March 20, 2011
Celeb Photog and TV Star, Mike Ruiz, Sells T-Shirts For Ali Forney Center
Robert Doyle READ TIME: 2 MIN.
NEW YORK (NY) - Celebrity photographer, hit reality star, philanthropist and New York influential Mike Ruiz is launching MR by Mike Ruiz Tees, a brand new t-shirt line featuring his photography prints. A generous portion of each sale will be donated to the Ali Forney Center, a charity that helps with housing for homeless LGBT youth, and the collection is being sold exclusively online at Peppermint Park.
This affiliation with the center is a natural fit. Although Ruiz is best known for his work behind the camera shooting A-list celebs and in front of the camera on the Logo channel's "The A-List", he is also a long-time supporter and contributor to GMHC, The Trevor Project, Housing Works, GLAAD and many more LGBT organizations.
The iconic t-shirt line already has several high-profile celebrity fans including Kathy Griffin, Vanessa Williams, Countess Lu-Ann deLesseps and Paris Hilton, just to name a few. Ruiz intends to generate more awareness for LGBT causes with help from other celebrity friends.
Ali Forney was a homeless gay teen who was forced to live on the streets of New York during the 1990s. Ali was dedicated to the safety of other homeless LGBT youth; he was a committed HIV prevention worker, and aggressively advocated that the NYPD investigate a series of murders of the homeless queer youth he had befriended. Ali was an inspiration to those who knew him.
In December of 1997, Ali was murdered on the streets. His tragic death called attention to the atrocious conditions for homeless LGBT youth in New York. Ali's murderer has never been identified. Carl Siciliano opened The Ali Forney Center in 2002, at a time when there was no safe shelters for LGBT youth. Siciliano continues to the struggle to abate LGBT homelessness in NYC.
Model turned celebrity photographer and talented director, Mike Ruiz is known to be the 'transformation' emperor of photography and has worked with celebrities from the Kardashians to Betty Davis. Ruiz can also be seen as a guest judge on CW's America's Next Top Model, Canada's Next Top Model, guest appearances on Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, featured judge on LOGO's RuPaul's Drag Race and is personality favorite on LOGO's The A-List.
Peppermint Park is a memembership base community website that sells premium luxury brands at sample sale prices. Highly coveted designers such as Prada, Mulbery, Roberto Cavalli, Gucci, Burberry, Michael Kors, Chan Luu and over 300 designers to date. This unique online e-tailer shares more than fashion secrets with friends, once a member and then pass on the savings to a friend you receive $10, plus 10% of their purchases for even more savings.
Jessie Conners, CEO of Peppermint Park, is an expert in real estate and ex-contestant of Donald Trump's first-season of The Apprentice. She took her knowledge of buying properties at low prices into flipping high end fashion and selling for less so fashionistas can splurge without feeling guilty.
LINK: MR by Mike Ruiz Tees
Long-term New Yorkers, Mark and Robert have also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center, Mark is a PhD in American history and literature, as well as the author of the novels Wolfchild and My Hawaiian Penthouse. Robert is the producer of the documentary We Are All Children of God. Their work has appeared in numerous publications, as well as at : www.mrny.com.
