Former Congresswoman to Speak at UW Thursday

January 15, 2008 — Former Congresswoman Sabrina Sojourner will speak Thursday, Jan. 17, at 8 p.m. in the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture auditorium.

Sojourner is the first open lesbian to have been elected to the United States Congress.
Having been elected by 83 percent of the vote, Sojourner represented the District of Columbia in the U.S. House of Representatives as a shadow representative from 1997-1999, in which she acted as a delegate without voting powers. She lobbied not only for District of Columbia statehood, but also influenced legislators on other issues.

Sojourner is also a nationally recognized educator on diversity and multiculturalism.

As a past director of Diversity Programs and Women of Color Programs for the National Organization for Women, Sojourner developed programs, workshops and presentations to increase understanding across differences, including race, gender and sexual orientation.

A published author, Sojourner's most recent release is a collection of poems and narratives, "Psychic Scars and Other Mad Thoughts."

The event, sponsored by Spectrum and the Rocky Mountain Democrats, is free and open to the public.

For more information, e-mail Spectrum at spectrum-board@uwyo.edu.