In response to the hate-related attacks during Pride weekend, The Center and San Diego LGBT Pride will host an anti-hate rally on Friday, Aug. 4, at 5:30 p.m. at The Center, located at 3909 Centre St.

State Senator Christine Kehoe and City Councilmember Toni Atkins will be two of the featured speakers.

“We have been shaken by the viciousness of these attacks, and our thoughts remain with those who were injured,” said Dr. Delores A. Jacobs, chief executive officer of The Center. “We feel it is critically important that we stand together against all forms of hate-related violence. In a city as wonderfully diverse as San Diego, we must continue to work together to stop these types of hate-based attacks.”

Attendees will be provided with the most updated information on the attacks, as well as any available information about how to show support for the victims.

Other supporting organizations for the rally include the San Diego LGBT Community Leadership Council, the Greater San Diego Business Association, the San Diego Democratic Club, Mama’s Kitchen and Equality California. More organizations will be added throughout the week.

For more information, contact Sean Wherley, The Center’s public policy director, at (619) 692-2077 ext. 212 or at swherley@thecentersd.org.

Mama’s Kitchen presents “Mama’s Heart Gets Bigger,” its 11th annual wine tasting event, at Bourbon Street on Thursday, Aug. 17, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

The annual event was started when Mama’s Kitchen was still a grassroots organization. It has grown in popularity as a casual and fun event that benefits a good cause. All proceeds from the wine tasting event will benefit Mama’s Kitchen’s home-delivered meals program for people suffering with HIV/AIDS or other critical illnesses in San Diego County.

The theme for the wine tasting event, “Mama’s Heart Gets Bigger,” carries through into the recent expansion of the agency’s mission and services to provide nutrition to other disease populations.

The event will feature a stand-up comedy show by Monique Marvez, a radio personality from Jack 100.7’s morning show “Monique and the Man.” There will also be a silent auction and five different types of wines donated by Southern Wine and Spirits. The wines will be paired with hors d’oeuvres provided by the chefs of Sycuan Resort and Casino, Twiggs Tea & Coffee, Ono Sushi, Baja Betty’s and Lei Lounge.

The event is sponsored by San Diego City Homes, Union Bank of California, Voice of San Diego, Southern Wine and Spirits, Sycuan Resort and Casino, Lei Lounge, Ono Sushi, Baja Betty’s, Twiggs Tea & Coffee and the James Ziegler Advised Fund at The San Diego Foundation.

Bourbon Street is located on 4612 Park Blvd. in University Heights. Tickets are $45 per person in advance and $50 at the door. For event information, call Jennifer Brown at (619) 233-6262 or visit www.mamaskitchen.org.

A supportive and confidential workshop entitled “Gay Grief: Legacies of Love and Loss for Gay Widow/Widowers” will take place on Saturday, Aug. 19.

The workshop will blend grief and loss issues with the unique aspects individuals face involving the death of their partner. This is an opportunity for gay widow/widowers to talk about their relationship and love and loss in ways that support the process of healing.

Admission to the workshop is free, but reservations are required and must be made by Aug. 12. For more information and to make a reservation, call (619) 667-1964.

The Center has announced the 2006 inductees for the San Diego LGBT Community Wall of Honor. The official inductions will take place at a ceremony on Friday, Aug. 18, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at The Center, located at 3909 Centre St.

The Community Wall of Honor, located in The Center’s auditorium, is a landmark commemorative display that recognizes and celebrates San Diego GLBT community members who have had a significant positive impact on the San Diego GLBT community through leadership and commitment.

Inductees include Muriel Fisher, an artist and activist who remained active in both artistic and political communities until her death last year at age 85. A founder of Many Hands Craft Gallery, San Diego’s oldest artist cooperative, Fisher’s crowning achievement was a series of dolls that portrayed 12 “exceptional women” in the arts, including Georgia O’Keefe, Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein, Toni Morrison, Virginia Woolf and others. Fisher was an active member and founder of several local lesbian organizations, including the San Diego Lesbian Organization, the San Diego Jewish Lesbian Havurah, Slightly Older Lesbians, and Shirttails Collective Coffee Houses, a monthly open mic night. Fisher, who performed and created stage sets for the Beautiful Lesbian Thespians while in her 60s, was also named a grand marshal of the San Diego LGBT Pride parade.

