The San Diego LGBT Community Center’s Marriage Equality and Education Project will host The Future of Marriage panel, Monday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.

Panelists include: Jennifer C. Pizer, senior counsel, Lambda Legal and co-counsel for the California Marriage Cases; Eric A. Isaacson, partner, Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP and counsel for Faith-Based Organizations Supporting Equal Marriage Rights; and Shannon Price Minter, legal director, National Center for Lesbian Rights and Co-counsel for the California Marriage Cases. The discussion will be moderated by Barbara J. Cox, professor of law and Executive Director for Consortium for Innovative Legal Education at California Western School of Law.

This event is co-sponsored by the San Diego Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society, the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties and Equality California. It will feature panelists discussing legal and political developments affecting the future of marriage in California and the United States.

Light refreshments will be served and RSVPs are appreciated, but not required. For more information or to RSVP please contact Kristi Shaw, Marriage Equality and Education Project coordinator, at 619-692-2077, ext. 206, or kshaw@thecentersd.org. The panel will take place at The Center.

The Center is located at 3909 Centre St. in Hillcrest.

Family Health Centers of San Diego’s Project STAR (Supporting Transgender Access to Resources) will host “One Night Only!” billed as an evening of fun and the best of transgender and female illusion entertainment.

This fund-raiser will support San Diego’s 5th Annual Transgender Day of Empowerment. Members of the Imperial Court de San Diego will take part in the event. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, local transgender showgirls, and special guests from Los Angeles and San Francisco will also participate.

The event will take place at Bacchus House located at, 3054 University Ave. in North Park, Saturday, Feb 16, with the show beginning at 8 p.m.

For more information, call Tracie O’Brien at 619-515-2411.

A volunteer with the Internal Revenue Services’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program will be available at The Center to help low-to-moderate income persons complete their tax returns.

The volunteer will be available by appointment on Feb. 9, March 15 and April 5 from 9 a.m. to noon at The Center. The VITA Program offers free tax help to low- to moderate-income (generally, $40,000 and below) people who cannot prepare their own tax returns. Certified volunteers receive training to help prepare basic tax returns in communities across the country.

Appointments are available on a first-come, first served basis. To schedule an appointment, or to receive more information, contact Patrick Loose at 619-692-2077, ext. 125, or ploose@thecentersd.org.

The San Diego LGBT Community Center announced the start of the Peter Cooper Scholarship Fund, which will provide financial support for the educational efforts of formerly homeless GLBT young adults in the San Diego area.

Cooper, the owner of a commercial/industrial lighting company, previously worked for seven years as an HIV prevention educator at the former AIDS Foundation San Diego. He attended the University of Redlands, majoring in business administration and management.

“I have been very fortunate in my life to have had a wonderful and loving upbringing, realizing dreams I never thought were possible,” said Cooper. “I feel that it is my responsibility in life, for my good fortune, to give back to those less fortunate. An education is of paramount importance in today’s society and has a profound impact on one’s life, which is why this scholarship program means so very much to me. I want members of our community to dig as deep as they can to help our LGBT youth, as they are our future and they have so very little. Even those of modest means can make a profound difference in their lives.”

Cooper also gives back to the local community through his time and service. He serves on the board of directors for the Old Globe Theatre and the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory.

The Peter Cooper Scholarship will be administered by The Center. To contribute to the scholarship fund, make checks payable to The Center, and note Cooper Scholarship in the memo section. Checks can be mailed to The Center, c/o Development Department, P.O. Box 3357, San Diego, CA 92163.

To support the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation (SDHDF), Hawthorn’s Restaurant Lounge has pledged to donate a portion of its sales on Feb. 25 to the organization. Diners are encouraged to visit Hawthorn’s on Monday, Feb. 25, and 25 percent of the day’s food and liquor sales will be given to the SDHDF.

The San Diego Human Dignity Foundation was established in 1996 to improve the quality of life for San Diego’s GLBT community by promoting responsible philanthropy to enact positive social change.

Visit www.hawthornssd.com or call 619-544-0940 to make reservations.

Hawthorn’s Restaurant Lounge is located at 2895 University Ave. in the historic Birch North Park Theater building.

