Equality California will host a mixer for the local transgender community at the San Diego LGBT Community Center on Friday, Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m. The mixer will celebrate EQCA’s recent legislative successes. Diane Schroer, transgender community rights activist and retired Army veteran, will speak at the event. Schroer was a plaintiff in a federal case against the Library of Congress on transgender employment discrimination. The event will include refreshments and hors d’oeuvres. Organizers ask that those interested RSVP by calling 858-864-7291. The Center is located at 3909 Centre St. in Hillcrest. For more information, call 916-284-9187 or e-mail vaishalee@eqca.org.

The San Diego Wrestling Club (SDWC) will host a fundraiser to send its wrestlers to next year’s Gay Games in Cologne, Germany. The fundraiser will take place at Flicks on Friday, Oct. 9 at 9:30 p.m. The club will also host a wrestling demonstration at Ocean Beach on Sunday, Oct. 10 at 1 p.m. For more information on either event, call 619-957-6767 or e-mail captain@sdwrestling.org.

Scouting For All (SFA) will urge the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to change its discriminatory national policy excluding LGBT and non-theist scouts, leaders and parents at its tenth annual rally in front of the BSA’s San Diego-Imperial Council on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 11 a.m.

City Councilmember Todd Gloria, local activist Stephen Whitburn, Department of Defense Federal Gay Lesbian Bisexual Employees Executive Director Lisa Kove, Stonewall Young Democrats’s Cameron Smith will share their experiences and discuss civil rights issues as they relate to BSA policy.

BSA’s San Diego-Imperial Council is located at at 1207 Upas St. in Hillcrest, near Balboa Park. For more information, visit www.sdscoutingforall.org or e-mail comick1@aol.com.

In the spirit of Harvey Milk’s philanthropic legacy, San Diego LGBT Pride announces the creation of “Milk Money,” a holiday fundraising drive for Mama’s Kitchen, The Trevor Project and Toys for Kids.

“Each organization provides a vital role in assisting the most needed segments of the community, especially during the holidays, said San Diego LGBT Pride Executive Director Ron deHarte. “No one should have to go hungry while suffering from a life threatening disease. No teenager should feel so isolated that suicide seems like the only option. And no child should be forgotten when we all have the ability to brighten their holidays with toys.”

Individual or corporate donations made to the “Milk Money” drive will directly support meal deliveries to those living with cancer or AIDS through Mama’s Kitchen, provide funding to The Trevor Project’s national suicide prevention hotline for LGBT youth, and assist in the Toys for Kids’ annual distribution, sponsored by the Imperial Court de San Diego.

Contributions can be made online at MilkMoney.Kintera.org till Dec. 15. Checks can be sent to San Diego Pride, P.O. Box 34366, San Diego, CA 92163. For more information, call 619-297-7683 or visit www.SanDiegoPride.org.

Local activists Ben Cartwright and Ricky Cervantes will host a community vigil and remembrance ceremony for Matthew Shepard at The Ruby Kitchen on Monday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.

“Eleven years later, it is important that we continue to commemorate not only Shepard’s life, but all others whose lives have been cut short by hate violence. We also need to continue to stand together against hate,” Cartwright said.

Matthew Shepard, who died on Oct., 12, 1998, was the victim of a brutal hate crime that sent shock waves across the nation and world. Shepard was a young college student who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming after accepting a ride home from a bar from two men. It was a horrendous murder and serves as a reminder of the anti-LGBT hate that still exists.

Participants will gather at the front of the restaurant for a candlelight vigil and walk to the John Wear Memorial Hate Crimes Plaque, near Obelisk Bookstore in Hillcrest. The procession will return to the restaurant for a short presentation, music and conversation. Food will be available to order.

For more information, call 619-316-9197 or e-mail bcartwright@cox.net.