AUGUSTA -- Dale McCormick is excited and honored to receive a "Catalyst for Change Award" from the University of Southern Maine's Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine.

The founder and first president of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance -- now Equality Maine -- is being recognized for her fight for jobs, economic justice, equality for women, human rights and health care for all.

Susie Bock, director of the center, said the award acknowledges individuals who have been catalysts for change regarding diversity, equality, and human and civil rights in Maine, particularly but not exclusively as it relates to minorities.

McCormick has served in the Maine Senate, four terms as state treasurer and currently as executive director of the state housing authority.

"Her life's work is the essence of the Catalyst for Change Award and reflects the values exemplified in the life of Jean Byers Sampson," Bock said.

Bock said the award was given for the first time in 2007 to Rabbi Harry Z. Sky, of Falmouth, for devoting his life to civil rights in Maine.

From the time she started fighting for gay and lesbian civil rights in Maine, McCormick said it has gone from gays and lesbians being thought of as piranhas and called names, to an era where it is the civil rights cause of young people, both gay and straight.

"We have television shows where gays and lesbians are shown to be regular people doing all kinds of jobs and contributing to society," McCormick said Friday. "A tipping point has been reached. It's a completely different world now than it was back when the whole society had policies that reflected the notion that gay people were unworthy."

McCormick founded an organization called Women Unlimited that trains women on welfare for high-paying jobs in trades and technical fields.

McCormick, a graduate of the University of Iowa, has been a carpenter for 30 years and started and ran her own construction and design firm, later writing two books about her experiences.

She said her fight for women's rights hasn't seen as much progress as her fight for gays and lesbians. Between 60 and 90 percent of Maine women are still in low-paying jobs, she said.

"There were 1.7 percent women in trade in 1970 and now there's 1.7 percent women in trade," she said. "There's been more progress in the white-collar jobs, more doctors and lawyers, but for trade and technical jobs the concrete ceiling is still intact."

"These are the jobs that pay well with one or two years of post-secondary education. These are jobs that need to be accessible to women and men and right now, women have a real struggle breaking into them."

McCormick will receive the award at a reception at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 6 at the college's Abromson Community Education Center in Portland. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, call 780-4007.

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811,

Ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com