SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The President of the Board of the largest LGBT Pride Parade and Festival in the United States, Mikayla Connell, has been invited to appear on The O’Reilly Factor this coming Wednesday, June 4, 2008 and will present Bill O’Reilly with the 2008 Pink Brick Award.

The Pink Brick Award is given to the person considered to have done significant harm to the interests of LGBT people during the past year.  Nominated and voted on by the community, the results were announced earlier this year.  Past winners have included California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger after vetoing the same-sex marriage bill and President George W. Bush for his support of a Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

"O'Reilly has a reputation of consistently reframing positive representations of LGBT people as a campaign of indoctrination targeting youth," said Connell.  On the October 23, 2007 edition of his radio show O'Reilly railed against children's author J.K. Rowling for writing a gay character into her popular Harry Potter book series when he referred to "Harry Potter and the gay agenda."  During that same show, he went on to say, "Now, many parents are worried in America about the gay agenda and indoctrination of their children to see homosexuality in a certain way. That debate is raging all over the country. This now becomes part of that debate, does it not?"

“While there have been numerous incidents over the past year where Mr. O'Reilly has attempted to provide a misleading impression of the LGBT community, one has stood out as particularly contentious among media analysts, bloggers, and others: on June 21, 2007, Mr. O'Reilly attempted to relate an attack on a man by a group of women as proof of some imagined national surge in 'lesbian gangs,'" said Connell. 

“Mr. O'Reilly used footage from an unrelated incident meant to be provocative and instill fear in people, and in so doing drive up ratings by means of unabashed sensationalism.  Mr. O'Reilly has a wide reach and large audience, and thus has an obligation to put responsible, fair journalism before fear-mongering and fact twisting.  I welcome the opportunity to discuss with him the damage he causes by misrepresenting our community to his viewers and hopefully to engage in a dialogue that will change minds and hearts,” she added.

An attorney for the Administrative Office of the Courts of California, Connell was elected Board President in November 2006.  She has also served on the board of directors for the Transgender Law Center, including two years as its Board Chair, and has served as a member and Vice-Chair of the California State Bar Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination.

The segment is scheduled to air at 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 4, 2008. California viewers can catch the show at 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. PST.

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About San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee (SFLGBTPCC):
The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee (SFPride.org) is a not-for-profit membership organization founded to produce the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration & Parade. With its office located at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, SFLGBTPCC is dedicated to education, commemoration of LGBT heritage and celebration of LGBT culture and liberation. A world leader in the Pride Movement, SFLGBTPCC is also a grant-giving organization through its Community Partners Program. Since 1997, SFLGBTPCC has granted over $1.2 million dollars from proceeds of the Pride Celebration and Parade to local not-for-profit LGBT organizations and those organizations serving the HIV/AIDS and breast cancer communities.

About the 2008 San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration & Parade:
This year marks the 38th anniversary of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration and Parade. This year's theme is "United by Pride, Bound for Equality" and the event will be held over the weekend of June 28 and 29, 2008. With over 200 parade contingents, 300 exhibitors, and 18 entertainment stages and venues, San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration and Parade is the largest LGBT gathering in the nation. For more information please visit our website at SFPride.org.

Press Contact:
Clay Doherty
Hollenbeck Associates
(415) 227-1150 ext. 113
clay [at] hollenbeckassociates.com