Matt Foreman

Email Address: matt@bilerico.com

Location: New York City, NY

Project Contributor Since: July 2007

Entries by this Contributor: 10

Matt Foreman has been a leader in the LGBT rights movement for over 25 years and has served as Executive Director of the NYC Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project (1990-1996), the Empire State Pride Agenda, the nation's largest statewide LGBT political advocacy organization (1997-2003), and for the last four years has headed the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the nation's oldest and second-largest national LGBT rights organization. During his tenure at the Task Force, its budget and staff have doubled, to $9 million and over 50, the organization's public profile has increased significantly; and two new departments, including one focused on federal affairs, have been launched.

Foreman is a founder of Heritage of Pride (organizers of New York City's lesbian and gay pride events), where he originated many hallmarks of the annual celebration, including the lavender line down 5th Avenue, the moment of silence in memory of those lost to AIDS, and the annual "Dance on the Pier" and fireworks display. He also served for many years on the board of Dignity/NY, an organization of LGBT Catholics.

He is a 1982 graduate of New York University School of Law, where he was president of the Student Bar Association and a lead organizer of the 1979 national conference "Law and the Fight for Gay Rights." He graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1976, where he was president of the student body and an anti-strip mining activist.

Foreman lives with his partner of 17 years, Francisco De Leon, in Manhattan. His parents reside in Ten Sleep, Wyoming.

(Photo credit: Linda Kliewer, Out and Out Productions)

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