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IN THE LIFE WELCOMES THE NEW YEAR WITH FIRST CLASS CITIZENS:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Chuy Sánchez
212-255-6012 ×307
csanchez@itlmedia.org

IN THE LIFE WELCOMES THE NEW YEAR WITH FIRST CLASS CITIZENS:
Honoring the groundbreaking work of LGBT & ally pioneers

January 3, 2012 – Tonight, public television stations across the country will begin airing First Class Citizens, an episode of the award-winning documentary series IN THE LIFE honoring the groundbreaking work of pioneers in the pursuit of LGBT civil rights. As the United States remembers Martin Luther King’s vision of equality and the African American civil rights movement, IN THE LIFE looks back at inspiring portraits of LGBT people and allies who stood up, spoke out and made a difference in the fight for full LGBT equality.

The episode highlights the contributions of openly lesbian African-American Hon. Judge Deborah Batts, former NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, and broadcaster and former National Black Justice Coalition president Keith Boykin, as well as pioneering activists Frank Kameny and Barbara Gittings. In the episode Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Washington Post editorial writer and In The Life Media Pioneer Award Honoree Jonathan Capehart asks NAACP chairman Julian Bond about the intersection between the African American and LGBT civil rights movements. Says Bond, “The connection is rights. ‘Rights’, that’s the key word. These are movements for rights and these are movements to insure that everyone has these rights…”

Watch IN THE LIFE’s First Class Citizens here:
http://www.itlmedia.org/

To receive the latest updates about In The Life Media, follow @ITLMedia and use the hashtag #ITLMedia.

First Class Citizens begins airing January 3rd on public television stations across the country and will be available for free video streaming from the In The Life Media website. To find out when it will air in your local area, or to stream it, go to ITLMedia.org.

ABOUT IN THE LIFE MEDIA:
For twenty years, In The Life Media has been a leading media organization for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement. One of the nation’s most honored and influential LGBT groups, In The Life Media creates social and political change by examining issues critical to LGBT individuals and providing audiences with powerful ways to advance equality within, and beyond, their communities. Produced by In The Life Media, the Emmy-nominated series, IN THE LIFE, was the first—and remains the only—LGBT issues-oriented show on public television. IN THE LIFE is a two-time Emmy Award nominee, a Lambda Legal Liberty Award honoree, a Seigenthaler Award recipient from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and a Ribbon of Hope Award recipient from The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: www.ITLMedia.org
ABOUT AMERICAN PUBLIC TELEVISION:
IN THE LIFE is distributed by American Public Television. APT has been a leading distributor of high-quality, top-rated programming to America’s public television stations since 1961. In 2009, APT distributed 56 of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles. Among its 300 new program titles per year are prominent documentaries, news and current affairs programs, dramatic series, how-to programs, children’s series and classic movies. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service. In 2006, APT launched Create® – the TV channel featuring the best of public television’s lifestyle programming. APT is also a partner in the WORLD™ channel expansion project including its web presence at WORLDcompass.org. For more information about APT’s programs and services, visit APTonline.org. For more information on Create, visit CreateTV.com.