GLAD is pleased to announce that Mandy Carter, one of the country’s foremost grassroots, multi-issue activists, will be its 2006 Spirit of Justice honoree.

A self-described “southern out black lesbian social justice activist,” Carter has been a grassroots organizer for the past 37 years. She was a founding member of two groundbreaking organizations, Southerners On New Ground (SONG) and the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC).

“Mandy’s passion for social justice and talent for coalition-building have made her one of our most effective and inspiring activists,” says Lee Swislow, GLAD Executive Director. “We are proud to honor her with this award.”

“I’m thrilled to be honored by GLAD, whose values I share and whose work I admire,” said Carter. “Even when times are rough, I feel fortunate to be part of a community striving for equality and justice.”

The award, which honors individuals whose work and achievement reflect a profound dedication to the ideal of a just society, is given at GLAD’s annual Spirit of Justice Award Dinner.  The event, whose premier sponsor is iCapital, takes place this year on Friday, October 27, 2006 in Boston and is expected to draw 1,000 attendees.  Further information is available at www.glad.org/events.

In addition to her role in 1993 as one of its six original founders, Carter served from 2002-2005 as the Executive Director of SONG, a North Carolina-based organization integrating work against homophobia into freedom struggles in the South. SONG achieves this by building progressive movement across the South, connecting race, class, culture, gender, and sexuality identity.

Mandy Carter will also speak at a community meeting and reception on Sunday, October 29, from 2:00 – 5:00 at Union United Methodist Church in Boston.  She will discuss her work monitoring right-wing efforts to organize in communities of color.

NBJC, which Carter helped found in 2003, is the only national civil rights organization of concerned black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals and allies dedicated to promoting equality by fighting racism and homophobia.

During her tenure at SONG, Carter was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize as part of the “1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005,” recognizing and celebrating the valuable yet often invisible peace work of thousands of women around the world. “1000 Women” culminated in a project including a book, an interactive online platform, and traveling exhibit.

Carter is also closely tied to the fight for marriage equality, serving in Boston from 2001-2002 as a consultant to the Freedom to Marry Collaborative. She worked closely with GLAD, Freedom to Marry-Massachusetts, and the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry (RCFM). Massachusetts continues to be the only state legally recognizing marriage equality.

Carter found her activist roots in the late 1960s through the Quaker-based American Friends Service Committee, the pacifist War Resisters League, and the former Institute for the Study of Nonviolence. She was born in 1948 in Albany, New York, and today lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England’s leading legal organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and HIV status.

# # #