President Obama will speak at the 13th
annual Human
Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner on Saturday, the New
York Times reported.
The HRC is the nation's largest gay
rights advocate.
Obama will speak to gay activists on
the eve of the National Equality March, a gay and lesbian rights
demonstration that promises to attract thousands of activists to the
nation's capitol on Sunday.
Organizers of the march have also
invited Obama to speak at their event. The president has yet to
respond to the request.
President Bill Clinton is the first –
and so far the only – sitting president to have addressed the
group. The HRC strongly backed Obama during the campaign.
Also scheduled to speak at the event
are Judy and Dennis Shepard, parents of Matthew Shepard, the
21-year-old University of Wyoming student who was viciously murdered
in 1998 by two men he met in a gay bar. Judy Shepard in particular
has toured the country advocating for hate crimes legislation.
The Human Rights Campaign National
Dinner takes place Saturday at 5:30PM at the Walter E. Washington
Convention Center in Washington D.C.