Media-relations expert Cathy Renna next week will accept an award named after an LGBT icon, and one of her own inspirations.
Renna will be honored with the 2012 Barbara Gittings Award by the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists at the organization’s convention in Philadelphia May 7.
Renna, owner of public-relations firm Renna Communications, was the longtime spokesperson for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the agency’s first national news media director.
The AGLP award recognizes a woman “who demonstrates exceptional leadership and advocacy for lesbian issues.”
Renna was with GLAAD from 1990-2004, leading the organization through its earliest stage of growth and helping shape media coverage of notable LGBT stories like the death of Matthew Shepard.
Since leaving the organization, her firm has gone on to spearhead PR efforts for leading LGBT organizations such as the National Gay and Task Force, and contributed to media strategies for efforts such as the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Renna has worked with a number of AGLP members throughout her career and noted that the organization’s work heightens the value of the award.
“These are people I respect a great deal and who work on issues that I care a lot about — about mental health and the strain that oppression and homophobia are putting on our community,” she said. “I couldn’t think of a more important group that is really addressing the core issues that affect our lives as LGBT people. We often don’t talk about the stress of living in a homophobic world, and this is a group that is spending their lives trying to help us get through that.”
AGLP executive director Roy Harker said the sponsors and AGLP participants are “very excited about the prospect of honoring and speaking with someone of Ms. Renna’s acumen and rich leadership track record,” noting that Renna was the “overall favorite” among the pool of candidates for the award. “[AGLP] is pleased to honor her on an evening where we showcase our history and commitment to serving as thought leaders and educators for the industry.”
Renna knew Gittings personally, and said the fact that the honor is named after her makes her even more appreciative.
A Philadelphian and one of the LGBT-rights movement’s earliest activists, Gittings edited the first national lesbian magazine in the 1960s, organized a series of gay-rights demonstrations and worked to promote accurate depictions of gays and lesbians in library materials. Gittings, who died in 2007, also was influential in securing the removal of homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s list of mental disorders in 1973.
“I got a lump in my throat as soon as I found out I was receiving the award, and that’s mostly because of it being named after her,” Renna said. “It’s so nice to be recognized for my work but to have it named for someone I admired, respected and felt like I stood on the shoulders of, is really incredible.”
While she was at GLAAD, the agency named an award after Gittings, and Renna said she still has a picture of Gittings with the award in front of Philadelphia’s LOVE statue.
“I went and found that picture the minute I heard about this award. If it wasn’t for her, this community wouldn’t be as far long as we are today and a lot of us wouldn’t be able to do the work that we do. That’s what’s most touching about this award.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].