Family Health Centers of San Diego will present its monthly series, “Spirit of the Barrio.” This month’s event, which is being sponsored by the Unified Port of San Diego, will feature a keynote speech by Father Gregory Boyle of Homeboy Industries. Boyle is the Executive Director of Jobs for Future/Homeboy Industries, which is a center that provides counseling and employment opportunities for at-risk gang-involved youth. He is a nationally renowned speaker who addresses the importance of adult attention, guidance and unconditional love in preventing youth from joining gangs.

The event will take place on Friday, Sept. 21 from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1728 Newton Ave. Tickets can be obtained for a tax-deductible donation of $20, or a table of ten for $175. Reservations can be made by calling 619-515-2526.

“Follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City” fund-raiser, benefiting San Diego Young Positives (SDYP), will take place Sunday, Oct. 21 at Martinis Above Fourth at 7 p.m. Fantastic local talent are scheduled to appear, along with an opportunity drawing with prizes from local businesses, such as Tan Line, LIPS, Puppy Productions, Partylite, Estefan Gargost Art, Flicks and others. One raffle ticket is included with event donation, and additional raffle tickets will be available for $1 at the event.

Lola, one of San Diego’s favorite drag artists, will host the event. There will be a special live performance by the duo of Oscar Arroyo (vocalist) and Joseph Mitchell (pianist).

The suggested donation of $20 per ticket includes an appetizer ticket, raffle ticket and entertainment. For more information contact Rafael at rafael@youngpositives.com or by calling 619-723-3261.

With less than two weeks until AIDS Walk San Diego, volunteers are still needed to fill some areas to make the walk happen. The 18th annual AIDS Walk San Diego, presented by Nordstrom, will be held on Sunday, Sept. 30 in Balboa Park. AIDS Walk is looking for volunteers to staff the registration tent, to monitor the route and to staff water stations.

For more information or to sign-up, contact Ted May at 619-692-2077, ext. 210, or tmay@thecentersd.org

As the summer begins to wind down, the campaign for the 2008 elections is only heating up.

If you are not yet registered, or have moved since the last election, you must register with the San Diego County Registrar of Voters. There are three options to register – online at www.sdvote.com; by picking up a postcard registration form at the Registrar’s office located at 5201 Ruffin Road, Ste. I, San Diego 92123, at any city clerk’s office in San Diego County, at the Department of Motor Vehicles, U.S. post offices and public libraries; or, you can call the registrar’s office at 858-565-5800 and request a registration postcard.

If you are registered, but would like to receive a vote-by-mail ballot, you can do so at www.sdvote.com or by calling 858-565-5800. Voting by mail gives you the opportunity to take your time (two weeks) to complete your ballot and ensure that unforeseen circumstances like work, illness or travel, don’t keep you from casting your vote.

If you are registered, but would like to permanently become a vote by mail ballot voter, you can also do so at www.sdvote.com or by calling 858-565-5800 and requesting the permanent vote by mail voter form.

For more information about voting in San Diego, please contact the Registrar of Voters at 858-565-5800 or www.sdvote.com.

The San Diego LGBT Community Center (The Center) announced today that it has received $17,000 from Bank of America in support of its Youth Housing Project.

The gift represents renewed funding for The Center’s Youth Housing Project, which provides permanent and supportive housing with a specialty in serving GLBT and HIV-positive youth. Bank of America has supported The Center’s youth services and programming since 2002.

“Bank of America is proud to again support the life-saving services The San Diego LGBT Community Center provides to youth, particularly formerly homeless young people,” said Angie Lucero, community impact manager for Bank of America. “For more than 30 years, The Center has served San Diego’s LGBT community with innovative and creative programs. We’re honored to be part of supporting such a rich tradition of service.”

“We are so grateful for the continued corporate support of Bank of America,” said Jennifer Jones, director of development for The Center. “Our partners at Bank of America have shown time and time again how seriously they take their commitment to the community. We are deeply appreciative of their dedication, compassion and generosity.”

For more information on contributing to The Center’s youth programming, including the Hillcrest Youth Center or the Youth Housing Project, contact Ken St. Pierre at 619-692-2077, ext. 104 or at ken@thecentersd.org.

