Philadelphia Gay News Feb. 19 - 25, 2010
Honesty Integrity Professionalism
Vol. 34 No. 8
GALAEI marks 20 years of dedicated service, leadership By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer
tion. “Racism, poverty, social and economic justice, crime, violence, education, lack of Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education access to healthcare — all of them impacted Initiative is now in its 20th successful year, us as a community generally, and for Latino and will celebrate that milestone with an LGBTI people it was a bit different, because anniversary gala this spring. we experienced the same racism from outThe party will be held from 7-11 p.m. April side while experiencing homophobia both 16 at the Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad St., and from within our own Latino community and will give the agency’s supporters from the the larger mainstream culture,” he said. past two decades the chance to reconnect Once such conversations started, Acosta and raise funds for the group, as well as pay said GALAEI gradually gained credibility tribute to GALAEI founder David Acosta, and developed deep ties within the Latino, SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT: The Rev. Chris Glaser (right) leads the buffet line during the Interfaith Breakfast at the William Way LGBT Community Center on Feb. who will be presented with the inaugural LGBT and HIV/AIDS communities, which fueled the agency’s progress. 12, followed by Mark Duckett of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Chestnut Hill, Sarah David Acosta Leadership Award. GALAEI launched in Acosta stepped down in Lamming from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Nick Fennig of the June 1989 as the first 1999 and Gloria Casarez Church of the Holy Trinity. Glaser, interim pastor of the Virginia Highlands Church in local HIV/AIDS service took over as executive Atlanta, gave this year’s keynote presentation, continuing on last year’s theme of director, a position she the sanctity of same-sex marriage and the role of the clergy in the marriage-equality organization organized held until 2008, when she movement. About 40 people attended the second-annual event. Photo: Scott A. Drake by HIV/AIDS activists, and Acosta noted that it’s left to become the city’s — along with Bienestar in director of LGBT affairs. Los Angeles — the oldest When she took the reins Latino HIV/AIDS agency of GALAEI, Casarez in the country that focuses focused on developing on the LGBT community. and strengthening the “At that time, there agency’s programming, By Jen Colletta all of the schools were represented and were no programs either such as its youth program just hammered out how to do all of this.” locally or nationally that PGN Staff Writer Reaching Adolescents LGBT groups at the Ivy League schools were serving the HIV/ Via Education and the The University of Pennsylvania is play- have held workshops and meetings in the AIDS education and preTrans-health Information ing host this weekend to about 400 LGBT past, Feore said, but they were on a smaller vention needs of Latino Project. students from around the nation, who will scale and not continued from year to year. gay and bisexual men At the beginning of this gather to learn with and from one another Feore said the planning, undertaken by in Philadelphia and the century, GALAEI also about current LGBT-rights issues and members of Penn’s nine LGBT organiza- U.S., not to mention Latin worked to build comwork to solidify the role of LGBT students tions — which are overseen by umbrella America,” Acosta said. munity partnerships, a group Lambda Alliance — has been hectic in the Ivy League community. He served as executive GALAEI FOUNDING EXECUTIVE development Casarez DIRECTOR DAVID ACOSTA said was motivated by Representatives of all eight Ivy League but exciting. director of GALAEI for its “It was a lot of work, but it went really first 10 years and said, in schools have converged for the firstthe presidency of George annual IvyQ conference, Feb. 18-21, at well,” she said. “We have a lot of high- the beginning, the agency worked to estab- W. Bush, whom she described as “not very Penn, which won the right to host the profile speakers coming in and really lish its presence not just in the local HIV/ friendly to domestic AIDS issues” and durinaugural event in a bidding process last great sponsorships, so people have been AIDS and LGBT communities, but also in ing whose two terms, HIV/AIDS groups had really generous and great to work with.” year. mainstream Latino populations. limited access to funding. Four plenary sessions will be held Baylee Feore, Penn senior and head “It was a long, hard struggle for accep“One of the reasons we were able to grow organizer of the conference, said the moti- throughout the conference, led by Rich tance and inclusion,” Acosta said, adding our programs despite that was because we vation for the event was sparked during Ross, Penn grad and chair of The Walt the organization was eventually “able to were committed to working closely with a conversation among LGBT representa- Disney Studios; Stephen Glassman, chair articulate a discourse on the impact of HIV/ other HIV/AIDS service organizations,” tives of Penn, Columbia and Harvard at a of the Pennsylvania Human Relations AIDS among Latino gay and bisexual com- she said. “It wasn’t an option to go it alone separate Ivy League meeting about a year- Commission; Candace Gingrich, director munities in Philadelphia, nationally and because we were too small. If you have one and-a-half ago. of youth and campus outreach at Human internationally, especially in Latin America funder but five organizations competing for “The idea had been in the works for a Rights Campaign; and Jaime Grant, direc- and within the larger local Latino commu- all the funding, someone’s going to lose. while but we really didn’t make a lot of tor of the Policy Institute of the National nity and its leadership.” So we worked to really band together with progress, and then when we all met, we Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Acosta said the agency worked closely other organizations for funding, because Nearly two-dozen breakout workshops with local Latino leaders to educate them even though we’d all get less, we’d still be thought, ‘Hey great, we can actually do this,’” Feore said. “So we started e-mail- are also taking place in six different ses- about the similarities in the challenges able to reach more people, which we did.” ing, found contacts at all the other schools, LGBT and mainstream Latinos faced, and had a planning meeting last April in which See CONFERENCE, Page 6 to impress upon them the need for cooperaSee GALAEI, Page 6
Penn hosts first LGBT Ivy League conference