Martina

Continued from page 8

of people, I spoke about how this free place is where we can all do our best and contribute the most. This is where we can really "get in the game." And if we want to change history, we have to speak our.own truths and support others to speak theirs.

I was so inspired by the strength and solidarity I witnessed, I wanted to make the spirit last longer than a weekend. Two years later, two friends and I found a way to harness the economic power of the LGBT community and really make a difference. We launched the Rainbow Card that funds the non-profit Rainbow Endowment. In essence, we created a fund-raising tool that enables individuals to contribute to the LGBT community through the simple act of using a credit card. With less than 2% of all philanthropic dollars in the United States targeted specifically to lesbian and gay causes, the Rainbow Endowment has emerged as one of the nation's top funding sources to the LGBT community. Through its grant-making program, the endowment has contributed nearly two million dollars

Five pioneers

Continued from facing page

Outraged citizens clashed with police, who later took on their own anti-gay agenda, beating individuals and destroying property in the largely gay Castro neighborhood.

The next day was Harvey Milk's birthday, and, fearing a second night of rioting, the city permitted Castro Street to be closed in celebration of Milk and his legacy. The celebration went smoothly as individuals

to organizations empowering the LGBT community.

And finally, there's 2006, this amazing year when I was able to participate in the First World Outgames in Montréal. It was at this event that I experienced the difference between being tolerated and being accepted. I witnessed, for the first time, an LGBT event that was not organized solely by us, but for our community. I felt that I was no longer part of an embattled group of "outsiders" fighting to be merely tolerated rather than ever really accepted. For that week in Montréal, everyone was gay. The Outgames weren't just an LGBT event, they were a Montreal event, a Canadian event, and the Outgames are now on the way to living up to their name as a world event.

When I turn 50, I won't be alone. Statistics report that one out of 76 million baby boomers turns 50 every 7.5 seconds. How refreshing that math problem becomes when we realize that since the LGBT community is 10% of the population, it's a fact that we are clocking fiftieth birthday parties at the rate of almost one baby boomer per minute! If we can focus that energy and economic power, what can't we accomplish? Timing is everything, and now is our time.

I look forward to making history with you!

spoke on a makeshift stage and disco music filled the air, a fitting tribute to a man named as one of the 100 most influential politicians by Time magazine.

Milk's political journey ended abruptly, but not without a budding, still-growing legacy. Along with an annual commemorative candlelight march in San Francisco honoring Milk and Moscone, the Harvey Milk High School in New York serves atrisk LGBT youth, and several notable landmarks in San Francisco's Castro district have been named for him, all of which are a testament to his impact on the community in San Francisco and across the country.

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