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                                 News Release
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The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund
1012 14th Street, NW  Suite 707
Washington DC  20005
voice: (202) VICTORY [8679]
fax:    (202) 289-3863
EMAIL:  victoryf@aol.com


Leaders in the Fight against Anti-Gay Initiatives to Meet in Washington, DC, 
for Training                                  

     WASHINGTON, DC 26 January 1993  In a bold move to counteract the 
right-wing backlash, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund will hold the first 
national training for community leaders fighting anti-gay ballot initiatives.  
Scheduled for February 4 to 6 in Washing-ton, DC, the Victory Fund Training 
Institute for Initiative Campaigns will arm local leaders with the skills 
they need to defeat anti-gay campaigns in their home states.

     In the past two years, the Radical Right has devoted a growing share of 
its extraordinary resources to promoting anti-gay ballot initiatives 
throughout the country. "To combat the Radical Right, the key leaders in 
this fight need to have the best possible training," says Victory Fund 
Executive Director William Waybourn, "and it is critical that we begin 
training them immediately.  Because the Victory Fund already has a successful 
campaign training program, it is logical that we take the lead in this part 
of the battle."  The Victory Fund Training Institute for Initiative Campaigns 
is coordinated with the efforts of other local and national groups who have 
joined forces to defeat the right wing's anti-gay agenda.  

     Community leaders from targeted states, including Oregon, Michigan, 
Montana, Idaho, Missouri, Maine, Florida, Ohio, Arizona, Washington and 
Mississippi, will be attending the intensive three-day training.  Besides 
teaching the nuts and bolts of running a ballot-initiative campaign 
(for example, campaign planning and strategy, building a broad base of 
support, fundraising and message) the training encourages team-building, 
partnership and resource-sharing among participants.  

     The training is run by Victory Fund Training Coordinator David Fleischer, 
who has extensive experience in candidate training and campaign management.  
In 1990, Fleischer co-created New York's LaGuardia Public Life Training 
Center, the first pilot project in New York to train candidates for office. 

For additional information about the Victory Fund Training Institute, 
please call Charles Cox at (202) VICTORY.