ST. MARY’S CHURCH TO HOST “A PERSONAL HISTORY OF THE GAY CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT”

The First Lady of Minnesota, Gwen Walz will moderate a life story by Cold Spring resident and advocate, Randy Florke, who will draw from his own experience to illuminate the Gay Civil Rights Movement with information, poignancy and humor. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet and converse with the two speakers after the program.

The event will be held Wednesday, January 15 at 7:00 pm at St. Mary’s in-the-Highlands Episcopal Church, Cold Spring, 1 Chestnut Street on the corner of Routes 9D and 301. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

Florke has worked all his adult life on behalf of equality. Subsequent to the Supreme Court decision in the case of United States vs. Windsor, Florke married his longtime companion, Sean Patrick Maloney, New York’s first openly gay Member of Congress who represents NY-18, home of Cold Spring.

Says Florke, “Gwen and I have taken this presentation to college campuses across the nation where it has resonated with students, many of whom have felt marginalized despite the gains of recent decades. This is the first time in a house of worship and particularly meaningful for it to be where Sean and I got married.”

Registration is not required, admission is free, and there is ample parking. Voluntary donations to St. Mary’s in-the-Highlands are encouraged to support the preservation of this historic and iconic landmark.