August 20, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE

For More Info, Contact:

Cecylyna Dewr
Executive Director, Pagan Pride Project
http://www.paganpride.org

Dagonet Dewr
Membership Director, Pagan Pride Project
(Contact the project)

The Pagan Pride Project has named October 31, 2001, as the 1st Annual 'Out Of The Broom Closet Day' as a means to support and encourage followers of Pagan, Heathen, and other earth-based and ethnic religious paths to publicly declare and support their chosen religion to those who they encounter in everyday life. Suggested activities include public wearing of symbols of Pagan religious paths, contacting press and media in order to correct misconceptions about Pagan religions and to educate non-Pagans, and other activities designed to support and encourage public expression of religious diversity in the non-Pagan world.

"What you do is limited by your own imagination," says Pagan Pride Membership Director Dagonet Dewr. "If you can show one non-Pagan that you encounter on October 31 that Paganism is a valid and acceptable religious path, if you can change one mind, you’ve celebrated Out Of The Broom Closet Day."

The Pagan Pride Project, founded in 1998, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of religion and elimination of prejudice and discrimination based on religious beliefs. They have sponsored and helped organize Pagan Pride celebrations in September every year since their founding. This year’s schedule includes 89 currently scheduled events in the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Portugal, Italy, and the Netherlands.