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Saturday, 9/14: Beach Classic
Photo credit: Luciano Costa, SoCal Social Club practicing for Beach Classic
L.A. GAY & LESBIAN CENTER BEACH CLASSIC 2013
STATE FARM BEACH VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT, TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES 5K RETRO RUN AND 2K SWIM
AT DOCKWEILER STATE BEACH ON SEPTEMBER 14
Olympic Swimmer Amini Fonua Participates in Memory of Transgender Murder Victims
WHAT:L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Beach Classic turns up the heat to close out the summer with a little friendly competition, including the Toyota Financial Services 5K Retro Run, 2K swim and the ever-popular State Farm Beach Volleyball Tournament. Participants can compete in one or more events to help raise funds for the Center. Registration is still open at beachclassic.org.
The Beach Classic is an expansion of the Center’s wildly popular YPC Beach Volleyball Classic, first launched five years ago by the Center’s Young Professionals Council. New this year, the Beach Classic begins with swimmers racing from Tower 58 on the sandy shore of Dockweiler State Beach to begin a challenging 2k open water swim. The Toyota Financial Services 5K Retro Run is the second major event of the day and it’s as much fun for competitive runners as it is for novices. Run in a costume from your favorite decade to compete for 1st and 2nd place prizes! All runners, swimmers and bi-athletes will be officially chip-timed by Gemini Timing and receive a finisher’s medal.
The final event is the State Farm Beach Volleyball Tournament with as many as 30 Recreational Division teams (6 v 6 games) and 30 Competitive Division teams (4 v 4 games). In between matches, spectators and participants can take a break in the State Farm Chill Out Zone, grab a drink and recharge.
WHO:Openly gay Olympic swimmer Amini Fonua will be participating in the 2K Swim. He is swimming to champion the Center’s transgender services and in memory of Fontana resident Domonique Newburn, who was tragically murdered on August 20. (Full press release below) In addition, openly gay USC swimmer Sean Mulroy will be participating to champion HIV/AIDS programs and services at the Center.
Other event sponsors include A Runner’s Circle, Liddy Healthworks, Sports Authority, Nekter Juice Bar, Elevation Fitness, Finis, Golden Voice, smartwater, West Hollywood Whole Foods Market, RoadID and AIDS Lifecycle who will have a Big Wheel Race on the beach.
WHEN:Saturday, September 14 from 7:00 AM – 4:00 PM
8:00am 2k SWIM Tower 58 Start & Finish Line
9:00am TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES 5k RETRO RUN
11:00 am STATE FARM VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT begin
WHERE: Dockweiler State Beach
WHY:For more than 40 years, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center has been building the health, advocating for the rights and enriching the lives of LGBT people. We serve more LGBT people than any other organization in the world with services ranging from LGBT specialty medical care to cultural arts programs; from housing homeless youth to hosting life-enriching programs for seniors. Learn more at LAgaycenter.org.
- 30 –
Media Contact:
Calvin Fleming
calvin@goodpr.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GAY OLYMPIAN COMPETES TO SUPPORT TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY
Swims in Memory of Local Transgender Murder Victim at
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Beach Classic on September 14
Playa Del Rey, CA - Openly gay Olympic swimmer Amini Fonua announced that he will be participating in the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Beach Classic on September 14 at Dockweiler Beach. At the 2012 London Olympics, Fonua competed in the Men's 100 meter breaststroke. He’ll be swimming in a friendly 2K open swim competition at the Beach Classic to champion transgender services offered by the Center.
“It saddened me to hear of the recent tragic deaths of Islan Nettles and Domonique Newburn,” said Fonua. “We cannot turn a blind eye away from our transgender family. My hope is that by participating in the Beach Classic that we not only help to educate those ignorant about transgender people, but that we raise money for services to empower and uplift our transgender brothers and sisters.”
With more than 200 participants, Beach Classic includes the Toyota Financial Services 5K Run, a 2K swim and the State Farm Beach Volleyball Tournament. In addition to swimming at the Beach Classic event, Fonua is inviting the public to join his volleyball team that will compete in the recreational division. Volleyball team members are encouraged to raise at least $125 each that will support services at the Center. Register at www.beachclassic.org – select “Team Trans Olympian.”
On August 20, transgender reality star Domonique Newburn, 31, was found brutally murdered in her home in Fontana, CA. In a separate incident, on August 23, Islan Nettles, 21, died only days after being assaulted in Brooklyn.
According to a new study by the Organization of the American States, in 2012 there were at least 265 transgender people murdered, many of them in violent killings specifically motivated by anti-trans hate.
Fonua is a graduate of Texas A&M. His journey as an openly gay athlete began when he came out in the campus newspaper to defend the school from the perception that it is a hostile environment for LGBT students. He represented Tonga at the 2012 London Olympics and was his nation's flag-bearer in the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations.
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center provides many programs and services developed specifically to meet the needs of both MTF (male-to-female) and FTM (female-to-male) transgender people. From the Transgender Health Program that provides comprehensive health care to support groups and legal services.
For more than 40 years, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center has been building the health, advocating for the rights and enriching the lives of LGBT people. They serve more LGBT people than any other organization in the world with services ranging from LGBT specialty medical care to cultural arts programs; from housing homeless youth to hosting life-enriching programs for seniors. Learn more at LAgaycenter.org.
