By B&TF

Orange County has had a long history of extreme political and religious conservatism.  Since its inception almost 35 years ago, The Center Orange County has taken a leading role in their support for the civil rights of LGBT people. In addition to advocating for issues such as same sex marriage and parental rights for same-gender parents, the Center has been active in the community helping craft legislation and develop public policy on gay and lesbian youth issues, HIV testing, immigration, HIV/AIDS, discrimination, hate crimes, health care issues and more.

Each year the Center holds annual Gala celebrating the LGBT community, honoring celebrities for their support and raising money. Last year the event was a Hollywood-like fundraiser in Irvine, California to raise money for some of their programs and to honor actors Jane Lynch (“The L Word”) and Peter Paige (“Queer as Folk”) with the Torch Bearer Awards.

This year the Gala 2010 will be held in Santa Ana and the program sounds amazing as the Center will honor Jennifer Beals and Gale Harold for their work in influential and groundbreaking LGBT series. If any of you have a desire and opportunity to participate in this year Gala, please read the following press release for more information.

I’m going to attend the OC Center Gala and will post photos and my report on www.l-word.com soon after.