Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1998 14:54:51 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: SIXTH ANNUAL DAY OF COMPASSION WELCOMES SEAN SASSER FOR SPECIAL VIRTUAL TOWN MEETING - MEDIA EDUCATES MILLIONS AS HIV/AIDS ACTIVIST IS FEATURED ON LIVE FORUM JUNE 19 CALENDAR LISTING FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-JUNE 4, 1998 Media Contact: Bill Horn (GLAAD) phone: (213) 658-6775 pager: (800) 946-4646, pin#1423528 e-mail: horn@glaad.org SIXTH ANNUAL DAY OF COMPASSION WELCOMES SEAN SASSER FOR SPECIAL VIRTUAL TOWN MEETING MEDIA EDUCATES MILLIONS AS HIV/AIDS ACTIVIST IS FEATURED ON LIVE FORUM JUNE 19 WHAT: On June 19, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Datalounge and gay.com, in honor of the 6th Annual Day of Compassion, will conduct a global Virtual Town Meeting. WHO: Special guest Sean Sasser is a highly visible force in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In 1994, he was seen by millions on MTV's "The Real World", as late cast member Pedro Zamora's partner. That experience was followed by two years of touring the country inspiring young people to talk openly about sex, sexual identity and HIV/AIDS. He is a board member of the AIDS Policy Center for Children, Youth and Families and sits on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Recently, Sasser served as GLAAD's Atlanta Media Resource Manager. Currently, he is the Media Development Manager for Stop AIDS Project in San Francisco. WHEN: FRIDAY, JUNE 19th, 1998 at 10:00pm EST/ 7:00pm PAC WHERE: Accessible through http://www.datalounge.com (Datalounge) or http://www.gay.com (gay.com) WHY: On Day of Compassion, network and cable television, print media, Internet providers and radio stations will air special programming specifically geared toward educating and raising awareness about those living with the disease, those working on research and advocacy fronts, and friends and families who have-on a multitude of levels-been touched by HIV/AIDS. MORE: Day of Compassion is an annual project of GLAAD and is co-sponsored by Until There's a Cure Foundation, the Names Project Foundation and Cable Positive, the cable industry's AIDS action organization. The Day of Compassion Web site can be accessed via GLAAD Online, located at http://www.glaad.org The Data Lounge Web site provides gay men and lesbians a place to stay informed, exchange information, and forge a deeper sense of community. In addition to being the center for news, weekly surveys and gossip, the Data Lounge Network houses the Web sites for GLAAD, Lambda Legal, GLSEN, Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, AIDS Treatment Data Network, AIDS Project Los Angeles, Cable Positive, Hollywood Supports, Project Achieve, Lesbian Herstory Archives, Edwina's Dating Service, and the community's only Web Crawler, HomoRama. Gay.com's mission is to provide an Online community for gays and lesbians to come-out, socialize, learn, and have fun. Attracting over 750,000 visitors each month, gay.com (http://www.gay.com) is free and supported through corporate sponsorships. -30- GLAAD is the nation's lesbian and gay media advocacy organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of combating homophobia and all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. TO JOIN GLAAD AND RECEIVE GLAAD's DISPATCH AND QUARTERLY IMAGES MAGAZINE, call 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or join on the Web today at www.glaad.org/glaad/join/join-about.html TO SUBSCRIBE TO GLAAD-Net, GLAAD's electronic mailing list, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Subscribe GLAAD-Net" TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" GLAAD is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc.