Virginia (Ginny) Apuzzo (New York City, NY, 1996)
Virginia Apuzzo was the first recipient of the Thomas A. Dooley Award. Ms. Apuzzo has dedicated her life to gay and lesbian issues, including civil rights, health care, HIV/AIDS and the concerns of aging members of the GLBT community. After serving as a nun in the Sisters of Charity in her late-twenties, Ms. Apuzzo came out as a lesbian and began her involvement with the National Gay Task Force (later renamed the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force) where she eventually became the Executive Director of the Task Force’s Fund for Human Dignity. During this time she also worked vigorously in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including testifying before Congress to press for more federal money for HIV/AID research and education.
After serving in the New York state government, the Clinton administration appointment Ms. Apuzzo first as the Associate Deputy Secretary of Labor and subsequently as Assistant to the President for Management and Administration, making history as the highest ranking openly gay or lesbian government official in the nation. In 1999, she rejoined the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force as the first holder of the Virginia Apuzzo Chair for Leadership in Public Policy at the organization's Policy Institute.
Tom Dooley Award Acceptance Speech (from the GALA Newsletter Archive)
Gift Recipient: New Ways Ministry