"Active, Intentional Dialogue"

There is still palpable anger and feelings of betrayal in Trans World over NCLR and the Task Force withdrawing their  support from an Equality Michigan sponsored petition that has the goal of ending the trans feminine exclusion for those trans women who desire to go to the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.

The intent is to engage in 'active, intentional, dialogue with a long time foe of the trans community in the hopes she will reverse their longtime ban on trans women entering The Land'.

Active, intentional dialogue with someone like Lisa Vogel who doesn't even trcognize the humanity of trans women?   Yeah, right.  I have some waterfront property I'd like to sell you along I-10 in the Atchafalaya Swamp.

Toni D'orsay  has written a post at her Dyssonance blog commenting on the controversy:

There are folks who know Kate and Rea better than I do.  By far. One thing I do know is that both of them have a common history that is very much a commonality among many lesbian leaders of established organizations.  In something that goes back as far as the involvement of lesbians with the work for women that Eleanor Roosevelt did, there is a strong and persistent line of what we think of today as radical feminism that informs them and their outlook on the world.

I am not a lesbian, I am bisexual, and I share much of that — it is part of the time and place and the world we grew up in.

Like most, though, they backed away from the uglier parts of it as trans people moved forward and they knew the lies they were being told were lies.

But they also understand that mindset — far better than most of my peers do.  Not all — and believe me, I am not saying they are part of the TERF movement, they are merely people who understand it.  They are, after all, cis women, and one of the most potent attacks that the TERFs have been using is the whole basis behind the argument about trans women and cis women being lovers and the problems around that.

Because they incorporate an element of “lesbian hate” into their arguments. One that ignores the fact that said hate is coming from other lesbians, but that’s because they refuse to see them as women, and therefore not lesbians.

Exciting, isn’t it?

Here's the link to the rest of the Dyssonance post entitled ''Active Intentional Dialogue': Michfest, NCLR and the Task Force  that definitely needs to be signal boosted.

The Task Force Is FINALLY Changing Its Name

When I began my advocacy work on behalf of the trans community in 1998, one of the few national organizations that supported us was the Task Force.

I was introduced to then executive director Kerry Lobel, and what I observed of her I liked, and not just because our birthdays were a week apart.

The Task Force at the time was one of the few national organizations that supported trans people, and that trans inclusion was evident at the Creating Change Conference I attended in Oakland a year later.

When I became the Political Director of a neophyte trans rights organization called the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition, one of the first national policy event tables I got the opportunity to sit at with other LGBT organizations was a February 2000 National Transgender Policy one held at the Task Force's DC headquarters.

And over a decade later, I was a proud member of the Houston Host Committee and conference participant for our wildly successful 2014 Creating Change Conference in my hometown.

I have a long personal connection with the Task Force, and I was extremely pleased to hear that yesterday the organization changed its name to the National LGBTQ Task Force.

The Task Force name only including gay and lesbian has been an at times contentious issue with elements of the bi and trans communities, and even reared its head during one of the plenary speeches during CC14.

The organization’s new tagline to go with the new name and logo is “Be you.”  The vision is a society that values and respects the diversity of human expression and identity and achieves freedom and equity for all.

It's past time that the B, T and Q letters were added to the name, since the Task Force as one of the oldest national LGBTQ orgs has long been doing work around trans issues.

It's just now we're included in the name of the organization.

TBLG Orgs Open Letter: Trayvon Deserves Justice

I spoke at the Houston Trayvon Martin rally at City Hall yesterday and made the point that Black TBLG issues are Black community issues and vice versa.  I also said during my comments that the first thing that people saw about me before we even started talking about me being trans is my skin color . 

I was very happy to note that a group of LGBT orgs spearheaded by the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and that includes the Trans Person of Color Coalition (TPOCC)  as one of the signatory organizations issued an open letter expressing their support to the Martin family as they continue to push for justice for Trayvon


An Open Letter: Trayvon Deserves Justice

We cannot begin to imagine the continued pain and suffering endured by Trayvon Martin's family and friends. We stand in solidarity with them as they continue to fight for justice, civil rights and closure. And we thank everyone who has pushed and will continue to push for justice.

