Annise Parker Talks LGBTQ Victory Fund Political Agenda (AUDIO)

 

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Annise Parker, President and CEO of the Victory Fund and Victory Institute about the importance of endorsing openly LGBTQ political candidates for local, state and federal elective offices. Currently there are 1200 openly LGBTQ people serving in offices across America but we need at least 30,000 to come close to leveling the political scope in this country. The LGBTQ Victory Fund works to achieve this goal and sustain equality by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government while ensuring they reflect the diversity of those they serve. We all know how successful the religious right has been in stacking the political field against our community. Now is the time to support LGBTQ candidates in their quest to advance our progressive values. To be considered for endorsement by the Victory Fund and Victory Institute candidates must be openly LGBTQ, pro-choice and support an individual’s right to privacy. It’s also crucial that they support the rights of transgender individuals, demonstrate community support and have a realistic plan to win. Candidates must additionally demonstrate support of federal, state or local efforts to advance LGBTQ civil rights through the legislative or regulatory process and demonstrate support of federal, state or local efforts to safeguard privacy and reproductive freedom. Victory Fund was founded in 1991 by LGBTQ activists and donors who recognized the success of EMILY’s List at attracting attention and support for women candidates for public office and applied the success of this model to advance equality for our LGBTQ community. We talked to Annise about what she hopes to accomplish at the Victory Fund and her spin on our LGBTQ issues. 

Annise Parker is the first former elected official to lead the Victory Fund and Victory Institute after serving six years as a Houston City Council member, six years as City Controller and six years as Mayor of Houston becoming the first openly LGBTQ mayor of a major American city. In the private sector Annise spent 20 years working in the oil and gas industry including 18 years with Mosbacher Energy Company. She also co-owned “Inklings” a lesbian/feminist bookstore for 10 years. Mayor Parker and her wife Kathy Hubbard have been together since 1991 and are advocates for adoption with three daughters, a son and three grandchildren. For More Info…

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Virginia Apuzzo Talks The Task Force Celebrating 50 Years (AUDIO)

 

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with LGBTQ pioneer activist Virginia (Ginny) Apuzzo who served as Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force from 1982 to 1986. The Task Force is the country’s oldest LGBTQ advocacy group celebrating 50 years of advancing freedom, justice and equality for LGBTQ people. This milestone year will recognize and celebrate the Task Force’s rich history of driving progress within the LGBTQ community from its early days lobbying the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality as a mental illness and advocating for AIDS funding to longstanding campaigns to Queer the Census, Queer the Vote, work for trans rights, fight for reproductive justice and bringing an intersectional approach to the LGBTQ movement. The celebration kicks off this month with their Creating Change Conference from Friday February 17th to Tuesday February 21st in San Francisco, CA at the Hilton Hotel Union Square. This year’s theme is “The State of the Movement: Our Past. Our Present. Our Future”. Creating Change is the foremost political, leadership and skills-building conference for our LGBTQ social justice movement. The event will include speakers Angelica Ross, activist X Gonzalez and more. Then the 50th celebration will continue next month in Miami Beach, Florida at the 30th Annual Winter Party Festival with this year’s theme “Live Free Play Hard Give Back” that takes place Wednesday March 1st to Tuesday March 7th. Other events related to the 50th celebration will include the Task Force Gala on October 22nd, its premier annual celebration of South Florida’s LGBTQ community with more details to be announced as they are confirmed. We talked to Ginny about what it was like when she led the National LGBTQ Task Force in the 1980’s and her spin on our LGBTQ issues. 

Virginia "Ginny" Apuzzo became a nun in 1967 at the Sisters of Charity in the Bronx and left the convent in 1969 after the Stonewall riots. During the 1970s she became a member of the Coordinating Committee of the Manhattan Women's Political Caucus and earned a Master of Science in Urban Education from Fordham University. In 1978 she co-founded the Lambda Independent Democrats and ran for the New York State Assembly. In 1979 she served as the assistant commissioner for operations in the New York City Department of Health and became a strong advocate for people with AIDS. She then served as executive deputy of the New York State Consumer Protection Board and as the vice chair of the New York State AIDS Advisory Council. She was also President of the New York State Civil Service Commission and Commissioner of the New York State Department of Civil Service. In 1996 she became the Associate Deputy Secretary of Labor at the United States Department of Labor and in 1997 she became the Assistant to the President for Management and Administration under the Clinton administration. In 2007 she began serving on the Commission on Public Integrity where she worked until her retirement. The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice and equality for LGBTQ people. They are building a future where everyone can be free to be their entire selves in every aspect of their lives. For More Info…

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