[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 56 (Tuesday, April 20, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HONORING THE GAY AND LESBIAN ACTIVISTS ALLIANCE OF WASHINGTON, DC 
(GLAA) ON ITS 39TH ANNIVERSARY, AND THE RECIPIENTS OF THE DISTINGUISHED 
                             SERVICE AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 20, 2010

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to join 
me in honoring America's oldest, continuously operational gay and 
lesbian rights organization: the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of 
Washington, DC, GLAA, on its 39th anniversary, and the recipients of 
the Distinguished Service Award.
  Since its founding in April 1971, GLAA has long been at the forefront 
of efforts to strengthen enforcement of the landmark D.C. Human Rights 
Act of 1977, and at the forefront of advocating for the gay, lesbian, 
bisexual, and transgendered, GLBT, community. GLAA played a key role in 
winning marriage equality in the District, working with coalition 
partners, DC officials and the wider public to craft and implement a 
strategy for achieving a strong, sustainable victory.
  GLAA has fought to ensure that, GLBT, citizens are treated fairly and 
respectfully by DC agencies from the Metropolitan Police and Fire/
Emergency Medical Services Departments to the Department of Consumer 
and Regulatory Affairs, as well as the DC Public Schools. GLAA has also 
participated in lobbying efforts against arbitrary federal restrictions 
on the District's budget aimed at lesbians and gay men.
  On April 20, GLAA will hold its 39th anniversary Reception honoring 
this year's recipients of its Distinguished Service Awards: Joan E. 
Biren, Sean Bugg, Lou Chibbaro Jr., David Mariner, Michael Crawford, 
Rev. Monique Ellison, Brian K. Flowers, Mark Levine, Nick McCoy, Brian 
Moore, Sultan Shakir, and the DC Clergy United for Marriage Equality. 
The recipients contributed toward GLAA's effervescent fight to receive 
equality for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community in 
the District of Columbia.
  GLAA's 39 year fight to secure inalienable American rights for the 
GLBT residents of Washington, DC is similar to the long struggle for 
full voting representation in Congress for U.S. citizens, living in our 
Nation's capital, who have served honorably in every American war, 
including the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and are taxed 
without representation.
  GLAA's open and forthright advocacy supports GLBT soldiers, who have 
sworn to protect our country with their lives and must serve in 
silence, without the open support of their families and communities.
  I ask this House to join me in congratulating the Gay and Lesbian 
Activists Alliance on its 39th Anniversary, and the recipients of the 
Distinguished Service Award for their commitment to the gay, lesbian, 
bisexual, and transgendered community in Washington, DC.

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