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Welcome to the latest edition of Front and Center. This week we'll share highlights from Women's Event 14, honoring Wanda Sykes, Chely Wright, Marla Persky, Nancy Di Dia, and featuring a very personal testimonial from my Mom, detailing her journey of acceptance of her lesbian daughter. We’ll also tell you about our Lesbian Cancer Initiative's powerful health message to African American women. Plus, you’ll hear why the Hispanic AIDS Forum awarded our own George Fesser with a Sol Award. Please enjoy reading these stories and if you are inspired to support the Center, please click here or on the right hand side of this page.



Women’s Event 14: Success and Inspiring Videos

More than 500 people gathered at Pier Sixty for Women’s Event 14, to celebrate out comedienne and actress Wanda Sykes, lesbian country singer Chely Wright, and Nancy Di Dia and Marla Persky from the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim USA. Singer and equality advocate, Cyndi Lauper inspired the audience with her warm introduction to her friend Wanda Sykes, and my mom, Pamela Testone, made sure there were no dry eyes in the house, when she talked about her own difficult, yet ultimately rewarding journey, to accepting me as an out gay woman. The event raised over $330,000 -- $30,000 more than last year's gathering, to benefit the Center's diverse array of programs and services for women that help the health and wellness of our entire community. These programs include parents-to-be programs in Center Families, young women's groups in our Youth Enrichment Services, counseling and cancer education through our Lesbian Cancer Initiative, and year-round performances and discussions by women authors, artists, entertainers and leaders in our community.

View Inspiring Event Videos Here:

Click here to view event photos

Center Educates SiSTAH Womyn of Colour Group About Importance of Cancer Screenings

Our Lesbian Cancer Initiative conducted "Damn, I'm Still Sexy," workshop for Sistahs in Search of Truth, Alliance and Harmony (SiSTAH). It taught African American women to let go of their fears about getting screened for breast and other cancers. The main message: If you go through cancer, you can still have a life, you are still a woman and you don't have to give up your sexuality and your connection to your body. Participants shared their worries about receiving cancer diagnoses and potentially losing all their hair and Lesbian Cancer Initiative workshop leader, Kaz Mitchell explained how to maintain a sense of pride and dignity through that process. In the end the women walked away armed with vital information about connecting with medical care, letting go of the loss that cancer might bring, and refusing to allow fears of screening become an obstacle to taking care of themselves. After the workshop, several women said: "I'm going to go get my mammogram."



Center's George Fesser Awarded Sol Award for Commitment to HIV/AIDS Work

On Wednesday November 16, Director of Center Families, George Fesser, received a Sol Award (Sun Award) from the Hispanic AIDS Forum. Community members gathered at Battery Gardens in lower Manhattan for the event. The Hispanic AIDS Forum created the Sol Award in 2007 to honor individuals and entities who demonstrate compassion, courage and leadership in our shared struggle to eradicate HIV/AIDS and its root causes from our communities. Throughout his career George has dedicated himself to bettering the lives of others. From his days as a missionary in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala, to his work with at risk LGBT youth at Miami Children’s Hospital, to his subsequent years at Streetworks Project, Aid for AIDS, the Hispanic AIDS Forum and ultimately the Center, George has worked tirelessly to educate the world about the importance of HIV/AIDS awareness. He regularly uses his own story as an out HIV Positive gay man to inspire. “We are the masters of our lives. We don’t have to buy into the society that tells us that as gay people or people living with HIV, we’re not worthy of love or we’re not worthy of having a good job. My life and the things I’ve been able to accomplish are because I refused to buy into that,” he said. In his newest role as Director of Center Families, George is responsible for organizing education and support services for prospective parents and families in the LGBTQ community, as well as overseeing the groundbreaking LGBTQ Foster Care Project. We are proud to have George on our staff and congratulate him on receiving this prestigious award.