CNN Dialogues, Outwrite fundraiser set for Dec. 14

5 Napkin Burger in Midtown will host an After Party  to benefit Outwrite Books following the airing of the television show CNN Dialogues on Wednesday, Dec. 14

CNN Dialogues, an open community forum televised on CNN, takes place at  7 p.m., at the Grady High School Theater, 929 Charles Allen Drive, and will be moderated by CNN anchor Jane Velez-Mitchell. Panelists on hand to discuss the evening’s topic, Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender: Has More Openness Led to More Acceptance?, include Robin Brand, Deputy Executive Director of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund & Leadership Institute; LZ Granderson, ESPN Senior Writer and CNN Contributor; Donna Rose, Transgender Speaker, Activist, and Author; and U.S. figure skating champion Johnny Weir, whose new book Welcome to My World will be available at the Grady event and at Outwrite.

The show is a ticketed event and producers are suggesting a $25 contribution ($15 for students with current identification), the proceeds of which will be donated to the James Weldon Johnson Institute and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. For more information about the program and its participants visit this link.

Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse, founded in 1993, is being forced to move from its high profile corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue due to country’s financial downturn, increasingly high rent, and reduced interest in the written word. Public outcry to keep the store open prompted creation of Save Outwrite Books, a fund to help do that very thing.

For the After Party, 5 Napkin Burger is serving light hors d’oeuvres, the signature fundraising cocktail The Bookworm, and expects special surprise celebrity guests throughout the evening. 5NB is located at 990 Piedmont Ave., just across from Outwrite. The After Party is free and open to the public.