Rich’s San Diego hosted a “Masquerade Ball” party in late August as a benefit for the Hillcrest Youth Center. Proceeds from the $10 cover charge were matched by the club. The party, which included a beautifully decorated club, drink specials, and customers donning masks, raised more than $11,000. The door cover charge brought in $4,500, which the nightclub matched. Caliph Bar donated $1,000; the Imperial Court de San Diego donated $500; and the Rob Benzon Foundation contributed an additional $500. The event was organized by Justin Smith and Big Mike.

The Hillcrest Centennial Committee is inviting the community to “jump on the big red bus” for a Toast to Hillcrest on Thursday, Sept. 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. for a wine bar and restaurant sampling event, celebrating the neighborhood’s 100th birthday. The event, for those 21 years and older, costs $15. It will feature wine, spirits and food tasting from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Ticket and map pick-up will begin at 5 p.m. in the parking lot of Washington Mutual at Fifth Avenue and

For more information, or for a listing of participating venues visit www.hillcrestcentennial.com.

The University of California San Diego LGBT Resource Center presents its annual Q-Camp, an orientation to the UCSD GLBT community for incoming students. This year’s event will take place on Sept. 26 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the school’s Cross Cultural Center.

Q-Camp will acquaint incoming students with the organizations that are LGBTQI specific on campus; help students make connections with their fellow students who may be experiencing similar situations as LGBTQI incoming students; allow students to connect with campus resources (including the LGBT Resource Center); orient students to the local area in LGBTQI terms; introduce students to the academic LGBTQI life at UCSD; and give students an opportunity to ask questions about UCSD LGBTQI life.

For more information or to register for the event, visit lgbt.ucsd.edu/qcamp.

“The Graphic Imperative” is a select retrospective of 40 years of international sociopolitical posters. Themes include dissent, liberation, racism, sexism, human rights, civil rights, environmental and health concerns, AIDS, war and literacy and tolerance, collectively providing a window to an age of great change. Focusing on the issues of our turbulent times, the 111 posters, representing 22 countries, endeavor to show the political and aesthetic concerns of many cultures in a single exhibition through delineating themes and contrasting political realities. The exhibition is accompanied by an 80-page full-color catalog available at the gallery.

The exhibition is being shown at SDSU’s University Art Gallery from Sept. 10 through Oct. 10. For more information visit http://artgallery.sdsu.edu.

San Diego Pride At Work, the LGBT constituency group of organized labor, will host a reception for its National Marriage Organizer Sandra Telep at the home of Larry Baza, 3412-28th St., on Tues., Sept. 25th, at 6 p.m. Telep will discuss her work in California and around the country to engage unions in support for marriage equality. For more information, contact Brian Polejes at 619-865-6784.

The Hillcrest Centennial Committee invites the community to a special evening in the grand ballroom at The Prado Restaurant in the heart of Balboa Park. The event is being organized to celebrate Hillcrest’s first 100 years with a spectacular dinner, dancing, honorees and a fabulous silent auction. Musical entertainment will feature boogie woogie queen Sue Palmer and her Motel Swing Quintet. Beginning at 5 p.m., a big red double-decker bus will make the rounds through Bankers Hill and Hillcrest to Park Boulevard then south to Balboa Park, dropping off celebrants at the front door of The Prado. After the event it will make a reverse trip along the same route to take guests home.

The event features a three-course dinner, wine, a champagne toast and live entertainment for $50. Tickets are selling fast and there are only 300 available. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.hillcrestcentennial.com.

The San Diego LGBT Center invites the community to mingle with San Diego’s A-list glitterati at The Center’s 34th Annual Gala on Saturday, Oct. 13 at the Marriott Hotel & Marina, located at 333 West Harbor Dr. The Center Gala is known as GLBT San Diego’s premier black tie event. Last year, more than 700 San Diegans attended the sold-out event and raised more than $100,000 for The Center’s programs and services. Only a few tables remain. Interested attendees are encouraged to purchase tables or tickets online immediately. More information and tickets can be purchased at www.thecenter.org.