Subject: HRC and other Gay and Lesbian Orgs. Participate in "Stand For Children" Rally
From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 08:48:52 -0400

________________________________________________________

NEWS from the
Human Rights Campaign

1101 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
email:  [email-masked]
WWW:    http://www.hrcusa.org
________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 30, 1996

                SEAN SASSER, WILSON CRUZ TO SPEAK AT
                                      STAND FOR CHILDREN'  
                                
        Coalition of Gay and Lesbian Organizations Participates in Rally

WASHINGTON -- Sean Sasser, a spokesman for the Human Rights
Campaign, will address the "Stand for Children" rally June 1 on
how young Americans can deal with the problem of HIV and AIDS.

     Sasser, an AIDS activist and trainer, will be introduced at
the rally by Wilson Cruz, an openly gay actor who played Ricky, a
gay high school student, in the TV series "My So-Called Life."

     Sasser and Cruz are slated to speak from the Youth Stage,
south of the Washington Monument, between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m.

     Both Sasser and Cruz have been active in educating youth on
gay and lesbian issues. Cruz agreed to speak to the event after
being asked by groups including HRC, Parents, Families and
Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the Sexual Minority Youth
Assistance League and the National Advocacy Coalition for Youth
and Sexual Orientation. 

     Each of these groups has been actively involved in putting
together Stand for Children, working with the sponsoring
Children's Defense Fund to present a balance of issues. Each
group will have information tables at the rally.

     Sasser joined HRC as a 1996 spokesman for the National
Coming Out Project, an ongoing effort urging gay men and lesbians
to be open about their sexual orientation to dispel myths about
their lives.

     Sasser, 27, has lived with the virus that causes AIDS since
he was 18. His story, and his commitment to HIV prevention and
education, reached millions of Americans when he appeared as one
of the young people in the MTV documentary series "The Real World
III."  Sasser and his now-deceased partner, Pedro Zamora, opened
their lives to the world as the focus of several series episodes.

     Since 1991, Sasser has been educating young people at high
schools, universities and youth conferences across the country
about HIV and AIDS. Before appearing on MTV, Sean was a public
policy coordinator for the San Francisco-based Health Initiatives
for Youth. In that position, he trained HIV-positive and other
young people to be powerful, visible advocates for themselves and
others. These advocates then became part of a policy team that
lobbied local, state and national legislative decisionmakers.
While in that position, Sean also worked with numerous AIDS
education offices and lobbying groups to increase AIDS funding.

     Sasser is a member of the board of the Washington,
D.C.-based AIDS Policy Center for Children, Youth and Families.
In partnership with care providers and consumers, the policy
center works for national AIDS policy that meets the needs of
children and youth living with HIV/AIDS, and their families.

     The Human Rights Campaign, the country's  largest national
lesbian and gay political organization, envisions an America
where lesbian and gay people are ensured of their basic equal
rights -- and can be open, honest, and safe at home, at work, and
in the community.

                                                    -30-