Kate Shindle To Run 2009 ING NYC Marathon To Raise Funds For Marriage Equality
By: Jessica Lewis Oct. 01, 2009
BroadwayImpact is has announced that Broadway's Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde, Cabaret, Jekyll & Hyde) will run the 2009 ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, Nov 1, 2009 to raise money for their marriage equality initiatives. Donations can be made at www.broadwayimpact.com/runshindlerun.
Shindle, a longtime activist, used her status as Miss America 1998 to push for HIV/AIDS education and prevention. In the process, she became nationally known as an aggressive and accomplished voice in the AIDS movement. In 1999, The Boston Globe wrote of her work "If young America can produce such a beauty whose best features are courage and compassion, then hope is alive." In recent months, Shindle has shifted her focus to include full equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.
"It is clear that the marriage equality movement is the civil rights battle of my generation," Shindle says. "Civil unions won't cut it; there are over 1,000 rights afforded by legal marriage that civil unions do not provide. Unfortunately, fearmongering and bigotry have convinced many Americans that their faith is somehow threatened by allowing same-sex couples access to this institution. This is simply not true. Americans of all persuasions-including straight, Christian, Republican-must come together in recognition of the fact that same-sex marriage rights do not pose a single threat to heterosexual marriages. We must reject the use of God and religion to spread fear, hatred, and discrimination."
"I've been vocal about marriage equality, but words only go so far," Shindle says. I'm a fan of people who put their money where their mouth is. In this case, I guess I'm contributing my long-term joint health, and looking to friends of the cause to help kick in the funds." Shindle has run one previous marathon; in 1999, she finished the Marine Corps Marathon, raising money in the process for the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington D.C.
"As a grassroots coalition of the theatre community and its fans mobilizing in support of marriage equality, BroadwayImpact is always looking for interesting ways to get our message out there," says BroadwayImpact co-founder Gavin Creel, who is a two-time Tony Award nominee and currently stars as "Claude" in the hit revival of Hair. "So when one of our own, the super-talented Kate Shindle, thought of this exciting opportunity to educate and inspire people about the importance of achieving equal rights for all people in this country, while simultaneously running a whole Lotta Miles, we said, THANK YOU and GO DIVA!"
BroadwayImpact is a community of actors, directors, stage managers, fans and producers, united by the simple belief that anyone who wants to should be able to get married. Excited by the election of President Obama and angered by the passage of Prop 8, a group of friends came together with a hope to educate and inspire the theatre community into action towards equality.
BroadwayImpact is an affiliate of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. BC/EFA is one of the nation's leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 BC/EFA has raised over $160 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States. BC/EFA is proud to have joined Broadway Impact in producing the recent Marriage Equality Rally on Sixth Avenue in May and the rally at the Delacorte Theater this past August.
To join Kate's run to raise money for marriage equality, go to:
OR www.broadwayimpact.com/runshindlerun
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