The Lambda Letters Project (LLP) is preparing for its first fund-raising social of 2007.

The nonprofit social justice organization will host a benefit concert and buffet dinner on Thursday, Jan. 25, in partnership with the Hot Monkey Love Café that will feature a performance by the Bass Clef Experiment as well as an address from District 3 Councilmember Toni Atkins.

Although the engagement has technically been billed as a fund-raiser, its purpose is twofold. A developmental undertaking nonetheless, the organization seeks to galvanize interest and membership alongside monetary endowment.

“This is a Lambda Letters Project fund-raiser, but in many ways, it is more geared toward being a Lambda Letters Project ‘friend-raiser,’ which is why we are offering so much at such a reasonable price,” said Pat Washington, chair of the board of directors for the LLP. Washington added that for this particular gathering, the LLP plans to focus more heavily on attendance versus a specific dollar amount, and they expect no less than 50 people to turn out.

The LLP’s extensive advocacy network includes members from all 40 California Senate districts and 78 of the 80 Assembly districts. The constituency the organization vows to serve in its mission statement spans across five different demographics: women, the GLBT and intersex community, people of color, the indigent and individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

These various spheres of advocacy aren’t as disparate and conflicting as they may initially seem, according to Washington. No one issue or group trumps another.

“We have never found that one of the groups we serve have fundamental interests that are in conflict with those of one of the other communities we support,” she said. “One of our members might be a Latina lesbian woman with limited income who is living with HIV.”

The philosophy of the LLP, as articulated by Washington, is based on the power of the human conglomerate.

“We are very conscious that each of the groups we serve is a minority who are often relatively powerless as individual groups,” she said. “We know that by uniting people of all different backgrounds to work on all these issues, we create a powerful combined force that helps all the communities we serve.”

Washington cited Councilmember Atkins’ support for a viable needle exchange program and Atkins’ insight about issues salient to the constituents of the LLP as reasons behind their invitation to her to speak at the Jan. 25 event. Because this is the first time Atkins will speak in the development interest of the LLP, she plans to discuss what the coming years hold legislatively for women, people of color, the poor and GLBT persons, with an emphasis on local issues.

Atkins was approached by Washington last summer during Pride weekend about speaking at an LLP event.

“I support their work and was very pleased that my schedule would allow me to attend,” Atkins said.

The outreach method employed by the LLC is a grassroots operation that allows an otherwise disenfranchised population to have a role in the political process. Letters outlining each issue for which the LLP lobbies are sent out to members of the organization for signature and/or modification. The letters are then sent back to the LLP headquarters where they are vetted, approved and finally distributed to various congressmembers en masse.

Last year, the LLP was successful in delivering more than 300,000 letters and e-mails to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and numerous legislators in both the Assembly and the Senate. Washington highlighted the passage of AB 1160 in 2006 as an especially proud moment for the organization, which she said wielded considerable influence in securing the victory. The bill established court rules that would reduce the opportunity for defendants to use homophobic “panic defense” strategies as a way of evading conviction.

This year, Washington and the LLP plan to lobby for the passage of AB 43, a bill that would grant same-sex couples the right to marry; AB 110, a bill that would allow local governments to use state general funds to pay for their clean-needle and syringe-exchange programs; affordable and comprehensive health insurance for all Californians through SB 840; and AB 46, which would require that female prison inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes be housed separately from more violent offenders. The LLP also plans to work vigorously to topple what Washington called “punitive laws now applied to undocumented immigrants.”

Atkins reiterated the priorities of the LLP, gauging same-sex marriage rights, health care and the right to be free of discrimination as the most exigent needs of GLBT Californians.

Speaking about the fund-raiser, Washington assured, “Patrons can expect some great musical entertainment, a great buffet meal, an outstanding political presentation, an opportunity to network with LLP members and allies, and, most importantly, an opportunity to learn more about what we are doing in one of the most progressive social justice organizations in the state of California.”

The Jan. 25 fund-raiser takes place from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Hot Monkey Love Café, located at 6875 El Cajon Blvd. Tickets are available for $15 in advance (available for purchase at the Hot Monkey Love Café) and $20 at the door.

Contact Washington at (619) 582-5383 or pat.washington@lambdaletters.org for further information.