Etheridge honored
by Mautner Project

Rocker Melissa Etheridge will be honored by the Mautner Project, a national lesbian health organization, with its 2005 Mary Helen Mautner Award at the organization's annual gala fund-raiser on Saturday, September 17, in Washington, D.C. Etheridge is being honored for her public expression of courage during her recent fight against breast cancer.

"I'm truly honored to accept this award from the Mautner Project," Etheridge said in a press statement. "I am truly delighted to be a part of Mary Helen Mautner's legacy of putting lesbians and health care on the right track."

The National Center for Lesbian Rights will receive Mautner's Organizational Excellence Award, which will be presented to center executive director Kate Kendell. Awards also will be presented to Sheila Alexander-Reid, founder of the D.C.-based Women in the Life, an organization for lesbians of color; and to two Mautner volunteers.

The gala event also will mark the 15th anniversary of Matuner, originally launched as the Mautner Project for Lesbians With Cancer. (Advocate.com)