More information about the SDHDF is available online at www.sdhdf.org.

The 22nd Annual Live & Let Live Lesbian Round Up will take place in Julian from Feb. 22-24. The purpose of this retreat for all women in 12-step programs, is to provide a safe, spiritual environment for women to share their experience, strength and hope in recovery. The weekend will include recovery workshops, speaker meetings, “bitchy bingo,” karaoke and yoga. Space is limited to 100 women. The cost for the event is $115 and includes meals, lodging, and a 24-hour hospitality cabin. For more information or to register, call Patti at 619-749-0347.

To raise funds for the annual “The Other Prom” event, members of the Hillcrest Youth Center’s (HYC) Youth Leadership Council will hold a car wash fund-raiser. “The Other Prom” is the HYC’s largest event of the year, and is a social event for San Diego’s GLBT youth.

The car wash will take place on Saturday, Feb. 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of the San Diego LGBT Community Center at 3909 Centre St. in Hillcrest. Donations will be accepted.

The Foundation for Change has joined with San Diego LGBT Pride to create a grants pool of $27,000 for GLBT organizations. The intent of the fund is to support grassroots groups working with underserved GLBT populations in San Diego and Tijuana.

Effective immediately, San Diego groups working with underserved GLBT populations are invited to apply for funding from the San Diego LGBT Pride Fund.

A more detailed description of the fund and grant applications can be found online at www.foundation4change.org/lgbt.php. Requests for applications can also be made by calling 619-692-0527. Applications for funding must be received in the Foundation for Change offices by noon on Friday, Feb. 29, 2008. Applications may be submitted by mail, faxed to 619-255-3640, or e-mailed to info@foundation4change.org

The San Diego Chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) has made applications available for its 2008 student scholarship. Scholarships will be granted to individuals who will be a college undergraduate or graduate student in fall 2008 and who identify as GLBT or questioning. The applicant must also be a San Diego County resident at the time of application. The application deadline is 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 4.

PFLAG annually grants scholarships to San Diego County students. The group is a local support, education and advocacy organization comprised of volunteers made up of parents, family and friends of someone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. GLBT men and women are also welcome in the organization.

The 2008 scholarship awards will be presented at an awards ceremony on Monday, April 28.

Complete scholarship guidelines and application is available on-line at http://www.pflag.com/pdf/2008scholarship.pdf.

The San Diego State University Alumni Association recently approved the Aztec LGBT Alumni chapter. Members forming the group presented the application for the chapter to the association’s board of directors at its Jan. 24 meeting.

The mission of the newly formed chapter is to promote and support the development of relationships between SDSU’s GLBT alumni community, current students, administration and community supporters. This will be done through events that allow for social and professional networking.

Membership in the chapter is open to all paid members of the SDSU Alumni Association. The founding board members of the chapter include Pressley Rankin (2006), Ben Cartwright (06), Jeffrey Redondo (02) and Josh San Julian (04).

An inaugural meeting and mixer will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 20, from 6-9 p.m. at the Bamboo Lounge located at 1475 University Ave. in Hillcrest. Anyone interested in the chapter is welcome to attend.

For more information or to join the chapter, visit http://chapters.sdsu.edu/lgbt.

The S.A.G.E. Center will present Bob & Jack’s 52-Year Adventure, on Thursday, Feb. 14. The documentary features two men in their late 70s telling their story of life together. With the help of old footage and recordings, Bob and Jack take viewers back to when and where they met in the U.S. Army in Munich, and then guide viewers through the couple’s life together.

“It is also a film about sticking together, about making it through rough times, and it teaches us the most important thing of all –- that love can’t kept us together unless we are willing to work for it,” said one commentator.

Bob & Jack’s 52-Year Adventure was well received at the 2007 FilmOut San Diego, where filmgoers had the opportunity to meet the film’s director as well as Bob and Jack.

The documentary will be shown twice at the S.A.G.E. Center, located at 3138 Fifth Ave. between Spruce and Redwood Streets. There will be two showings, the first at 3 p.m., followed by another at 7 p.m.

The documentary is also available for purchase at Obelisk Bookstore.

For more information call 619-298-9900.