WASHINGTON – The Mautner Project, the National Lesbian Health Organization, will present Dr. Vivian Pinn with their “Chair’s Award” this Saturday at their annual Gala Dinner event which will take place at the Washington Hilton and Towers Hotel. With the theme of “Love, Strength, and Hope” the Mautner Project will celebrate and honor an array of lesbian activists, LGBT health supporters and surprise guests.
“Dr. Pinn has been a leader, far ahead of her public health colleagues, in supporting and promoting the issues and needs of lesbians, bisexual, and transgender women,” said Mautner interim executive director Andrea Densham. “Through Dr. Pinn’s leadership, the Institute of Medicine produced the historic report on lesbian health research priorities. This was a turning point for lesbian health, moving it from a local grassroots effort to the national public health agenda.”
Dr. Vivian Pinn, has been Director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health for over ten years. She has advocated for access to good healthcare for everyone throughout her professional career. After growing up in segregated Lynchburg, Virginia, Pinn broke gender and racial barriers as the only African-American woman in her class at the University of Virginia’s medical school. “With so few women in medicine in the 1960s and 1970s, I was often only one of a handful involved in a variety of medical-professionals activities,” she said. “My philosophy has always been to not let obstacles, no matter how great, stand in the way of accomplishing goals.”
Other honorees at the annual Awards Gala include Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), recipient of the 2007 Healing Works Award. This year’s Unsung Hero is Cheryl Spector, a beloved and dedicated local activist who was recently lost to cancer, and Elizabeth Dresser as the Mautner Volunteer of the Year. René Hicks, a comedian and cancer survivor, will be mistress of ceremonies for the event.
The 17th Anniversary of Mautner Project, the National Lesbian Health Organization, is a celebration and benefit for the Mautner Project. The Mautner Project undertakes to improve the health of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women who partner with women through advocacy, education, research, and direct service. The Mautner Project envisions a healthcare system that is guided by social justice and responsive to the needs of all people.
Gala tickets are $175 and can be purchased by calling 202.332.5536 or online at www.mautnerproject.org. For details, please contact gala@mautnerproject.org.
The Mautner Project is the national lesbian health organization. The Mautner Project’s mission is to improve the health and wellness of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women who partner with women through advocacy, education, direct services, and research. To obtain information, or learn more about the Mautner Project, call 202-332-5536 or visit www.mautnerproject.org.
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