The San Diego Human Dignity Foundation has initiated a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the 2005-06 funding cycle of the San Diego LGBT Pride Fund that they manage.

To be eligible for a grant, organizations must be located in and serving San Diego County and serve the GLBT community. Applicant groups also must be a 501c3 non-profit organization.

Funds may be used for the following categories: Awareness, Education and Civil Rights; Youth and Seniors; Health and Mental Health; Arts and Culture; and Organizational Capacity Building.

Applications are due no later than July 1.

A two-hour applicant workshop takes place Friday, June 24, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Contact the foundation office at (619) 291-3383 or info@sdhdf.org to RSVP and for further details.

The purpose of the San Diego LGBT Pride Fund is to address issues of importance to San Diego’s GLBT community, including civil rights, health and wellness, and other critical issues.

The San Diego Human Dignity Foundation is the area’s only foundation with a focus on GLBT issues. Their mission is to improve the quality of life within San Diego’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community by promoting and increasing responsible philanthropy to enact positive social change.

The Center hosts “Red Hot: A Women’s Nightclub,” on Saturday, July 16, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. in their auditorium. The evening will provide San Diego women with an opportunity to socialize and dance in a fun and relaxing environment, and will feature music, door prizes and a no-host bar. Red attire is encouraged. Admission is $5.

The event is sponsored by The Center’s Women’s Resource Center, The Flame and Lavender Lens. The official after-party will take place at The Flame, located at 3780 Park Blvd.

No RSVP is required. For more information about Red Hot or The Center’s Women’s Resource Center, contact Claudia Lucero at (619) 692-2077 ext. 206 or clucero@thecentersd.org.

Enjoy an evening of summer theater by moonlight on Tuesday, July 19, at 8:00 p.m., when Fraternity House, Inc. and Moonlight Stage Productions of Vista collaborate to present The Pirates of Penzance, a new version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s original Broadway musical.

Since 1988, Fraternity House, Inc. has provided San Diego County’s only licensed homes dedicated to serving men and women with HIV/AIDS: Michaelle House in Vista and Fraternity House in Escondido. On July 19, all ticket proceeds from the Moonlight production of The Pirates of Penzance will go directly to fund resident care at Fraternity House and Michaelle House.

Orchestra tickets for the performance cost $25 and include entrance to a private wine and cheese reception that begins at 6:30 p.m. Standard tickets cost $15. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All attendees are invited to take part in a 50/50 raffle; the winning ticket will be drawn at intermission.

To purchase tickets to Pirates, call VisTix at (760) 724-2110. To purchase tickets in downtown San Diego, visit Obelisk Bookstore, located at 1029 University Ave. in Hillcrest. For questions pertaining to this event, contact Abby Schwartz at (760) 736-0292 ext. 103.

The Center and the National Association of People with AIDS will participate in National HIV Testing Day on June 27 in San Diego. National HIV Testing Day is an annual campaign produced by the National Association of People with AIDS to encourage at-risk individuals to receive voluntary HIV counseling and testing.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 180,000 to 280,000 people nationwide are HIV-positive but are unaware of their status,” said Delores Jacobs, chief executive officer of The Center. “On June 27, we will encourage people to take control of their health and get tested for HIV. HIV counseling and testing helps people with HIV to take steps to protect themselves and their partners.”

Over 50 sites all over San Diego offer anonymous or confidential HIV testing and counseling available every day of the week. Mobile testing units are available for the more remote areas of San Diego County.

For more information on HIV testing, call the INFOLINE of San Diego at the toll free number (877) 782-4448 or contact The Center’s Health Services at (619) 260-6380.

Assembly Bill 1597, a bill that would make available state funding for authorized clean needle and syringe exchange projects, has been approved by the state Assembly by a 44-26 vote. The bill, authored by John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, and co-sponsored by the Drug Policy Alliance Network and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, authorizes local public entities to use state HIV prevention and education funds for such projects as the purchase of sterile hypodermic needles and syringes.

“Needle exchange programs work – they save lives, protect communities and result in significant savings for the taxpayer,” Assemblymember Laird said. “This bill will ensure continued access to these important public health programs.”

Dana Van Gorder of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation noted that, “The only source that will currently fund the cost of clean needles and syringes for these programs is private, and this type of funding has been decreasing. It is imperative that we provide public resources to programs that save lives and tax dollars.”

Glenn Backes, health policy director of the Drug Policy Alliance Network, said the legislation appropriates no new funds, but provides that local governments can use existing state HIV prevention money to purchase needles and syringes.

Statistics compiled by the California Department of Health Services reveal that sharing of contaminated syringes is linked to 20 percent of all reported AIDS cases in the state. The data suggests that 1,000 to 1,500 new HIV infections occur annually in California due to the sharing of needles.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that it costs between $154,000 and $196,000 to provide lifetime care to a person infected with HIV. Meanwhile, the wholesale cost of a syringe is approximately 8 cents.

AB 1597 now moves to the state Senate for consideration.

Gay Men’s Chorus San Diego will wrap up its 13th season with two summer concerts, taking place Aug. 6 and 7. The concert, entitled “Oz & Beyond: The Music of Harold Arlen,” will feature standards such as “Get Happy,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” “Stormy Weather,” and a number of selections from Arlen’s classic score for The Wizard of Oz.

These shows will be performed at the 500-seat David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre at the Jewish Community Center in La Jolla, the same venue which hosted the chorus’ spring concert, “Broadway A-Z.”

Oz & Beyond also marks the return of GMCSD’s founder, Gary Holt, as artistic director.

The American Film Institute recognized Judy Garland’s rendition of Arlen’s “Over the Rainbow” as the number-one movie song of all time. While Arlen wrote some of the nation’s most-beloved songs, many of which reflect the Jewish and African-American influences of his youth, his name is not widely known.

During his career, Arlen wrote more than 400 songs, and collaborated with Ira Gershwin, “Yip” Harburg and Johnny Mercer. When Arlen died in 1986, Irving Berlin commented, “He wasn’t as well-known as some of us, but he was a better songwriter than most of us, and he will be missed by all of us.”

The Oz & Beyond concert will also include the songs “Accentuate the Positive,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “I Love a Parade,” “The Man that Got Away,” “That Old Black Magic,” and many more. The concert will also feature Holt’s new arrangement of “A Sleeping Bee,” from the 1954 Broadway musical House of Flowers on which Arlen collaborated with noted author Truman Capote.

Gay Men’s Chorus San Diego is a member of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA) and is funded in part by a grant from the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture. Call (619) 57-GMCSD for more information about the chorus or “Oz & Beyond.”