriage is between a man and a woman."
+ + + Former Equality
Alabama board chair and
relentless defender of full inclusion for all disenfranchised
groups, Montgomery's Ken Baker has been selected to receive the
2005 Chair Award. Baker started "Equality Begins at
Home of Central Alabama", one of the predecessors of Equality
Alabama. In founding Equality Alabama, Baker spoke out against
then Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, organizing a press
conference on the steps of the Alabama Judicial Building where
clergypersons from across the state, representatives from
Soulforce and from the Human Rights Campaign, and the head of
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force spoke out against the
anti-gay rhetoric in Judge Moore's opinion. There were also more
than 200 statements faxed in from clergy across the state who
could not attend but wanted to voice their support for Ken and
the others speaking out. Baker has helped organize an annual
Hate Crimes Vigil on the steps of the State Capitol, remembering
Billy Jack Gaither and others who have been violently assaulted
and killed because they were or were perceived to be gay.
Involved with many groups such as PFLAG, One Montgomery, the
Montgomery Peace Project, and instrumental in the start of
Communities of Faith for Full Inclusion (COFFI), he also formed
the Youth Empowerment Group for gay or gay friendly adolescent
youth who need a safe place to meet and talk with other
like-minded youth. Baker is active with OHM, Open Hearts and
Minds. He helped secure the first official office for Equality
Alabama in Montgomery.
+ + + The 2005
Equality Alabama Leadership
Mobilization Award will be presented to Norma Mitchell of
Montgomery. Mitchell's vision of service to
Montgomery's LGBT community took quite an unanticipated turn in
2005 when her plans to reactivate the city's dormant gay pride
efforts became the state's unprecedented mobilization effort of
the season. The event drew media attention after far-right
religious leaders attempted to bring negative attention to the
event. Born and raised in Montgomery, Mitchell "discovered"
herself in Mobile while attending college, but moved back home a
year later. During her first semester at Auburn University at
Montgomery, she attended meetings of the Montgomery Gay &
Lesbian Association (MGLA), but couldn't really participate due
to not wanting to 'out myself'." she said.
+ + + The 2005
Equality Alabama Leadership Education
Award will be presented to Patty Rudulph of Birmingham.
Long before Equality Alabama was charged to educate, advocate
for and mobilize the state's LGBT community, this state had a
string of exemplary PFLAG chapters with a similar mission of
support, education and advocacy for the same community. In
addtion to her leadership role for the Birmingham chapter
regularly providing support to families and friends of LGBT
people, Patty Rudulph has worked tirelessly over the last year
to improve the general population's understanding of a number of
associated issues. She has constantly made herself available to
the cause and effectively educated both community members and
the opposition in a number of varying forums. From the family
room of a parent or grandparent in crisis to committee meeting
rooms of Alabama's Statehouse, this straight ally has planted
the seeds of change in the minds of many. She educates through a
simple message that gay and lesbian people deserve nothing less
than full inclusion. While her particular interest started with
concerns over the treatment of gay youth, this Mountain Brook
mother of two has also worked to educate the community
concerning anti gay marriage initatives, healthcare concerns,
and related book banning. This year alone, Rudulph addressed the
Birmingham community concerning spiritual abuse of LGBT people,
made two Grand Round presentations to the UAB Dept of Psychiatry
and participated in an Equality Alabama sponsored panel
discussion with HRC President, Joe Solmonese.
+ + + The 2005
Equality Alabama Leadership
Youth Award will be presented to Paul Carnes, 21, who
is from Rehobeth, Alabama, population 1,090. Carnes has
tirelessly worked to raise awareness of LGBT issues in the
state's wiregrass area, leading weekly meetings drawing as many
as 60 people for the advocacy groups at Re-Wired Internet Cafe.
In college Carnes was president of his class, president of the
Player's Club, and parliamentarian of Phi Beta Lambda. Recently
he established a chapter of Equality Alabama in Dothan, calling
August's initial EA meeting and the beginning of a movement.
"We're probably in the most conservative city in the most
conservative state," Carnes was quoted in The Dothan Eagle,
adding, "And because of that, we have to work harder." With his
devoted support in Dothan, Carnes has effectively worked to
raise awareness for the choice of debate, gay marriage,
adoption, and the public's apparent mistrust of gays with
children. Carnes is now working to turn the talk-oriented
advocacy to that which is more action-oriented and plans to
sponsor a large rally in November that will include out-of-state
speakers. "We just want Dothan to know that this is our home
too," Carnes said.
