Politics & Government

Local Gay Rights Leader Speaking at March on Washington

Adrian Shanker will speak at event commemorating 50th anniversary of "I Have a Dream" speech.

Adrian Shanker, one of the leaders of the gay rights movement in the Lehigh Valley, will speak Saturday at the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington.

The event commemorates the historic 1963 march, which climaxed with Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech. Shanker, president of Equality PA, will join a host of other speakers on issues such as labor, health, education, housing civil and human rights.

"While our country has seen great strides for civil and human rights in the last 50 years, we have much further to go before the dream Dr. King shared in 1963 will 
be realized, and I look forward to sharing my perspective at the march," Shanker said in a news release.

Shanker, of Bethlehem, led the campaign to have an anti-discrimination bill created in that city. He also pushed for Easton and Allentown to create domestic partnership benefits for city employees. 


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