 WASHINGTON,
DC --- June 14, 1999 ---The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's (NGLTF)
Policy Institute announced today that Virginia Apuzzo, the Clinton
Administration's highest ranking lesbian official, is resigning and
will accept a new position at the Policy Institute's think-tank in New
York City.
The Policy Institutešs Virginia Apuzzo Chair for Leadership in Public
Policy is the first endowed chair to be created by the think-tank of
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Ms. Apuzzo will join the
Policy Institute staff as the first holder of the Apuzzo Chair on
September 7th. The move reunites Ms. Apuzzo to an organization she
served as Board leader and as Executive Director in the 1970's and
1980's.
The Apuzzo Chair is designed to recognize leaders with a distinguished
record of service on behalf of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender (GLBT) communities. During Apuzzo's tenure at the Policy
Institute, she will serve as a senior movement strategist, write and
lecture on a wide range of issues, and steer several specific projects
to increase support for GLBT equality in both the public and private
sector. Drawing on her experiences in the White House and her many
years of public service, Apuzzo will bring activists, policy makers
and academics together to develop new strategies and to broaden
support for GLBT equality.
After Apuzzo's tenure, the Chair will be awarded to other
distinguished activists, political leaders, scholars or business
people who have been catalysts for change on behalf of GLBT people.
"The Apuzzo Chair creates a capacity long missing in our national gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender movement - the capacity to tap the
wisdom of innovative leaders and harness their experience to
strategically help our movement succeed," said Kerry Lobel, Executive
Director of the Task Force. "We are delighted that with all the
options available to her, Ginny chose to continue her movement work
through NGLTF's Policy Institute."
Lobel noted that with Apuzzo's addition, the Policy Institute houses
some of the most seasoned and distinguished strategists in the GLBT
movement. They include Institute director Urvashi Vaid, Senior Fellow
Dave Fleischer, Aging and Religion Initiative consultant Ken South,
and Senior Fellow and Institute Founder John D'Emilio.
Virginia Apuzzo is a long-time leader and innovator in the gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender movement. A former educator and
ex-nun, Apuzzo held the position of Assistant to the President for
Administration and Management from 1997-1999, making her the highest
ranking openly gay official in the Administration. Prior to this,
Apuzzo served as Associate Deputy Secretary of the Department of
Labor. She is former Commissioner of the New York State Civil Service
Commission and former President of the State Department of Civil
Service.
In 1980, as an openly gay lesbian delegate to the Democratic National
Convention, Apuzzo co-authored the first gay and lesbian civil rights
plank of a major political party. As Executive Director of NGLTF from
1982-1986, Apuzzo testified at the first Congressional Hearings on
AIDS and spearheaded the community's response to HIV/AIDS policy on
the federal level. In addition, Apuzzo initiated the first national
anti-violence work in our movement and helped develop the concept and
funding of the first anti-violence projects in San Francisco and New
York. Throughout the 1980šs, she was an outspoken advocate for a
progressive and inclusive HIV policy at the national and state level.
"Creating change is about matching ideas with a strategy that will
ensure their success," said Apuzzo. "As our movement grows larger, the
traditional pursuit of access and visibility are no longer enough. We
need to move from access to responsiveness and from visibility to full
participation. We must not just think, but do."
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force was founded in 1973 and is the
leading grassroots organizing, public policy advocacy and educational
organization in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender movement.
NGLTF's Policy Institute was founded in 1995 and is today the largest
think tank in the GLBT movement. Since its inception, the Policy
Institute has formulated original models for collaboration and change
at the national, state and local level, producing substantive research
and strategic projects to strengthen the GLBT movement and its goals.
NGLTF's Policy Institute is a think tank dedicated to research, policy
analysis and strategic projects to advance the greater understanding
and equality of GLBT people. NGLTF works to eliminate prejudice,
violence and injustice against GLBT people at the local, state and
national level. As part of abroader social justice movement for
freedom, justice and equality, NGLTF is creating a world that respects
and celebrates diversity of human expression and identity where all
people may fully participate in society.
SOURCE: NATIONAL GAY
AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Betsy
Gressler, Deputy Political Director
NGLTF 202-332-6483 ext. 3306 800-757-6476 pager
bgressler@ngltf.org
http://www.ngltf.org
1700 Kalorama Road NW, Washington,
DC
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