+ + + Two organizations were
selected to receive
special 2005 recognitions for outstanding work toward seeking
full inclusion of gay and lesbian people: Birmingham's Grace
Episcopal Church's rector, the Rev. Jim Williams, immediately
recognized the need for progressive Christians to speak against
antigay political initiatives when he addressed elected
officials concerning marriage equality early in 2005. Grace
Church opened its doors to a statewide coalition meeting to
discuss the topic on the eve of one of the busiest days of the
church calendar, Palm Sunday. Described as a diverse and
inclusive parish, located in the inner city with members from
throughout the metropolitan area, Grace is an Anglo-Catholic
parish with strong commitment to liturgical excellence and
community service. Serving the needs of Woodlawn for 114 years
with a number of social justice and assistance initiatives,
other resources associated with Grace include Communities of
Faith for Full Inclusion, the Hispanic Interest Coalition of
Alabama, Interfaith Hospitality House for homeless families with
children, and Integrity Alabama. In 2004, EA recognized all of
Alabama﾿s gay and lesbian Married Couples,
known and unknown, who, both publicly and privately, were
officially married in San Francisco and Massachusetts, providing
great hope to many. Paving the pathway to those special
ceremonies was Freedom to Marry, the gay and non-gay partnership
working to win marriage equality nation wide. America is engaged
in a crucial conversation, a conversation about basic values of
love, commitment, fairness, and freedom. In every state, in many
families, good people are thinking and talking about how
excluding same-gender couples from marriage harms them, their
kids, and our country.
+ + + About the Speakers
Mandy Carter,
one of the nation's leading
African American lesbian activists and extraordinary political
activist, brings a dynamic program on effective organizing and
networking. Carter is the Executive Director of Southerners On
New Ground (SONG) and Board Member of the National Black Justice
Coalition. She helped found SONG at the Durham NGLTF Creating
Change Conference in 1993. A noted speaker and winner of the
prestigious Stonewall Award, Carter has traveled extensively,
educating audiences about LGBT rights in a broader social
justice movement. Recently, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace
Prize as part of the 1000 Women for Peace nominations.
+ + + Charles King
heads America's largest
non-profit HIV/AIDS and homeless human service organization,
Housing Works. Having grown up in south Texas, as the gay son of
a right-wing fundamentalist preacher, King has had to travel his
own long road toward forgiveness and self-acceptance. Housing
Works; which he co-founded, is the culmination of that journey.
The $20 million organization encompasses three day-treatment
facilities, two residential buildings, five nonprofit businesses
-- including three thrift shops and a used-book store with a
cafe -- and provides subsidized apartments, drug counseling,
clean syringes, health care, legal advocacy, and classes to
thousands of clients. The organization cares for "the lowest of
the underclass," King says. Eighty percent of the clients are
drug-addicted, forty percent are mentally ill, and a substantial
number have criminal records.
+ + + Evan Wolfson is
Executive Director of Freedom to
Marry, the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage
equality nationwide. Before founding Freedom to Marry, Evan
served as marriage project director for Lambda Legal Defense
& Education Fund, was co-counsel in the historic Hawaii
marriage case, and participated in numerous gay rights and
HIV/AIDS cases. Evan previously served as Associate Counsel to
Lawrence Walsh in the Iran/Contra investigation, and as an
Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, New York. Between Yale
College and Harvard Law School, Evan spent two years with the
Peace Corps in West Africa. Citing his national leadership on
marriage equality and his appearance before the U.S. Supreme
Court in Boy Scouts of America v. James Dale, the National Law
Journal in 2000 named Evan one of "the 100 most influential
lawyers in America." In 2004, Evan was named one of the "Time
100," Time magazine's list of "the 100 most influential people
in the world." Evan Wolfson's first book, Why Marriage Matters:
America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry, was
published by Simon & Schuster in 2004.
+ + + Howard J. Bayless III
is currently the Board
Chair of EA, having formerly served as Treasurer. He is also the
State Coordinator for the Human Rights Campaign, a board member
and secretary of the Equality Fund, a political action
committee, and an advisor to BAGSLY (Birmingham Area GLBTSQ
Youth). Bayless started his activism work in the early 1980's in
the women's movement working on the ERA and PRO-Choice
legislation. He was active in Birmingham's Lambda community
center and worked as phone bank volunteer answering the gay
information line. Bayless has both participated in and led a
number of community forums on gay issues. Bayless holds a BS
from the University of Montevallo and a Masters of Science in
Health Services Administration. He has been employed by Bradford
Health Services since 1989 and currently serves as the Assistant
Administrator at the Warrior Lodge facility.
+ + + Patrick Cather
will serve as our Master of
Ceremonies. A life long resident of Birmingham and former
English major at UAB, Patrick was the founding editor of UAB's
student newspaper, The Kaleidoscope, now in its 35th year.
During the last 37 years, he has published extensively on gay
and lesbian issues, art, music and Alabama history. Currently a
member of the Advisory Board of Birmingham AIDS Outreach, he was
presented the BAO Jerry Biddex Memorial Award in 1999. A
professional musician in Birmingham during the mid-1970s, a
producer of blues recordings and a long time historian of
Alabama's traditional jazz and blues heritage, Patrick was
inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1991. He is a
longtime board member of and volunteer bartender for this city's
Terrific New Theatre.
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