Civil rights leader and highly-acclaimed furniture designer Mitchell Gold
to speak about his book CRISIS and the toll based bigotry

Charlotte, NC, Tuesday, Jan 19, 2010 – The national, Charlotte-based Campus Pride (www.campuspride.org) and local Time Out Youth (www.Time Out Youth.org) have partnered for a joint fundraising event on Thursday, Feb 25 to bring attention to lesbian,gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally youth in the Charlotte area.The fundraiser will take place at 6 p.m. at Myers Park Baptist Church(1900 Queens Road) and then continue at 8 p.m. at Petra’s Piano Bar(1919 Commonwealth Avenue). No tickets are necessary; however, donations are encouraged.

Titled “Believe In Youth,” the one night only event will feature civil rights leader and author Mitchell Gold and his book "CRISIS: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay In America." A resident of Hickory, NC, Gold is a nationally recognized leader in the furniture industry as well as the founder of Faith In America, a national nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of the harm caused to LGBT Americans by religion-based bigotry and prejudice.

Gold has been honored nationally for his work and most recently in 2009 received a "Visionary Award" from the Stonewall Foundation in New York for his work with Faith in America and for publishing his recent book CRISIS. The book has been hailed as an important tool for understanding the immense harm to LGBT people when prejudice, discrimination and violence toward them is given moral and religious approval.

Mitchell Gold has been active in many efforts from furniture to founding Faith in America. His furniture company, Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams, is one of the fastest growing companies according to Inc. Magazine. Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams also supports many LGBTQ nonprofits including Campus Pride where he made a fantastic appearance at Campus Pride's Summer Leadership Camp. His most recent effort is the publication of Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing up Gay in America. The book details many struggles that shine light on how there is still progress to be made for LGBTQ equality.
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Interview Begins.
CP: Thank you so much Mitchell for fielding these questions and for all you have done for Campus Pride and for the LGBTQ community. So, Mitchell, what do you hope college students will get out of reading Crisis?

MG: That no matter what they are going through, they are not alone. Others have had the same feelings and experiences; many people their age, especially in parts of the country outside the “bubbles” of places like New York and L.A., are still going through it. Crisis can be a gift for them to give their parents to let them know the kind of pain they have been put through. And hopefully start to put it to an end.