Subject: NEWS: Millennium March Announces Co-Chairs; Hires Executive Producer
From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 16:17:35 EDT

N E W S   R E L E A S E

Millennium March on Washington for Equality
"The Human Rights March of the New Millennium"

For Immediate Release - August 21, 1998

Initial Co-Chairs Elected For Millennium March on Washington;
Veteran Organizer Robin Tyler Named Executive Producer

Washington, DC -- Four co-chairs have been elected for the Millennium March on
Washington for Equality and a veteran GLBT organizer has been hired as
Executive Producer of the event.

Elected as co-chairs were Duane Cramer (Board Member, Names Project
Foundation, San Francisco, CA); Ann DeGroot (Executive Director, Out Front
Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN); Elizabeth Birch (Executive Director, Human Rights
Campaign, Washington, DC); Nicole Ramierz-Murray (Co-Chair, National Latina/o
LGBT Organization, San Diego, CA). The election took place during a July
meeting of the Millennium March Board of Directors in Denver, Colorado.

During the meeting, the group reaffirmed its commitment to parity by gender
and for people of color on the Board of Directors.

In a related announcement, veteran organizer and lesbian activist Robin Tyler
has been named Executive Producer of the Millennium March on Washington for
Equality. The announcement was made by the Board of Directors for the March
and follows a national recruitment process.

"Robin Tyler brings 25 years of activism to the production of the Millennium
March and continues a tradition of excellence for these national events," said
Ann DeGroot, one of the four elected co-chairs of the March. Tyler has served
as a producer of the three previous Marches on Washington, produced the 25th
Gala Anniversary Celebration for the National Organization for Women at the
Kennedy Center, and produced the first International Gay Comedy Festival in
Sydney, Australia.

"Robin's life has been one of firsts," noted the Rev. Troy Perry. "She was the
first openly lesbian comic in North America, the first openly gay performer in
Russia, and the first person to call for the first-ever GLBT March on
Washington in 1978. To a distinguished career she now adds two additional
firsts: the first to call for the Millennium March on Washington and producer
of the human rights March that will usher in the new millennium," Perry added.

"I am committed to seeing that the Millennium March is fully representative of
our broad and diverse GLBT communities," said Tyler. "This March will set the
pace for a new generation of activists and show our strength and total
commitment to the ongoing struggle for full equality. We owe this to our
future generations."

The Millennium March on Washington for Equality will be held on April 30,
2000.

Current board members for the March include Elizabeth Birch (Ex. Dir., Human
Rights Campaign, Washington, DC); Beverly Biddle (Ex. Dir., National Lesbian &
Gay Health Assoc., Washington, DC); Rea Carey (Ex. Dir., National Youth
Advocacy Coalition, Washington, DC); Duane Cramer (Board Member, Names Project
Foundation, San Francisco, CA); Ann DeGroot (Ex. Dir., Out Front Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN); Dianne Hardy-Garcia (Ex. Dir., Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby of
Texas, Austin, TX); Kerry Lobel (Ex. Dir., National Gay & Lesbian Task Force,
Washington, DC); Rev. Troy Perry (Moderator, UFMCC, West Hollywood, CA);
Nicole Ramierz-Murray (Co-Chair, National Latina/o LGBT Org., San Diego, CA).

Additional information on the March on Washington for Equality is available by
e-mail at [email-masked].

(END)