Local same-sex couples request marriage licenses at the County Clerk’s Office on National Freedom to Marry Day, Feb. 12, as part of planned action co-sponsored by the Marriage Equality USA San Diego (MEUSASD) the San Diego Equality Campaign (SDEC).

Since 2001, Marriage Equality USA chapters have engaged in the annual Freedom to Marry Day actions to raise visibility of the discrimination that is enforced every day by various state and national legislation banning same-sex marriage.

The Valentine’s week protests, part of the 12th annual Freedom to Marry Week, were considered especially important this year because they come in the wake of California’s Proposition 8 vote that overturned same-sex marriage.

San Diego LGBT Pride has appointed two business professionals to its board of directors. Ebony Burnett and Rick Burgess will serve as directors on the board, which oversees the sixth largest nonprofit GLBT Pride organization in the country. They join San Diego Pride during the 40th anniversary year of the Stonewall riots in New York City, which marked the beginning of the modern-day Pride movement. This year’s San Diego Pride celebration is scheduled for July 18 and 19, under the theme: “Stonewall 2.0 – Activism for Equality.”

A systems engineer for Science Applications International Corporation, Burnett was raised in Alabama and graduated from the University of Alabama. In 2006, she moved to San Diego “to be part of a city that embraces its LGBT community.”

Burnett is currently working toward her master’s degree in technology management at National University. She is passionate about GLBT equality, as well as health issues pertaining to HIV/AIDS, breast cancer and sickle cell anemia.

“I was impressed with the many ways in which this organization gives back to the community,” Burnett said. “I wanted to join the Pride Board to bring my enthusiasm and commitment to the table along with my professional management and marketing experience.”

Burgess, the son of a naval officer, was born in Cambridge, Mass. and traveled extensively before coming to San Diego, where he graduated from Hoover High School. He holds a master’s degree in educational administration and is an experienced capital campaign and special-events fund-raiser. He also operates a specialized retail toy store in San Diego’s new Children’s Museum. According to Burgess, he became involved with Pride “because [he] wanted to actively contribute to an important organization for the civil rights of San Diego’s LGBT community.”

Having first attended the San Diego Pride parade three years ago, Burgess said he is “amazed at how everyone can be themselves and how the Pride parade reaches so many people in San Diego, and not just within the gay community.”

“Ebony and Rick are dynamic individuals who bring strong fund-raising and marketing skills to Pride’s board of directors,” said Philip Princetta, San Diego LGBT Pride chair. “We welcome their expertise and enthusiasm at the board table.”

San Diego LGBT Pride is a community enhancement organization that fosters pride in and respect for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities locally and globally. For more information about San Diego Pride events and volunteer opportunities, call 619-297-7683 or visit www.sandiegopride.org.

On your mark. Get set. Ready? Go! MPower San Diego will host M-Azing Race, its own version of the television hit “Amazing Race,” at Balboa Park on Saturday, Feb. 28. The scavenger hunt-style event will start promptly at 2 p.m. and will end with dinner at 5 p.m. Pictures of all of the activities throughout the day will be shown starting at 5 p.m. MPower San Diego is a social group for gay and bisexual men between the ages of 25 and 45 who come together in a fun setting to share their thoughts about the latest trends affecting the gay community.

For more information or to register a team for The M-Azing Race, contact Jacob at 619-515-2578, ext. 2998 or e-mail jacobhb@fhcsd.org.

From November 2005 through January 2007 dozens of diligent sweepers met the first and third Sundays of each month to clean the sidewalks and gutters of Hillcrest. After a hiatus, they’re sweeping again at least once every quarter with the combined efforts of the Hillcrest Town Council. The winter clean-up effort will take place after the Fat Tuesday and Hillcrest Mardi Gras celebrations on Saturday, Feb. 28, beginning at 9 a.m.

Got junk to pitch? A dumpster will be located across the street in Numbers parking lot.

Brooms, gloves, tools and free T-shirts will be provided to all volunteers. This is an opportunity to help enhance Hillcrest by keeping it clean and picking up after yourself and others.

For more information, visit www.hillcresttowncouncil.com.

San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride has made available a number of community partnership grants for this year’s 35th annual Pride celebration, scheduled for July 18-19. This year’s Pride theme is “Stonewall 2.0: Activism for Equality,” and the community partnership program is an excellent way for organizations to raise money while showing their activism and commitment to equality. The beneficiary program gives nonprofit organizations valuable opportunities to fund-raise during Pride weekend, which attracts more than 225,000 people to its parade and two-day festival.

Partnership organizations will receive more than $30,000 in grants and funds through a variety of services that support Pride weekend, such as assisting in the sales of water and festival tickets. Participating organizations have included The Gay Men’s Chorus, Different Strokes Swim Team and Live & Let Live Alano Club, to name a few.

A broader list of opportunities is available this year, including involvement in the areas of ID checking, parade marshals, recycling, ASL coordination, beverage sales and more. Agencies taking part are responsible for managing and staffing various program areas.

“The partnerships we’ve formed with community organizations are one of the five ways San Diego Pride gives funding directly to the community. By collaborating with community organizations, Pride not only invests in our community, but it also reinforces a community-based future for the annual celebration,” said Ron deHarte, executive director of San Diego LGBT Pride.

In addition to providing funds through partnerships, Pride has given more than $1.3 million to a host of community organizations and charities through grant funding, including to The San Diego LGBT Community Center and other Pride organizations as well.

Applications are currently available and must be submitted by March 3. They are available in the “About Us” section on Pride’s Web site: www.sdpride.org.

The program is open to nonprofit agencies whose mission involves services to the GLBT community, or to entities that provide positive outreach and education to the public about GLBT issues.

For more information, visit the Web site or call the Pride office at 619-297-7683, ext. 111.

First Lutheran Church of San Diego will kick off its 20th anniversary year as a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) congregation with a musical gala on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 6 p.m. The gala event will include a light meal followed by vocalist, Deborah Liv Johnson and guitarist, Peter Sprague. A $20 suggested donation is asked to support this event and others to come in the year-long celebration.

RIC congregations open their doors, their hearts, and their arms to people of difference – whether that be sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, economic status, color, capabilities or any difference that separates one from another.

First Lutheran Church of San Diego holds weekly services every Sunday at 9 and 11 a.m.

Reservations for the gala event can be made by calling the church office at 619-234-6149. Tickets will also be available at the door.

First Lutheran Church is located at 1420 Third Ave. in Bankers Hill.

For more information about this and future RIC celebration events, e-mail ric20yrs.firstlutheran@yahoo.com or visit www.firstlutheransd.org.