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Log inMcCormick lauded for promotion of equality, diversity
McCormick lauded for promotion of equality, diversity
by Outspoken on Sat Sep 13, 2008 7:17 am
McCormick lauded for promotion of equality, diversity
BY MECHELE COOPER
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA -- Dale McCormick is excited and honored to receive a "Catalyst for Change Award" from the University of Southern Maine's Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine.
The founder and first president of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance -- now Equality Maine -- is being recognized for her fight for jobs, economic justice, equality for women, human rights and health care for all.
Susie Bock, director of the center, said the award acknowledges individuals who have been catalysts for change regarding diversity, equality, and human and civil rights in Maine, particularly but not exclusively as it relates to minorities.
McCormick has served in the Maine Senate, four terms as state treasurer and currently as executive director of the state housing authority.
"Her life's work is the essence of the Catalyst for Change Award and reflects the values exemplified in the life of Jean Byers Sampson," Bock said.
Bock said the award was given for the first time in 2007 to Rabbi Harry Z. Sky, of Falmouth, for devoting his life to civil rights in Maine.
From the time she started fighting for gay and lesbian civil rights in Maine, McCormick said it has gone from gays and lesbians being thought of as piranhas and called names, to an era where it is the civil rights cause of young people, both gay and straight.
"We have television shows where gays and lesbians are shown to be regular people doing all kinds of jobs and contributing to society," McCormick said Friday. "A tipping point has been reached. It's a completely different world now than it was back when the whole society had policies that reflected the notion that gay people were unworthy."
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/5404243.html
BY MECHELE COOPER
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA -- Dale McCormick is excited and honored to receive a "Catalyst for Change Award" from the University of Southern Maine's Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine.
The founder and first president of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance -- now Equality Maine -- is being recognized for her fight for jobs, economic justice, equality for women, human rights and health care for all.
Susie Bock, director of the center, said the award acknowledges individuals who have been catalysts for change regarding diversity, equality, and human and civil rights in Maine, particularly but not exclusively as it relates to minorities.
McCormick has served in the Maine Senate, four terms as state treasurer and currently as executive director of the state housing authority.
"Her life's work is the essence of the Catalyst for Change Award and reflects the values exemplified in the life of Jean Byers Sampson," Bock said.
Bock said the award was given for the first time in 2007 to Rabbi Harry Z. Sky, of Falmouth, for devoting his life to civil rights in Maine.
From the time she started fighting for gay and lesbian civil rights in Maine, McCormick said it has gone from gays and lesbians being thought of as piranhas and called names, to an era where it is the civil rights cause of young people, both gay and straight.
"We have television shows where gays and lesbians are shown to be regular people doing all kinds of jobs and contributing to society," McCormick said Friday. "A tipping point has been reached. It's a completely different world now than it was back when the whole society had policies that reflected the notion that gay people were unworthy."
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/5404243.html
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
