From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 94 13:18:10 EDT

NATIONAL GAY & LESBIAN TASK FORCE POLICY INSTITUTE

NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Robin Kane (202) 332-6483, ext. 3311

STAFF CHANGES AT NGLTF

 Washington, D.C. -- August 24, 1994 -- Three staff members will be leaving
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) in September. Deborah Cox,
Director of Finance and Administration, Ivy Young, Director of Creating
Change, and Robin Kane, Acting Director of Public Information, have each
announced their departure from the organization. Stacey Sobel, an attorney
and legislative specialist, has been hired as a consultant to focus on
lesbian health advocacy within federal agencies. NGLTF Board member Gregory
Fisher, a public relations specialist, will serve as interim Communications
Director. And Beth Barrett, NGLTF part-time legislative assistant, has also
taken on duties as public information assistant.

 Both Ivy Young and Robin Kane are long-time NGLTF staff members, having
served at the organization five and four years respectively. As Director of
Creating Change, Young has coordinated the programming and logistics for the
nation's largest annual skills-building conference for gay, lesbian and
bisexual activists and organizers. Prior to taking on the growing conference
full-time, Young was director of the NGLTF Families Project, providing
organizing, technical, educational and advocacy assistance to organizers
dealing with non-traditional family issues. In that capacity, Young authored
NGLTF's "Domestic Partner Organizing Manual." 

 Kane has served as Acting Director of Public Information, Public Information
Manager, and Program Assistant during the past four years. In the public
information department, Kane generated tremendous national media attention on
Camp Sister Spirit in Ovett, Mississippi and worked closely with Brenda and
Wanda Henson, using the media in a strategic manner to assist them. Kane has
written numerous NGLTF publications and newsletters, and has authored the
monthly Activist Alert newsletter since its inception.

 Deborah Cox has been with NGLTF since last summer, overseeing the financial,
administrative and human resource management of the organization. Cox was
instrumental in moving NGLTF from cramped quarters to new, more spacious
offices, and has implemented an accounting system that tracks expenditures
and income by specific program.

 Stacey Sobel, consultant on lesbian health advocacy, has been contributing
her lobbying efforts at NGLTF during the past month to the ongoing battle for
health care reform. Sobel has been retained as a consultant to advance
lesbian health concerns within federal agencies, such as Health and Human
Services and the Social Security Administration. She will participate in the
work of the Lesbian Health Advocacy Network and rely on the organizing and
research of Network members to inform her federal advocacy.
 
 Gregory Fisher, a long-time NGLTF Board member, will come to D.C. from Texas
to serve as interim Communications Director during a search for a permanent
Director of Public Information. Fisher is a public relations professional and
has appeared on national news programs as a former "ex-gay" who criticizes
the ex-gay movement for its negative impact on the self-esteem of gay and
lesbian people. 

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