Any and all “queer artists” are wanted for a Queer Artist Exhibit in the Cross-Cultural Center on Thursday, March 25, as a part of SDSU’s Freedom of Expression Day, to give queer persons an even greater chance to express themselves. The exhibition will be held from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. and the LGBT Student Union at SDSU is looking for writers, painters, actors/actresses and photographers to showcase their talents. To take part in this exhibit contact Nick at lionman37@yahoo.com, or Ben at bcartwright@earthlink.net for more information.

Equality California and The Center have announced their collaboration in the California Voter Project. Part of a statewide effort to register, educate and identify voters about the issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians and their families, the project will go into San Diego’s diverse neighborhoods to increase voter registration in under-represented communities, and will identify already registered voters who support equal marriage rights.

The California Voter Project is partially funded by a NGLTF Community Impact Fund grant. Call (619) 692-2077 ext. 211 or ext. 212 for more information.

The UCSD LGBT Resource Center is proud to announce that on Wednesday, March 10, in the UCSD Price Center Ballroom, the Associated Students of UCSD (the university’s undergraduate student government) passed the Resolution Against LGBTQI Discrimination in the Constitution and in Higher Education.

This follows a similar resolution, passed on Monday, March 8, by UCSD’s Graduate Student Association (the university’s graduate student government).

The combination of these two resolutions expresses the collective voice of all graduate and undergraduate students at UCSD in opposition to President Bush’s call for a constitutional amendment regarding same-sex marriage. The resolution passed by a vote of 17-2, with two abstentions and two members of the council not present for the vote.

The San Diego Branch of the NAACP and the Malcolm X Library are holding a “Same-Sex Marriage Community Forum” on Monday March 29, at the Malcolm X Library located at 5148 Market St., from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Cosponsoring this event are APICAP (Asian Pacific Islander Community AIDS Project), Equality California, San Diego CHAANGE and The Center. To cosponsor this important forum or for more information, contact Pat Washington at (619) 582-5383 (San Diego Branch NAACP) or Marc Cherry at (619) 527-3405 (Malcolm X Library).

The LGBT Student Union at San Diego State University will be holding its semesterly Big Gay BBQ. This semester’s BBQ will be celebrating marriages in the GLBT community. The free BBQ will be topped off with a “Big Gay Wedding Cake” for desert. There will be free food, entertainment, information, prizes, a bachelor/bachelorette fundraiser auction, information from the Marriage Equality Project, and much more. The celebration is not limited to college students – the entire community is welcome to join in the festivities.

The BBQ will be held on Wednesday, March 24, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. in Scripps Cottage on the SDSU Campus. For more information contact Ben Cartwright at (619) 316-9197.

The San Diego Transgender Community Coalition, a group of dedicated individuals and organizations working together to increase access to quality healthcare and social services for transgender residents of San Diego, will host the first ever Transgender Day of Empowerment on Friday, March 26, at 7:00 p.m. at The Center. There will be a sharing of trans artwork, trans-friendly provider information, live transgender vocalists and powerful speakers. The keynote speaker will be nationally known author and activist Rosalyne Blumenstein, MSW.

The Transgender Day of Empowerment is intended to bring together both the transgender and allied communities in an effort to foster increased support, respect and empowerment. In addition, the Transgender Community Coalition, in conjunction with The Transgender Health Project of Family Health Centers of San Diego, will be launching San Diego’s first-ever health and social service-related assessment specific to the needs of San Diego’s transgender community. This needs assessment seeks to acquire valuable information regarding HIV/AIDS, access to healthcare and other service-related needs. The findings from the needs assessment will be used to develop a blueprint for the future of transgender related services in San Diego. Funding from The California Endowment supports the event and needs assessment project. Call (619) 692-2077 for more information.

Join The Center’s Women’s Resource Center and the SDSU Women’s Studies Department for an eight-week lecture series on the lives of LBT women. All lectures will take place at The Center, Thursday evenings from March 25 through May 13 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. Lectures are free and topics include, “Butches, Ballplayers and the Lesbian Taint; Homophobia in Professional Women’s Sports”; “Sex, Crimes, Power and Lesbian Identities in Early Modern Europe”; “Prisms: Through the Eyes of Women of Color”; and “Lesbian Lives in the Context of Culture and Ethnicity.” For more information or a full list of lecture topics, contact Claudia Lucero at (619) 692-2077, ext. 206.

On chilly, wet winter nights, when we turn up the heat and wrap up in our favorite comforters, there are children and elderly people in the poorest parts of Baja California and San Diego County who don’t even have a decent blanket or sweater to help them keep warm. Many suffer greatly from exposure and some even die.

We can do something about this tragedy. Donate a warm blanket (new or slightly used) and save lives in San Diego and Baja California. When you donate blankets to warm others you will be warmed as well … from knowing that you have done an important, perhaps even life saving, deed.

Please drop your blankets off at the Gay & Lesbian Times office no later than Friday morning, March 26. The offices are located at 1730 Monroe Ave., Suite A, near the corner of Park and Monroe.

San Diego author and lecturer Jacob Glass will host a series of lectures, “A Course in Miracles”, on Sunday mornings beginning March 28, at 10:00 a.m. at the San Diego Center for Moving Arts. A dynamic, funny and insightful speaker and spiritual coach, Glass has lectured with best-selling author Marianne Williamson to full houses and was a keynote speaker at the 20th anniversary “A Course In Miracles” Conference in Santa Barbara. Glass is the author of the book Invocations – Calling Forth the Light That Heals. The San Diego Center for Moving Arts is located at 3255 Fifth Ave. There will be a $15 suggested donation at the door.