The Lemon Grove Library is hosting a pride celebration on July 10 from 12-3 p.m. This festival is celebrating the local literature, music, dancing and more that contributes to the rich culture of San Diego.

The Pride Festival will host many popular authors, including Robert Heylmun, Eric Shanower, Walter G. Meyer and Linda Patterson. Speeches by Sally M. Hall about the online news hub www.thatssogaylive.com and Toni Duran on the legal activist group Equal California, will be heard in between performances by singer/songwriters Mary Dolan and Lisa Sanders, the hip-hop themed Kruciaal Element Dancers and the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus Ensemble.

The Lemon Grove Pride Celebration is a great place to celebrate literature and music while also learning about San Diego’s gay and lesbian community and related legislation efforts. The Lemon Grove Library is located at 8073 Broadway, Lemon Grove, CA 91945. For more information on the pride celebration, contact the Lemon Grove library at (619) 463-9819 or visit www.sdcl.org.

The Gay & Lesbian Times is seeking to employ a part-time (20 hours per week) reporter/copy editor. Duties include writing one news story (800 words) per week about the local gay and lesbian community in San Diego, help out with editorial responsibilities and some copy editing. While we would like someone with experience in news reporting and copy editing, we will consider a student in journalism who has exceptional writing skills, a passion for reporting on GLBT issues and willing to learn quickly and efficiently. If you are interested in applying, please send a cover letter, resume and a writing sample (preferably a published news story) to rickb@uptownpub.com.

The Greater San Diego Business Association’s (GSDBA) board of directors and its chief executive officer have sent an approved statement prepared by its advocacy committee to military officials and politicians calling for the repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy. The organization also sent an official endorsement to U.S. senators and congressmembers favoring the Equity for Our Nation’s Self-Employed Act of 2009 (HR1470).

The latter seeks to amend the Internal Revenue Code that would allow self-employed individuals to deduct health insurance costs from their Social Security and Medicare tax liabilities, affording them the same deductions as large employers. Since the bill was introduced in March 2009, it has garnered broad support from 48 bipartisan co-sponsors.

The bill would furthermore reduce the cost of health insurance for more than 21 million self-employed individuals while allowing them to allocate funds toward reinvestment. The GSDBA sent the letter of endorsement to Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein as well as to Congressmembers Susan Davis and Bob Filner.

In a separate statement prepared by GSDBA’s advocacy committee, the board unanimously called for the elimination of the government’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which discriminates against LGBT individuals serving in the armed forces. The letter states that the GSDBA believes the policy “hurts business because service personnel are unable or unwilling to access GSDBA member businesses without fear of being subjected to ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’” It also calls on the U.S. Congress to repeal the policy and replace it with a non-discrimination policy based on sexual orientation applicable to “all who serve the military and the United States.”

The letter was sent to Boxer, Feinstein, Filner and Davis, in addition to the commanding officers of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Camp Pendleton and the Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar.

Mary Murphy, famed dance champion and star of “So You Think You Can Dance”, will celebrate her 20th year of dancing with a black-tie anniversary party at the Champion Ballroom Academy on Saturday, May 15 from 7-10 p.m. H’orderves and cocktails to be served along with general dance, dance performances and a video presentation of Murphy’s twenty years of dancing. The Champion Ballroom Academy is located at 3580 Fifth Ave. in San Diego. The event will take place on the second floor of the building. For more information, call 310-577-1122 or e-mail johnf@itgirlpublicrelations.com.

Councilmember Todd Gloria is pleased to share that the San Diego Tourism Marketing District (TMD) has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a consultant to assist with the development and coordination of a host committee for the 2015 Balboa Park Centennial Celebration.

“Our goal for this RFP is to address issues concerning the feasibility, organization and execution of the Centennial Celebration,” said Lorin Stewart, executive director of the TMD.

“The 100-year anniversary of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition is a milestone of immense civic importance,” said Stewart. “It can be said that the events of 1915 put San Diego on the map as a world-class city. Recognizing the centennial of those events provides a platform to celebrate our rich cultural heritage on a magnitude that will once again attract world-wide attention. The TMD will provide the initial resources to help develop an effective management model and management team to implement the celebration.”

Mayor Jerry Sanders said the Centennial Celebration will include a broad range of activities that reflect the region’s demographic, economic and cultural diversity. “We will be inviting the world to celebrate one the world’s greatest urban parks, as well as our own rich history,” Sanders said.

The RFP for a 2015 Centennial Consultant seeks to contract with an individual to perform preliminary research that will result in the development of key guiding documents for the organization of a Host Committee and the articulation of a framing vision for the 2015 Balboa Park Centennial Celebration. The RFP states that important criteria for a successful proposal will include an understanding of the dynamics of Balboa Park and its stakeholder groups, knowledge of San Diego and the region, and experience working with government agencies, among others.

“This is a significant step forward in the planning of what will be a hallmark event for San Diego and will spur ongoing investment in Balboa Park,” said Councilmember Gloria, whose district includes Balboa Park.

A search committee of Balboa Park stakeholders will review the proposals and select a consultant who will have 90 days to complete their work and submit recommendations. The RFP can be found at www.sdtmd.org/newsletter-notices. Responses to the RFP must be submitted by 5:00 pm, Monday May 24, 2010.

The San Diego Tourism Marketing District is a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation dedicated to improving tourism and hotel room night consumption in the City of San Diego.

The County of San Diego’s HIV, STD and Hepatitis Branch of Public Health Services is offering HIV Rapid testing on its mobile testing unit at the following locations and times:

• Balboa Park (between Quince and Laurel) on Monday, May 17 from 1:30-4 p.m.

• Training Center (525 Grand Ave., Spring Valley) on Thursday, May 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The rapid test can be done with blood or oral fluids. The county also offers syphilis screening (blood only) and Hepatitis C testing (blood only) for individuals who are at high-risk for infection with Hepatitis C at its mobile unit. There is no cost for the testing on the mobile unit.

For more information about the mobile testing unit and testing days and times, call 619-296-2120.