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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
July 6, 2012 Julian Teixeira
(202) 776-1812
jteixeira@nclr.org
Actor Wilson Cruz to be honored at LGBT and Allies Reception
LAS VEGAS—Marriage equality, bullying, and workplace discrimination are just a few of the important issues that the Latino LGBT community is grappling with in both the political arena and their daily lives. For the first time, NCLR (National Council of La Raza) will include a LGBT track in its workshop lineup at the 2012 NCLR Annual Conference, offering participants the chance to hear from leading experts on LGBT policy issues and giving them the opportunity to make their voices heard.
“This year, we are committed to creating an even more inclusive Conference that addresses the unique struggles that LGBT Latinos face in this country,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR. “We have seen major gains in the past couple of years for the LGBT community, but there is still much more to be done to achieve full equality and we want to ensure that NCLR is part of the discourse that will lead us there.”
Additionally, NCLR will host an LGBT and Allies Reception, sponsored by American Airlines and the Gill Foundation, honoring actor, activist, and ALMA Award® recipient Wilson Cruz on Sunday evening, July 8 as part of the Annual Conference. John Berry, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, will also receive a special recognition from NCLR during the reception.
The Gill Foundation has generously sponsored the LGBT and Allies Reception at the NCLR Annual Conference for the past three years and continues to fund the important LGBT-focused policy work that NCLR has undertaken. This reception comes just one month after the NCLR Board, as well as Murguía, backed President Obama’s endorsement of marriage equality. NCLR has also recently pushed the Obama administration to issue an executive order to eliminate workplace discrimination for contractors who work with the federal government, and spoke out against the National Organization for Marriage’s divisive strategies to pit the Latino community against the LGBT community in the debate over same-sex marriage. In fact, a study released by NCLR in April shows that Latinos overwhelmingly support pro-LGBT policies.
For more information about the workshops offered at the 2012 NCLR Annual Conference, as well as the LGBT and Allies Reception, please visit the NCLR website.
NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.
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