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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE PRIDE GUIDE 1994
HRCF dinner features Mel White, Lee Fisher
Author Mel White and Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher will be the keynote speakers at Columbus' 11th annual Human Rights Campaign Fund dinner, June 11 at the New Albany Country Club.
White recently wrote Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America, in which he describes his dilemma as an inthe-closet gay man who ghost-wrote books and speeches for anti-gay crusaders such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. White is currently dean of the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, Texas, the nation's largest gay church.
Fisher has been state attorney general since 1990. He was a state legislator during the previous decade, serving two years in the Ohio House and eight years in the Senate. During that time, he authored the Hate Crime Law, Missing Children Law and Crime Victims Assistance Law, among others.
Also during the HRCF dinner, Steve Shellabarger will receive this year's Michael H. Greer Humanitarian Award for his longstanding involvement in the gay and lesbian community, both in Columbus and on the national level.
Shellabarger, who is currently national co-chair of HRCF, helped launch Columbus' first HRCF dinner in 1983. Active since then in HRCF, the nation's largest gay and lesbian political organization, he has been on the group's board of directors for six years. He also has served on the board of the Columbus AIDS Task Force and was vice president of that organization for two years.
The other award to be presented at the dinner, the annual Torchlight Award, will be given to Gloria Smith of the Columbus AIDS Task Force for her contributions to Columbus' gay and lesbian community.
Smith, who has been executive director of the Task Force since 1987, oversees a
staff of 16 people plus hundreds of volunteers and a budget of $814,000. Under her leadership, the Task Force has been recognized by the federal government as one of the top five AIDS service organizations in the nation. Smith is also a member of the Columbus Community AIDS Coalition and
several AIDS advisory committees.
The HRCF event will begin with a reception at 6:30 pm, followed by dinner, then dancing to the sounds of a big band at 9:30. A silent auction also will be held, with a portion of the proceeds going to Ohioans Against Discrimination, a political action
committee formed to fight the threat of a right-wing ballot initiative in Ohio.
Co-chairs of the event are Michael Council and Sue Mayer. Tickets to the dinner, reception and dance cost $150; or $50 for the dance only. For ticket information, call Jeff Antaya at 885-1827.
Look out, Tonya's swinging a bat
by Rich Thomas
One of the more frolicsome events of Columbus' annual Pride celebration is in its seventh year driving home the fun in fundraising.
The Gay and Lesbian Softball Association will hold its Bat-N-Rouge drag queen softball game 6 pm June 19 at Berliner Park's diamond 29.
Most of the revelers playing the game in dresses, heels and high camp style are members of the softball league. Two teams of 20 each will be playing each other, trying to score runs and field the balls without twisting ankles, breaking fingernails or losing wigs.
Each team will also have a dozen or so cheerleaders, also in drag but not league members, to maintain enthusiasm.
Some of the promised costumes this year are the Flintstones, Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.
A panel of judges who are financial contributors to the softball league will select Miss Bat-N-Rouge 1994 from among the players.
The softball league will have a float in that afternoon's Pride parade featuring Miss Bat-N-Rouge 1993.
Proceeds from the event will go to Stonewall Union, the AIDS Service Connection, the Ohio AIDS Coalition and Pater Noster House as well as the league itself.
Tickets for Bat-N-Rouge may be purchased at Stonewall Union, Kukala's, and all Pride events and gay and lesbian softball league games.
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