Palm Springs — Longtime EQCA Regional Field Manager George Zander, victim of an anti-LGBT attack last month, died this morning in Palm Springs. He was 71. Zander has served as EQCA’s Desert field manager since June, 2009. In that time, he has been a tireless advocate for the LGBT community across the Desert and Inland Empire regions. As EQCA’s key staff member in the Desert communities, George devoted his work to ensuring that schools are safe and supportive for LGBT students, to advocating for the needs of LGBT seniors, to advancing civil rights for transgender people and to electing pro-equality candidates at every level of government.
In response to his death, Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur issued the following statement:
“We are shocked and heartbroken at George’s death, which truly took all of us at EQCA by surprise. This is a tragic loss for all of us at Equality California and for the Desert community as a whole. While we still know few details, our hearts and support are with George’s husband, Chris, during this difficult time.”
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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization dedicated to creating a fair and just society. Our mission is to achieve and maintain full and lasting equality, acceptance, and social justice for all people in our diverse LGBT communities, inside and outside of California. Our mission includes advancing the health and well-being of LGBT Californians through direct healthcare service advocacy and education. Through electoral, advocacy, education and mobilization programs, we strive to create a broad and diverse alliance of LGBT people, educators, government officials, communities of color and faith, labor, business, and social justice communities to achieve our goals. www.eqca.org