R. Herb King was also named an inductee. In 1972, he co-founded the North County Gay Association. In 1982, King founded Athletes in Motion (AIM), the local umbrella organization for GLBT sports teams. He organized athletes for the second Gay Games, where he played tennis and participated as a member of the America’s Finest City Freedom Band.

King was also a co-founder of the San Diego chapter of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. The San Diego Democratic Club’s (SDDC) lifetime achievement award is named in honor of King. He used his status as a veteran to fight for the rights of service members and veterans through the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and the Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans of America. He was also a featured columnist in local GLBT publications until his death in 2001.

After struggling to reconcile his Catholic spirituality with his sexuality, Patrick Terence McArron has spent more than three decades educating church leaders and counseling GLBT Catholics facing similar struggles. A native San Diegan, McArron co-founded the San Diego chapter of Dignity USA, the national organization for GLBT Catholics, where he served as director of the Pacific region before going on to serve as vice president and president of the national group. In 1979, he organized the first GLBT Catholic convention in San Diego, drawing a crowd of more than 600 people. McArron was also involved in establishing the now-defunct GLBT news magazine Pacific Coast Times.

This year will mark Doug Moore’s 31st year working on San Diego LGBT Pride. Serving in nearly every capacity with San Diego’s Pride organization, including receiving two lifetime achievement awards, he is a co-founder of the group now known as InterPride, the international association of Pride coordinators. He has served as an officer with InterPride, as well as with the California coalition of Pride organizations. He has also compiled one of the largest collections of Pride materials in the world, including posters, buttons, programs and more. The collection includes more than 1,000 pieces, and has been displayed at events throughout the U.S. and Canada. Moore served as the archivist for InterPride and as president of the Lambda Archives. In addition to his three decades of services to Pride, Moore was a key figure in the North County Gay Association, and served as treasurer for the “Save Our Teachers” campaign. He has also been a volunteer with SAGE and The Center.

Wall of Honor inductee Maria Plasencia was active in the women’s movement, the Democratic Party and the GLBT community before her untimely death in 2005 at the age of 46. A longtime feminist, Plasencia was heavily involved with the work of the National Organization for Women (NOW) on the local, state and national levels. She was a leader in the formation of the San Diego State University NOW chapter, and organized a 500-member San Diego delegation for the 2004 March for Women’s Lives in Washington, D.C. That same year, she was elected to NOW’s national board of directors. In addition, Plasencia was an active member of the SDDC, where she served as the women’s caucus chair and executive vice president. She was also a member of the San Diego Democratic Party Central Committee and served as a representative at Democratic Party conventions, and as a volunteer for the campaigns of several local political candidates.

Wall of Honor inductee Ron Umbaugh was a businessperson known for his generosity to the community. Owner of The Crypt and several associated companies, Umbaugh was active in many aspects of the San Diego community and was co-founder of the Greater San Diego Business Association (GSDBA).

One of the founders of The Center, Wall of Honor inductee Bridget Wilson served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1977 to 1980. Before completing law school in 1993, Wilson was a nurse and previously served as staff nurse for Dr. Brad Truax, a previous Wall of Honor inductee. Wilson was a founding member of the University of San Diego School of Law’s Gay and Lesbian Law Student Association, and served on the planning committee for San Diego LGBT Pride from 1974 to 1979.

In the 1980s, Wilson served on the executive board of the SDDC, and served on the board of AIDS Foundation San Diego, where she had also volunteered for several years in its legal clinic. She was active in the creation of San Diego’s GLBT bar association, the Tom Homann Law Association, and served as that group’s co-president.

Wilson is a charter member of both the San Diego Veteran’s Association and American Veterans for Equal Rights, and has been consulting counsel to the SLDN since 1993. Wilson has served in the Judge Advocate division of the California State Military Reserve since 1999, where she is known as Major Wilson, and has won the California Medal of Merit, among other awards. She has been honored for her work by the SDDC, the San Diego AIDS Project and AIDS Assistance Fund, the Military Law Task Force and SLDN. She was the 1986 grand marshal for San Diego LGBT Pride.

The year’s event will mark the third annual ceremony honoring inductees to the Community Wall of Honor, which was created in 2004 by Nicole Murray-Ramirez, the Imperial Court de San Diego and The Center.

There is no cost to attend this event, although an RSVP is requested. For more information or to RSVP, call Sarafina Scapicchio at (619) 692-2077 ext. 247 or e-mail sscapicchio@thecentersd.org.