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NO/AIDS Task Force Volunteer Training
NO/AIDS Task Force is sponsoring a free AIDS Awareness Seminar and Volunteer Training Workshop from 8:30am to 4:30pm on Saturday, March 7 and Sunday, March 8, at the LSU Medical Education Building, 1901 Perdido St. in New Orleans.
The workshop will cover topics such as medical aspects of HIV/AIDS, legal issues, psychosocial dynamics, and risk reduction information. The Volunteer Training weekend will be followed by additional training for each of seven different volunteer areas.
Community volunteers are needed to work with several agencies including Project Lazarus, Pediatric AIDS Program of Children's Hospital, the HIV Programs at the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans, and NO/AIDS Task Force. Workshop participants will select from a variety of volunteer placements including the Statewide HIV/AIDS Hotline, Buddy Program, HIV Counseling, Hospital Visitors, HIV Outpatient Clinic, Project Lazarus, and the Pediatric AIDS Program.
To receive a volunteer packet or get more information about volunteer training, call 504.945.4000.
Cher To Be Honored At 1998 GLAAD Media Awards
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) announced that Cher will receive the 1998 Vanguard Award at the 9th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. The Media Awards, which will take place in three ceremonies this year, will honor the Oscar-winning actress on Apr. 19 at the Los Angeles ceremony.
The Vanguard Award is presented to a member of the entertainment or media community who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for lesbians and gay men. Past recipients of the award include Cristina Saralegui, Roseanne, Sid Sheinberg, Aaron Spelling and Steven Tisch.
"The reason this award from GLAAD means so much to me," said Cher, "is because I'm being honored by the gay community, a group of people who have stood by me and my career through thick and thin."
In 1983, Cher depicted Dolly Pelliker in Silkwood, one the very first positive portrayals of a lesbian in a major motion picture. The role earned her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. Cher's first major acting role was on Broadway in the 1982 play Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, which featured the positive portrayal of a transgender lead character.
Cher became a leading crusader in the struggle for equal rights of lesbians and gay men after coming to terms with the concerns she had regarding her daughter's sexual orientation. In 1996, Cher gave the keynote address at the national convention of Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and participated in a National Coming Out Day event. That same year, Chastity Bono, who is now GLAAD's Entertainment Media Director, interviewed her mom for an extensive cover story in the Advocate, a national gay and lesbian newsmagazine. Cher has also been a supporter of HIV/AIDS organizations such as AMFAR and the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Today, Cher, the actress, singer, performer and activist, is an icon to many in the lesbian and gay community.
"Part of my mother's public appeal is her spirit and outspokenness. She has always stood up for what she believes is right, never bowing to pressure from people bent on influencing her 'role' as a performer and as a woman," said Chastity Bono. "It is that very spirit and caring that fuels much of the work that I do today."
"Cher embodies a growing mentality among Americans that values the parent-child relationship in its many diverse forms. Cher has gone beyond simply 'accepting' her daughter Chastity's sexual orientation, she has worked with the lesbian and gay community and our friends to make the 'coming out' process easier for people across this country," said GLAAD Executive Director Joan M. Garry. "While Hollywood has begun representing the lives of lesbians and gay men much more frequently in the past few years, when Cher depicted Dolly in Silkwood, she tackled a role that Hollywood was years from embracing."
The GLAAD Media Awards will also be honoring Ellen DeGeneres at the Los Angeles event at the Century Plaza Hotel and Towers. K.d. lang and Miramax Films' Co-Chairmen Bob and Harvey Weinstein will be honored in New York City on Mar. 30 at the New York Hilton Towers. Judith Light will be honored in Washington, DC on Apr. 4 at the JW Marriot. The GLAAD Media Awards are sponsored in part by Absolut and American Airlines.
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