Coretta Scott King's personal assistant speaks Jan. 19 at Elizabethtown College MLK Celebration

Human rights activist Lynn Cothren was confidant to wife of slain leader

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Lynn Cothren visits Elizabethtown College

ELIZABETHTOWN, PA (01/04/2011)(readMedia)-- Lynn Cothren is credited with increasing Atlanta's Gay Pride participant turnout from 5,000 to more than 320,000. He was instrumental in highly publicized national campaigns to eliminate sexual orientation-based discriminatory policies and practices at Cracker Barrel restaurants. Now the award-winning human rights activist is writing a memoir about his journey from a small-town housing project to the streets of Atlanta, Ga., where he became an eyewitness to historic events as the confidant to the late Coretta Scott King.

"Now that Mrs. King has left our world," Cothren notes on his website, "how can I share with you the wonder of my 23 years (as) her special assistant and confidant, traveling the world with her as she made history combating racism, sexism, monophobia, poverty, war, AIDS and so many other issues?"

Cothren, former special assistant to the wife of the slain African American leader Martin Luther King Jr., visits Elizabethtown at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19. He will speak on The Life and Legacy of Mrs. Coretta Scott King in Leffler Chapel and Performance Center as part of the College's Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and week of community service.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

"The ideals of Dr. King are embedded in the Martin Luther King Center for Social Change in Atlanta, Ga.," noted Diane Elliot, director of diversity at Elizabethtown College. "A huge part of the work accomplished by Mrs. Coretta Scott King was dedicated to establishing a center where Americans could learn about the principles and strategies of non-violence, advocacy, human rights, and other issues of democracy and social justice.

"Mr. Cothren's visit to Elizabethtown College provides a rare opportunity to learn more deeply about The Life and Legacy of Mrs. Coretta Scott King," Elliot said. "He is an advocate of the Gay Rights Movement in America, one of the struggles for civil rights of our time. He will bring a rich perspective and insight into the critical issues of this movement."

Cothren served as program chair of the 40th anniversary march in Washington, D.C., which commemorated the 1963 Great March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech. He is a former co-chair and grand marshal of the Atlanta Pride Committee, and presently he is director of administration at Girl Scouts of the USA, where he develops and implements organizational strategies and policies, which enable girls to build courage, confidence and character.

Like his friend, Mrs. King, Cothren has led and advised successful campaigns to combat racism, sexism, homophobia, HIV/AIDS and poverty as a board member of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Fund for Southern Communities, Atlanta Lambda Center, and Georgia Equality Project. He is a spokesperson for Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender (GLBT) and Civil Rights issues, and has appeared in interviews on Larry King, Oprah, ABC's 20/20, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and Genre Magazine.

Contact: Diane Elliott at 717-361-1198.

Elizabethtown College, in southeastern Pennsylvania, is a private coed institution offering more than four dozen liberal arts, fine and performing arts, science and engineering, business, communications and education degrees. Through personal attention, creative inspiration and academic challenge, Elizabethtown College students are encouraged to expand their intellectual curiosity and are given the opportunity to become a bigger part of the world through experiential learning-research, internships and study abroad. Elizabethtown College's overall commitment to Educate for Service is fulfilled as students are taught intellectually, socially, aesthetically and ethically for lives of service and leadership.

Visit www.etown.edu for more information about Elizabethtown College.

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