Olé! It’s a Spanish shout of approval, triumph, defiance or joy and it is the perfect word to describe the achievements of the GLBT community in California this past year. On Wednesday, Oct. 29, Equality California (EQCA) will be hosting Olé!, an Equality Awards Celebration, at the Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park.

EQCA is the state’s largest GLBT civil rights organization, leading the efforts for GLBT civil rights at the state level. According to the organization’s web site, they operate “through an array of strategies including lobbying legislators, building coalitions and empowering other organizations and individuals to engage in the legislative process, and sponsoring bills and leading efforts to ensure their passage.”

Established in 1998 as the California Alliance for Pride and Equality (CAPE), the organization has come of age with this year’s passage of key legislation, including AB 205, which granted domestic partners most of the same rights as marriage under California law.

“It has had tremendous growth and change,” said Paula Rosenstein, a board member of EQCA from San Diego. “Since I first joined the board the organization has become more sophisticated. Our membership has grown tremendously, and the cohesiveness of the organization has grown. This year we had three bills that we targeted, and all three were passed.”

This is the third annual reception in San Diego to honor the achievements of the GLBT community, and special recognition at this year’s event will be given to California’s LGBT Legislative Caucus, chaired by San Diego’s own Christine Kehoe, State Assembly Speaker pro Tempore. Also being honored are AJ Davis-Defeo, the public policy director for The Center and former EQCA Co-Chair Nicole Murray Ramirez.

“Nicole Murray-Ramirez was the co-chair of Equality California when we were still called CAPE, and did a lot of work on behalf of the organization and has done a lot of work on behalf of the community over many years,” said Toni Broaddus, EQCA’s program coordinator. “AJ Davis-Defeo has been a great community organizer in San Diego who is also plugged into what’s going on at the state level. She also has done quite a bit to ensure that the work in San Diego is connected to the work that happens statewide in California.

“San Diego is certainly one of the key areas of the state,” Broaddus added. “There’s a strong LGBT community there and a fairly well organized LGBT community. Plus, the chair of the LGBT legislative caucus is from San Diego. I think San Diego’s voice is certainly very important and significant in statewide politics.”

Rosenstein noted that, “In San Diego we’ve got a pretty center to progressive city, but we’ve got a much more conservative county. The more that we can influence the county, along with the city, the more we are going to progress with our rights, because in the overall electoral scheme getting lots of votes out of San Diego county is really important because LA and San Francisco can’t do it alone. We’re the second largest county in the state of California and what happens here really does matter.”

Murray Ramirez has been a member of EQCA since its inception and has served two terms as the organizations co-chair.

“When it began, there was no San Diego representation,” Murray Ramirez told the Gay and Lesbian Times. “This, of course, got many of us here in San Diego concerned with the start of a state organization so we contacted them and said that San Diego obviously needed to be involved.”

Since becoming involved, San Diego has held some of the most successful fundraisers for EQCA, which were very important in the early years of the organization. Serving on the EQCA board along with Murray Ramirez and Rosenstein have been Brian Polejes and Tom Felkner.

“In the past, San Diego was not given the respect and the recognition that it deserves as an important community in an important part of this state,” Murray Ramirez added. “The two things that have changed it are our involvement and support of Equality California and Chris Kehoe assuming a leadership role in the state, being chair of the Gay and Lesbian Caucus and becoming Speaker pro Tempore.”

Olé! kicks off at the Casa Del Prado courtyard on Oct. 29 with a VIP reception at 5:00 p.m. followed by the main event at 6:00 p.m., and a silent auction will be held to benefit the American Veterans for Equal Rights. For more information, contact Ronald Rydzewski, the event coordinator, at (619) 283-3910.