The Central Valley Stonewall Democratic Club (CVSDC) is honored to announce that national LGBT activist and Iraq veteran Anthony Woods will deliver the keynote address at their annual Carnival fundraiser. In 2008, Woods’s life was changed forever when he refused to live a life of lies and was discharged from the U.S. military. Mr. Woods impressed media pundits and the political elite with his East Bay ’08 congressional campaign, inspiring a grassroots movement that motivated the online, progressive, and youth communities. While former Attorney General and Central Valley native John Garamendi won the election, Woods continues to advocate in support of a rational policy towards gays serving in the military and common-sense civil rights equality.
Locally, Renée Hall of Stockton is one of many local residents discharged and denied the right to defend her homeland. “To serve and protect our nation is a great honor and a responsibility that I took very seriously. It’s unfortunate that some of militaries best men and women are denied the right to serve.” In a 2009 interview, Mr. Woods concurred, “We’re a country fighting two wars, having trouble recruiting, yet we want to turn away some of our most talented, most well-trained soldiers?”
CVSDC President Martina Virrey shares, “2010 is a year of discussion for the Central Valley and the LGBT community. We need to better understand why 67 percent of voters in Stanislaus County and 65 percent of voters in San Joaquin County voted against civil rights equality [Proposition 8, 2008]. At the same time, we need to remind family, friends, and neighbors that we don’t exist to deny or fight religious or cultural beliefs; we are simply asking not to be treated as second-class U.S. citizens.”
Date: Saturday, February 6, 2010
Time: 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Location: Bertha Knowles Auditorium, University Park
City/Town: Stockton, CA
Cost: $35 per person
To RSVP or purchase tickets for Carnival 2010, visit www.cvstonewall.org or call (209) 973-9038.
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