FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Joanna Gerber Smith
Director of Public Relations & Communications
Phone: 310.578.1080 x119
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ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY LOS ANGELES CELEBRATES FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF LGBT
SPECIALIZATION BY HOSTING THE CLOTHESLINE PROJECT

Culver City – June 24, 2007 – Antioch University Los Angeles celebrates its first anniversary of the launch of their new Masters of Arts in Clinical Psychology Specialization in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Studies by drawing upon the University’s longstanding commitment to social justice by presenting its first Clothesline Project this October.

The Clothesline Project is a visual display that bears witness to the violence against women, with Antioch’s project to also include violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered persons. During the public display, a clothesline is hung with hand-painted t-shirts. Each shirt is decorated to represent a particular individual’s experience, by the survivor her/himself or by someone who cares about her/him. The purpose of the project is four-fold: to bear witness to the survivors as well as the victims of violence; to help with the
healing process; to educate, document, and raise society’s awareness of the extent of such violence; and to provide a nationwide network of support, encouragement, and information.

Antioch’s Clothesline Project, an event that aims to bridge multiple communities, would like to invite anyone who has an interest in helping end the ongoing horrific violence against women and all sexual minorities to come to the displaying and honoring of these powerful images. In order to bear witness to the survivors of such violence in the process of their healing, the LGBT Specialization is hosting a day devoted to this project this coming fall on Saturday, October 13, 2007. The event will be held at Antioch University Los Angeles’ campus in Culver City and will be open to the public.

Antioch’s new Master’s level specialization in LGBT studies, the first such graduate program in the nation focusing specifically on LGBT counseling theory and practice, commenced in the Fall of 2006 and has already received strong reviews for its innovative curriculum. The overall goal of the specialization is to strengthen the competency, clinical skills, and sensitivity of students to issues of LGBT-pride, diversity, dignity, self-respect, self-esteem, and cultural awareness.

Douglas Sadownick, Ph.D., Director of the LGBT specialization, local author, psychotherapist, and longtime Antioch instructor, discussed Antioch’s commitment to LGBT-affirmative psychotherapy in a recent interview, “It is an important development in the gay liberation movement that an institution of higher learning seeks as its mission to train student therapists how to become competent and LGBT-affirmative therapists to our clinical
population. But even more important, Antioch’s leadership role sends a key message to the gay and non-gay community about how gay liberation can be a force for social good and political change in a new sense, for everyone, whether LGBT or not.”

For more information about the Clothesline Project at Antioch University Los Angeles, please contact Lauren Costine at (310) 578-1080, ext. 308, or at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For more information about Antioch’s new LGBT Specialization, please contact Douglas Sadownick at (310) 578-1080, ext. 309, or at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For more information about Antioch University Los Angeles, please visit our website at www.antiochla.edu

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