Victory Fund Statement on the death of former US Rep. Gerry Studds

Sat, Oct 14th 2006, 11:12

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Denis Dison (202) 842-7308, denis.dison@victoryfund.org

WASHINGTON--The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund today issued the following statement from Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO, regarding the death of former U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds

"As the first openly gay person ever elected to the U.S. Congress, Gerry Studds occupies a unique place in history and in the hearts of gay and lesbian leaders everywhere. His legacy is that of a trailblazer who faced life's challenges directly and fought hard to advance the cause of equality for the LGBT community. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, his husband Dean, and to his former constituents for whom he worked so diligently."

The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund is the only national organization dedicated to increasing the number of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender elected officials at all levels of government. Founded in 1991, Victory has helped to increase the number of openly LGBT elected officials in the U.S. from 49 to more than 325.