Date:         Sat, 4 May 1996 13:58:26 EDT
From: LGCSCNYC@AOL.COM
Subject:      GET INVOLVED IN QUEER VOTE '96

LESBIAN & GAY CENTERS LAUNCH NATIONAL GAY VOTER MOBILIZATION
-- Project To Impact Local School Boards, Municipal, State, &
Presidential Elections '96--
-- More Than 20,000 Lesbian & Gay Voters Already Pledged in NYC --

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
New York City (25 April 1996) -- In an unprecedented effort to create a
visible lesbian and gay voting constituency capable of acting as a swing vote
in local, statewide, and Presidential elections in November 1996 and beyond,
the National Association of Lesbian & Gay Community Centers (NALGCC) today
announced the launch of PROMOTE THE VOTE at a press conference at the
National Press Club in Washington D.C.  A grassroots, non-partisan project,
PROMOTE THE VOTE will register and mobilize an estimated 190,000 lesbian and
gay-identified voters through more than 65 lesbian and gay community centers
across America.

PROMOTE THE VOTE will be coordinated by Carmen Vazquez, Director of Public
Policy at the New York Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center; and Ralph
M. Serpe, Executive Director of the Billy DeFrank Lesbian & Gay Community
Center in San Jose, California.  Today's press conference, coordinated by the
National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), included the presentation of a
research paper based on exit polls, which documents the power and potential
impact of registered lesbian and gay voters.  Copies of the report may be
obtained by contacting John D'Emilio at NGLTF (tel) 202-332-6483 x3302.

The first-ever organization of its kind founded in November 1995 by the
Lesbian & Gay Centers in Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and New York City,
the NALGCC coordinates national campaigns through grassroots projects and
facilitates the development of nascent lesbian and gay community centers by
providing technical assistance and guidance.  The combined annual budgets of
these 65 lesbian and gay community centers is an estimated $30 million.

Ralph Serpe said, "PROMOTE THE VOTE sends an unmistakable message to
legislators and elected representatives across America that the lesbian and
gay community is fed up with having our lives humiliatingly legislated,
scapegoated, and put to referendum.  As we have demonstrated in the past, we
can and will fight back."

Modeled upon the non-partisan "Voter Registration and Education Program" of
the New York Center, the largest in America, PROMOTE THE VOTE will distribute
voter registration forms at lesbian and gay bars, clubs, book shops,
coffeehouses, businesses and community events; as well as collect "voter
pledge cards" containing contact information for use by hundreds of
volunteers in a highly visible get-out-the-vote push to mobilize voters in
upcoming elections.

Carmen Vazquez said, "To date, PROMOTE THE VOTE-New York City has enough
volunteers and registered participants to mobilize 20,000 lesbian and gay
voters at the drop of a hat pin for any issue including school board,
mayoral, gubernatorial, and judgeship elections.  America is still a
democracy, and, as long as it is, we're going to use our vote to protect and
expand civil rights for everyone -- not constrict rights as bigots would have
it."

CONTACT:                Benjamin Stilp, Director of Communications -- NYC Center
                        NALGCC Communications Coordinator
                        tel (212) 620-7310      FAX (212) 924-2657
--[END]--