Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 15:27:25 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAAD BECOMES FIRST NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN ORGANIZATION TO OPEN ITS DOORS IN KANSAS CITY, MO MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Cathy Renna, Interim Communications Director Phone (212) 807-1700 Pager (301)215-1354 E-mail: renna@glaad.org Everett Austin, Kansas City Media Resource Center Manager Phone: (816) 756-5991 E-mail: austin@glaad.org GLAAD BECOMES FIRST NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN ORGANIZATION TO OPEN ITS DOORS IN KANSAS CITY, MO NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN MEDIA ADVOCACY GROUP TO UNVEIL KANSAS CITY, MO MEDIA RESOURCE CENTER IN RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY FEBRUARY 20 KANSAS CITY, MO, JANUARY 30, 1998-The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today announced the official opening of its Kansas City Media Resource Center, making it the first national gay and lesbian group to open its doors in Kansas City, MO. The ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 1509 Westport Road, Kansas City on February 20, 1998 at 3pm, followed by an open house from 4-7pm . As part of GLAAD's chapter integration, the GLAAD/KC-Friends of Justice chapter has merged with the nation's largest lesbian and gay media advocacy organization, bringing the number of GLAAD locations nationwide to six. Other GLAAD offices and Media Resource Centers are located in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Francisco and Washington, DC. "GLAAD's ability to make a difference in the Heartland is greatly increased by the opening of this Media Resource Center," said Joan Garry, GLAAD's Executive Director, "The local steering committee and volunteers have built a strong foundation for promoting fair, accurate and inclusive media representations at the local and national levels and GLAAD looks forward to bringing the needs and issues of the Midwest into our national work." "We are delighted that GLAAD is recognizing our commitment, work and achievements in Kansas City on behalf of our mutual mission," said Delaney Dean, steering committee co-chair, "We look forward to working with and supporting the Kansas City Media Resource of Center and being part of GLAAD." GLAAD is a national organization dedicated to promoting fair, accurate and inclusive representations in all forms of media based on sexual orientation and identity. -30- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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.