HRC to Host 4th Annual Va-Va-Vaudeville Her Event Variety Show to be Held to Celebrate LGBT Women and Build Awareness
CHICAGO (January 15, 2015) - The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, will host the 4th annual Va-Va-Vaudeville Her Event on Sunday, February 15 at the Mayne Stage Theater. The event is a variety show featuring performances from burlesque dancers, comedians, musicians and painted ladies. Local comedian, Gwen La Roka, will be hosting the event for the second year in a row.
“This event combines laughter, undeniably sexy performers, and awe inspiring creativity in the way only Chicago Vaudeville can," said HRC Chicago Membership Outreach Chair Ashley Fowler. “Her HRC events across the country showcase the diversity and vibrancy of the women within the LGBT community. We hope attendance at these events inspires action among attendees to become engaged in our shared cause.”
The event is part of the national Her HRC Program held in multiple cities across the country. The mission of the event is to gather women to both celebrate and build a greater sense of community while learning about the importance of engaging in the LGBT civil rights movement. This program expands and diversifies HRC’s membership through events hosted across the country towards the beginning of each calendar year. From live performances to comedy to film screenings to everything in between, each market’s unique programming is tailored to their community.
For more information or to purchase tickets to the 2015 HRC Chicago Her Event, please visit: http://www.hrcchicago.org. The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all. ### MEDIA CONTACT: Victor Lim, Communications Chair, Phone: 703-946-6372, Email: victor.lim@hrcchicago.org
Media Advisory: HRC & Local Catholics Join to Raise Voices of LGBT Faithful While Bishops Attend Meetings With Pope
WASHINGTON - The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, will join with LGBT Catholics and their supporters in seven cities to pray the rosary and hold a vigils as part of a national effort to send a message of acceptance during a bishops’ meeting with Pope Francis from Oct. 5-19.
The two-week faith sojourn, Pray, Listen, Discern -- Raising the Voices of LGBT Catholics, is scheduled to coincide with the Vatican’s Extraordinary Synod, a gathering of 150 Catholic Church leaders in Rome to consider family issues and challenges facing the church.
The Pray, Listen, Discern Events will kick off Oct. 6 in San Francisco at the Cathedral of St. Mary, and be followed by prayers and vigils in six other cities where bishops have targeted LGBT Catholics with particularly heartless comments.
Following the launch in San Francisco, events are scheduled Oct. 9 in St. Paul; Oct. 13 & 14 in Chicago and Springfield, Ill.; Oct. 15 in Cincinnati; Oct. 17 in Philadelphia; and Oct. 19 in Baltimore. Additional information, including times and locations, can be found here.
“As we prepare to gather, we pray that our U.S. representative in Rome, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, listens to our voices and sees the value of recognizing and including all families in the Catholic fold,” said Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera, director of HRC’s Latino/a and Catholic Initiatives. “On behalf of all of those who have been excluded from the church -- from the LGBT faithful and divorced families, to those who have been fired for simply being who they are -- we will offer them Holy Mary's wisdom and God's clarity."
The Synod is expected to address issues of profound importance to LGBT Catholics who are experiencing increasing acceptance among church laity. That movement toward inclusion and moderation, also reflected in Pope Francis’s messages, is not, however, expected to be carried to Rome by U.S. clergy.
The vigils will shine a light on Catholic bishops who have been the most outspoken in their rejection of LGBT Catholics, their civil rights, and their rightful place in the church, according to Meléndez Rivera. More information about bishops in those cities can be found in the HRC document, “The Best of the Worst: Catholic Bishops Across the Country.”
In addition to addressing questions about the family, the Synod in Rome will also consider issues of fertility, surrogate birth, and contraception. Though the Synod will not result in recognition of marriage equality or the ordination of women, participants have the opportunity to take steps toward greater inclusion -- including extending the baptismal sacrament to children of LGBT Catholic families.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all. ### MEDIA CONTACT: Victor Lim, 703-946-6372, communications@hrcchicago.org