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Saturday, 9/14: Beach Classic
Photo credit: Luciano Costa, SoCal Social Club practicing for Beach Classic
L.A. GAY & LESBIAN CENTER BEACH CLASSIC 2013
STATE FARM BEACH VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT, TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES 5K RETRO RUN AND 2K SWIM
AT DOCKWEILER STATE BEACH ON SEPTEMBER 14
Olympic Swimmer Amini Fonua Participates in Memory of Transgender Murder Victims
WHAT:L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Beach Classic turns up the heat to close out the summer with a little friendly competition, including the Toyota Financial Services 5K Retro Run, 2K swim and the ever-popular State Farm Beach Volleyball Tournament. Participants can compete in one or more events to help raise funds for the Center. Registration is still open at beachclassic.org.
The Beach Classic is an expansion of the Center’s wildly popular YPC Beach Volleyball Classic, first launched five years ago by the Center’s Young Professionals Council. New this year, the Beach Classic begins with swimmers racing from Tower 58 on the sandy shore of Dockweiler State Beach to begin a challenging 2k open water swim. The Toyota Financial Services 5K Retro Run is the second major event of the day and it’s as much fun for competitive runners as it is for novices. Run in a costume from your favorite decade to compete for 1st and 2nd place prizes! All runners, swimmers and bi-athletes will be officially chip-timed by Gemini Timing and receive a finisher’s medal.
The final event is the State Farm Beach Volleyball Tournament with as many as 30 Recreational Division teams (6 v 6 games) and 30 Competitive Division teams (4 v 4 games). In between matches, spectators and participants can take a break in the State Farm Chill Out Zone, grab a drink and recharge.
WHO:Openly gay Olympic swimmer Amini Fonua will be participating in the 2K Swim. He is swimming to champion the Center’s transgender services and in memory of Fontana resident Domonique Newburn, who was tragically murdered on August 20. (Full press release below) In addition, openly gay USC swimmer Sean Mulroy will be participating to champion HIV/AIDS programs and services at the Center.
Other event sponsors include A Runner’s Circle, Liddy Healthworks, Sports Authority, Nekter Juice Bar, Elevation Fitness, Finis, Golden Voice, smartwater, West Hollywood Whole Foods Market, RoadID and AIDS Lifecycle who will have a Big Wheel Race on the beach.
WHEN:Saturday, September 14 from 7:00 AM – 4:00 PM
8:00am 2k SWIM Tower 58 Start & Finish Line
9:00am TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES 5k RETRO RUN
11:00 am STATE FARM VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT begin
WHERE: Dockweiler State Beach
WHY:For more than 40 years, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center has been building the health, advocating for the rights and enriching the lives of LGBT people. We serve more LGBT people than any other organization in the world with services ranging from LGBT specialty medical care to cultural arts programs; from housing homeless youth to hosting life-enriching programs for seniors. Learn more at LAgaycenter.org.
- 30 –
Media Contact:
Calvin Fleming
calvin@goodpr.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GAY OLYMPIAN COMPETES TO SUPPORT TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY
Swims in Memory of Local Transgender Murder Victim at
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Beach Classic on September 14
Playa Del Rey, CA - Openly gay Olympic swimmer Amini Fonua announced that he will be participating in the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Beach Classic on September 14 at Dockweiler Beach. At the 2012 London Olympics, Fonua competed in the Men's 100 meter breaststroke. He’ll be swimming in a friendly 2K open swim competition at the Beach Classic to champion transgender services offered by the Center.
“It saddened me to hear of the recent tragic deaths of Islan Nettles and Domonique Newburn,” said Fonua. “We cannot turn a blind eye away from our transgender family. My hope is that by participating in the Beach Classic that we not only help to educate those ignorant about transgender people, but that we raise money for services to empower and uplift our transgender brothers and sisters.”
With more than 200 participants, Beach Classic includes the Toyota Financial Services 5K Run, a 2K swim and the State Farm Beach Volleyball Tournament. In addition to swimming at the Beach Classic event, Fonua is inviting the public to join his volleyball team that will compete in the recreational division. Volleyball team members are encouraged to raise at least $125 each that will support services at the Center. Register at www.beachclassic.org – select “Team Trans Olympian.”
On August 20, transgender reality star Domonique Newburn, 31, was found brutally murdered in her home in Fontana, CA. In a separate incident, on August 23, Islan Nettles, 21, died only days after being assaulted in Brooklyn.
According to a new study by the Organization of the American States, in 2012 there were at least 265 transgender people murdered, many of them in violent killings specifically motivated by anti-trans hate.
Fonua is a graduate of Texas A&M. His journey as an openly gay athlete began when he came out in the campus newspaper to defend the school from the perception that it is a hostile environment for LGBT students. He represented Tonga at the 2012 London Olympics and was his nation's flag-bearer in the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations.
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center provides many programs and services developed specifically to meet the needs of both MTF (male-to-female) and FTM (female-to-male) transgender people. From the Transgender Health Program that provides comprehensive health care to support groups and legal services.
For more than 40 years, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center has been building the health, advocating for the rights and enriching the lives of LGBT people. They serve more LGBT people than any other organization in the world with services ranging from LGBT specialty medical care to cultural arts programs; from housing homeless youth to hosting life-enriching programs for seniors. Learn more at LAgaycenter.org.
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