City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez made city history when he was re-elected the chair of the San Diego Human Relations Commission (HRC) for an unprecedented fourth term.

The HRC comprises leaders from the religious, Latino, Asian-Pacific Islander, black and Native American communities appointed by the mayor and the City Council. Murray-Ramirez was appointed by then-Mayor Dick Murphy, and reappointed by Mayor Jerry Sanders. When first elected four years ago, he was the first openly gay man elected as chair.

Murray Ramirez was unanimously elected chair by the fellow commissioners.

“I am proud of the Human Relations Commission’s bridge building between communities, and increasing the visibility of our religious communities and communities of color.”

Murray-Ramirez has served the last five mayors of San Diego, and was elected as the chair of the first mayor’s GLBT Advisory Board and the first GLBT Advisory Board to the chief of police.

Murray-Ramirez has been a Latino and gay activist for 40 years and is a past national board member of the Human Rights Campaign, past national chair of LLEGO, the national chair of Stonewall 25, and the only gay activist in the country who has been elected to all four national boards of the marches on Washington, D.C. He was also elected chair of the Millennium March. He is the past state chair of Equality California and is currently serving a four-year term on the national board of the National Gay Lesbian Task Force. He was also appointed by the county Board of Supervisors to the Regional Task Force on AIDS in the 1980s and has served as a county deputy marriage commissioner.

He has been honored for his work a number of times by the Latino community, including receiving the Cesar Chavez Humanitarian Award presented by Chavez’s widow, Helen Chavez, and the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Latino Unity Coalition.

The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego announces the Diocesan Convention 2009, a gathering of people from around the diocese to learn, share and conduct the annual business of the Diocese. Hosted by the Good Samaritan Episcopal Church, this year’s theme is “Serving the World.”

This year everyone is encouraged to attend the expanded Convention, which will be Friday, Feb. 6 and Saturday, Feb. 7.

By Canon law and Church custom, Convention is an annual gathering of representatives from every church in the diocese. These delegates vote on resolutions, approve the budget and elect new board members. This is the business of convention.

Beyond doing business, Convention is an inclusive, far-reaching gathering – a gathering of the whole Diocesan family to learn and share experiences about the ministries of God. All are welcome to come and participate fully in this learning and sharing.

Committee members are planning a service project in conjunction with Episcopal Community Services (ECS).

In addition to the service projects, the Convention Planning Committee will bring several speakers, including Phyllis Tickle, an authority on religion in America. Tickle will be the keynote speaker and will lead one workshop on Saturday. There will be several other workshops held throughout the weekend-long event.

For more information, visit www.edsd.org.

The Hillcrest Town Council (HTC) you to show your support and commitment to our community by nominating an HTC member (including yourself) to run for the board of directors.

Nominations are open now through the monthly meeting to be held on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Voting will take place at the March meeting on Tuesday, March 10

HTC Meetings are held at the Joyce Beers Community Center on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30pm.

Any HTC member may nominate themselves prior to the Feb. 10 HTC meeting to be included on the March ballot. If they are planning or not planning to attend the February HTC meeting, they must insure that someone attends the meeting that will second their nomination.

Five members will be elected to the board, and the five members will define their respective role (chair, vice-chair, secretary, treasurer and member-at-large). Any person running for office must be willing to accept any of the five board positions.

For more information or if you would like to submit a monination, e-mail jtlimo@cox.net.

Make this Valentines Day one that special someone will never forget. Talented quartets from San Diego Chorus will be delivering very special messages of love for Valentine’s Day. The San Diego Chorus can sing in a favorite restaurant, at work, at home, or wherever your sweetheart happens to be.

Singers will be delivering all day Friday, Feb. 13 and Valentine’s Day, Saturday, Feb. 14. For more information, call 858-451-8869.

Local same-sex couples will request marriage licenses at the County Clerk’s Office on National Freedom to Marry Day, as part of planned action co-sponsored by the Marriage Equality USA San Diego (MEUSASD) the San Diego Equality Campaign (SDEC). The event will take place on Thursday, Feb. 12, from 7:30-8:30 a.m. The County Clerk’s Office is located within the San Diego County Administration Building complex at 1600 Pacific Highway in Downtown.

At local marriage counters in cities all over the country, same-sex couples will request marriage licenses at their local County Clerk’s Offices to raise awareness of the harms and impact the inability to marry causes on their families. In San Diego County, an additional action will occur in the northern part of the county at the County Clerk’s San Marcos Branch Office at 141 East Carmel St. Couples will request marriage licenses from 7:30-8:30 a.m. at this location.

Straight allies, supportive clergy and married same-sex couples are invited to support the couples seeking licenses. A number of faith leaders will be on site that morning on the lawn of the County Administration Building to marry couples who wish to do so. They will receive a Certificate of Marriage, and be married under the guise of the faith they choose to be wed by.

For more information visit www.sdequalitynow.com.