Mazzoni Announces Honorees, Talent for 2014 Elixr Gala

Orange is the New Black star Lea DeLaria will perform at Mazzoni’s 2014 Elixr Gala.

It seems like just yesterday when we were milling and mingling at the Mazzoni Center’s last Elixr Gala, but believe it or not the 2014 edition is right on our heels.

The Philly LGBT health-and-wellness provider recently rolled out details for this year’s fundraising event, themed “OUT is the New IN.” That’s a fitting title, because they’ve nabbed star Lea DeLaria as this year’s talent. DeLaria is a triple threat: jazz musician, actor, standup comedian (she was the first openly gay comic to appear on late-night television in 1993), but you probably know her most as sexy butch prisoner Boo on Orange is the New Black.

Also in keeping with the theme, this year’s four honorees are recognized by Mazzoni for “achievements across a range of professions and commitment to being open about who they are, [and making an impact] within the LGBT communities.” The list comprises two familiar names, Robb Reichard, the executive director of AIDS Fund, who produces the popular GayBINGO, and the annual AIDS Walk Philly; and Philly State Representative Brian Sims, who has been at the receiving end of all kinds of awards and accolades this year for his work to bring Philly’s forward-thinking movements toward equality to the rest of Pennsylvania.

There are also two names you may not recognize: Anita Radix, senior director of research and education at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in New York City, which, according to Mazzoni, “has a 40-year history of providing health care and related services for LGBT individuals.” And then there’s Margaret Stumpp, PhD, senior advisor for Quantitative Management Associates, LLC, a business of Prudential, Inc. She “became the first person to transition on the job at Prudential in 2001 — while leading a department that managed $32 billion on behalf of client pension funds and other institutional investors.”

Mazzoni’s Elixr Gala takes place Saturday, May 17th at the Wells Fargo Bank and Museum (123 S. Broad Street.) Tickets can be found here.

And for fun, check out DeLaria in this new clip featuring the cast of Orange is the New Black trying to explain the upcoming season in three words: