Well color me proud! My friend, mentor / idol and Trevorade contributor Tony Valenzuela has been named the new Interim Executive Director of the Lambda Literary Foundation -- the organization behind the prestigious Lambda Literary Awards. I am just tickled pink at the news! Tony's so incredibly smart and talented -- I know he'll do great things at LLF. Here's a blurb from the press release:

"Tony brings to us a remarkable background in the worlds of LGBT literature and nonprofit organizations along with a history of activism," comments Katherine Forrest. "Along with this he has considerable experience in management strategic planning, fundraising, budget administration, marketing and promotional work, and events planning. We're very fortunate to have someone like Tony on board to work with Charles Flowers in ensuring a smooth transition to the next era of LLF."

Tony Valenzuela was born in Los Angeles and raised both in Guadalajara, Mexico and Southern California. A graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program of the California Institute of the Arts, Valenzuela is a longtime community activist and writer whose work has focused on LGBT civil rights, sexual liberation and gay men's health. For the past six years he worked as the Manager of Research and Administration at GLASS (Gay & Lesbian Adolescent Social Services) in what was the largest and oldest LGBT child welfare organization in the country serving abused and neglected LGBT youth. It was during this time that he first became involved with the Lambda Literary Foundation sitting on the Lambda Literary Awards host committee, then co-producing the awards ceremony "In Memoriam" videos for 2007 and 2008.

CONGRATS TONY!!!!!!!