The public is invited to hear San Diego County Superintendent of Schools, Randy Ward, speak at the Community Coalition Breakfast on Friday, Feb. 16.

The superintendent will discuss public education, focusing on GLBT youth and how schools are creating welcoming and supportive environments for students and staff.

Ward has a proven track record of improving schools in Oakland, Compton and Long Beach, including raising test scores and financial solvency in these districts. The bilingual administrator has also taught in Venezuela and Columbia.

The event is open to the public and free of charge. An optional breakfast is available for a $10 donation.

The Community Coalition Breakfast will be held at The Center from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m.

For more information, call Jennifer Jones at (619) 692-2077 or jjones@thecentersd.org.

Stepping Stone of San Diego and the Human Dignity Foundation will present the Universal Rhythms event on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park. Community members are invited to be part of an exclusive VIP party in the VIP lounge at 6:00 p.m. The Universal Rhythms event will follow at 7:00 p.m.

This year’s theme is “Strength Through Diversity: Laying a Foundation for a Healthy and Secure Tomorrow.”

Guests will have an opportunity to mix, mingle and eat, while listening to the sounds and rhythms of diverse cultures from around the world. Foods from a variety of cultures will be served, including Cajun Creole, Pacific Rim, Brazilian and Southwestern flavors.

Entertainment will be provided by The WorldBeat Cultural Center.

In addition, guests will enjoy live and silent auctions and be able to view the art at the museum while helping to make a difference in the lives of others.

Eric Collins and Maria Arcega-Dunn from Fox 6 News will serve as masters of ceremonies.

VIP tickets are available for $250 and general admission is $125. Tickets are available at the Universal Rhythms Web site.

For more information or to RSVP, call Jim Ginelli at (619) 278-0777 or visit www.universalrhythms.info.

Diversionary Theatre’s new play development program, “Queer Theatre – Taking Center Stage,” will present two staged readings in February. Passing Ceremonies by playwright Steve Willis will celebrate Black History Month with Ebony Pride San Diego. Do Geese See God by playwright J.D. Eames features a lesbian storyline.

The mission of “Queer Theatre – Taking Center Stage” is to champion the discovery, development and production of plays that explore, reveal and celebrate the lives of the GLBT community.

Passing Ceremonies is a story about a Harlem Renaissance artist Richard Bruce Nugent and modern-day poet Essex Hemphill. The pair meet between “earth life” and “paradise” and converse about what is means to be black, gay artists.

In Do Geese See God, Topher’s life is all about words until she’s struck by lightning and left with a language impairment. Her recovery forces her to develop a new relationship with words and with her lovers and friends.

“It is important to us to show the breadth and depth of the GLBT community,” said Dan Kirsch, Diversionary’s executive and artistic director. “As we are only able to present six fully-staged productions during the year, doing these staged readings allows us to tell more stories about our community.”

Steve Willis and J.D. Eames will be present during the rehearsal process and will participate in a talkback at each performance.

Diversionary received a grant from The James Irvine Foundation’s New Connections Fund to support this program.

Passing Ceremonies will take place Saturday, Feb. 17, at 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 18, at 2:00 p.m.; and Monday, Feb 19, at 7:30 p.m.

Do Geese See God will take place Saturday, Feb. 24, at 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 25, at 2:00 p.m.; and Monday, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m.

General admission tickets are $12 and $9 for Diversionary subscribers and donors. Tickets for Feb. 17 and Feb. 24 are $15 and $12, respectively, and include a reception.

For tickets or further information, call the Diversionary box office at (619) 220-0097 or visit www.diversionary.org.

Looking to meet other guys for new friendships, activity partners or possible romance? Momentum, from the Gay Men’s Health Program at Family Health Centers of San Diego, will host “Five-Minute Man” on Sunday, Feb. 18, at the Joyce Beers Community Center.

This social gathering will offer a fun and interactive alternative to meeting other guys in the San Diego area. Participants will have the opportunity to chat with 32 other men in five-minute intervals to see if there’s a connection.

The event is free and refreshments will be served.

“Five-Minute Man” will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Joyce Beers Community Center, located at 1220 Cleveland Ave. in Hillcrest.

For more information or to RSVP, call (619) 515-2446 or e-mail gmhp@fhcsd.org.

The Greater San Diego Business Association (GSDBA) will host Speed Networking on Tuesday, Feb. 27, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Handlery Hotel.

Participants will engage in a series of mini-meetings with new contacts at the event.

Past Speed Networking groups generated an estimated $400 worth of new business per attendee.

The cost of attendance is $25 per person. Drinks, snacks and parking are included in that price.

The Handlery Hotel is located at 950 Hotel Circle Dr.

For more information or to RSVP, call (619) 296-4543 or visit www.gsbda.org

Civil rights activist Eric Mann will speak at UCSD on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 3:00 p.m. Mann’s lecture, “Building Left in the Age of the Right: Challenging Racism and Empire,” is part of a series of activities for Black History Month at UCSD.

The discussion surrounds the black movement in the South and the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Mann has been an activist for more than 40 years and is the author of six books on the subject. He is also the director of the Labor/Community Strategy Center in Los Angeles.

Following the lecture is a book signing of Mann’s most recent book, Katrina’s Legacy: White Racism and Black Reconstruction in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. The title will be available for purchase.

The lecture is free and open to the public and will be held in the Robinson Auditorium at UCSD.

For more information, call David Pellow at (858) 822-5118 or e-mail pjacoby@ucsd.edu.

The San Diego County Chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) is accepting applications for the 2007-2008 PFLAG scholarship.

San Diego County GLBT students pursuing a post-secondary education are invited to apply for the $1000 scholarship. Several scholarships will be awarded for the 2007-2008 academic year.

GLBT students of strong academic standing who have made significant contributions to the community are encouraged to apply. The application deadline is Monday, April 16.

For more information and a scholarship application, visit www.pflag.com.

The San Diego Leather Community Awards were announced Feb. 3 at the Arts & Entertainment Center. The Awards were created to recognize those who make an impact in the Levis, leather, bear, kink and fetish communities of San Diego.

It was a night of art exhibits, live models and plenty of food and drink.

Awards were awarded to the following: Woman of the Year, Caryl; Club of the Year, San Diego Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Asylum of the Tortured Heart; Business of the Year, San Diego Eagle; Large Event of the Year, Leather Realm; Small Event of the Year, World AIDS Day ’80s Dance Party and Sister Nora Torius; Kinkster of the Year, Roadkill; Volunteer of the Year, Uncle Bob; Man of the Year, Mike Russell; Community Choice of the Year, Caryl; and Life Time Achievement, Mark “Hawgs” Holmes.

The awards take place each year in February, prior to the National Pantheon of Leather Awards and San Diego Leather Pride Week in March. The awards are funded by local businesses, organizations and members of the GLBT community.

The San Diego County Chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) will host its monthly meeting at the First Unitarian Universalist Church on Feb. 26 at 7:00 p.m., when Victoria Ingram, intern minister at Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, will present, “Because Marriage Matters.”