Avicolli Mecca, Tommi*

NAME: Tommi Avicolli Mecca

Biography:' Tommi Avicolli Mecca is a longtime southern Italian radical queer activist who helped organize the first gay pride march in Philadelphia in 1972. He is a poet,performer, activist and writer. As a journalist, he has contributed to //Philadelphia Magazine//, [Bay Guardian//], //Bay Times//, [[1]] and others. In 1978 he wrote and produced the first gay play presented in Philadelphia; in 1986 the libretto for the first dance/spoken word piece on AIDS. He has continued to fight the good fight since moving to the West Coast, where he is now a prominent housing and queer activist. Tommi's poetry has been published in a wide variety of journals including Northwest Magazine and the book, //Gay & Lesbian Poetry in Our Time//. He is author of //Between Little Rock and a Hard Place// and co-editor of //Hey Paesan!: Writing by Lesbians and Gay Men of Italian Descent. His work draws strongly on his Mediterranean heritage involving bloodlines that stretch from Spain to North Africa.

Picture: (Insert picture if available)

Date of Birth:

Employment:

Social/Political Groups he attends/attended:

Bars/Clubs he attends/attended:

His friends include: (type your name here, or names of others)

Testimonials to him (add a space before a new testimonial):