Governor Maggie Hassan will speak at the University of New Hampshire's 21st annual pancake breakfast Tuesday, April 9, 2013, at 7:45 a.m. in the Granite State Room of the Memorial Union Building. The event is free and open to the public.

The pancake breakfast is a UNH tradition built on the work of the university's first Gay Student Organization in the 1970s. Today the celebration recognizes those who continue to build a safer, more welcoming campus and community. This year, participants will learn how advocates for change have achieved success in the face of obstacles and how these advocates work to inspire others.

Governor Hassan sponsored legislation and found consensus for marriage equality among Democratic senators, building awareness when it was not the popular position to take. The breakfast will feature a conversation on how current legislation for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) rights may be seen as a momentous movement toward civil rights for all, not just for a small group of U.S. citizens.

The mission of the President's Commission on the Status of GLBT Issues is to facilitate the development of a university community that understands and appreciates the value of inclusive excellence of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions. The commission accomplishes its goals through advocacy, education, assessment, and activism.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.
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