Trayvon Martin deserves justice and his civil rights. We support the organizations and community leaders who are urging the federal government to explore every option to ensure that justice is served for Trayvon and that his civil rights are honored and respected. But our work does not end there: we will honor Trayvon Martin by strengthening our commitment to end bias, hatred, profiling and violence across our communities.

We represent organizations with diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituencies. Our community has been targets of bigotry, bias, profiling and violence. We have experienced the heart-breaking despair of young people targeted for who they are, who they are presumed to be, or who they love: Rashawn Brazell, Lawrence King, Ali Forney, Brandon Teena, Brandon White, Matthew Shepard, Marco McMillian, Angie Zapata, Sakia Gunn, Gwen Araujo and countless others.

Every person, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, must be able to walk the streets without fear for their safety.

Justice delayed is justice denied and in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "a right delayed is a right denied." We honor Trayvon by seeking justice for all people.

All Out
American Civil Liberties Union
Believe Out Loud
BiNet USA
Bisexual Resource Center
Center for Black Equity
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals
Equality Federation
Family Equality Council
Freedom to Work
Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network
Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSA Network)
GetEQUAL
GMHC
GLAD
GLAAD
Harvey Milk Foundation
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Equality
Lambda Legal
Movement Advancement Project
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs
National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Minority AIDS Council
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
PFLAG National
The Trevor Project
Trans Advocacy Network
Transgender Law Center
Trans People of Color Coalition

Creating Change 2013 Starts Today In The ATL

In a few hours the 2013 edition of Creating Change will kick off in the ATL (and nope, won't be there for it.) at the Hilton Atlanta hotel.  

This latest edition of the conference will start later today and run until January 27.  If you are in the Atlanta metro area and can attend, I highly recommend you do so.

The 1999 Creating Change conference I attended in Oakland that year jump started my development as an activist. It was a great place to meet many of the people inside and outside the rainbow community human rights rights movement that I collaborated with for various projects over the years.


And it was a lot of fun, too. 

It's also one of those TBLG conferences in which you will see a cross section of people from 18-80 all in one spot.  Creating Change is so packed full of amazing seminars, workshops and panel discussions your toughest decision will be which ones to attend.

One workshop you may consider attending will be conducted by the National Black Justice Coalition, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary year . NBJC will be conducting two workshops on January 25 and 26. 

The ATL also has some amazing attractions away from the hotel to visit such as the MLK Center, the Carter Presidential Center, CNN headquarters, and the World of Coca-Cola just to name a few.

Wish the Task Force and the local organizing committee much success.    

NBJC Will Get 10th Anniversary Year Started At Upcoming Creating Change Conference

2013 marks the tenth anniversary year since the National Black Justice Coalition was founded back in 2003.

This anniversary year of Black LGBT people Owning Our Power gets off to a flying start with presentations at the upcoming 2013 National Conference on LGBT Equality AKA Creating Change in the ATL. 

You'll have to register for Creating Change when it happens from January 23-27 at the Hilton Atlanta, but it will be worth it to see these NBJC presented workshops.    

The two NBJC workshops will happen on January 25 and January 26.

A Morning With NBJC: LGBT Emerging Leaders Briefing
Friday, January 25
9:00am – 10:30am
Hilton Atlanta
255 Courtland Street NE
Atlanta, GA

As an introduction to the work of the National Black Justice Coalition, this presentation is an opportunity for LGBT emerging leaders and stakeholders to meet, network and engage. Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with the NBJC staff and leadership, learn about NBJC’s overall mission and strategy, and become acquainted with our specific programs for Black LGBT youth including the Emerging Leaders Council, the White House Policy Briefing for Black LGBT Emerging Leaders, the NBJC Historically Black College University (HBCU) LGBT-Equality Initiative, and the launch of the NBJC HBCU Affiliates Program for student organizations.

Beyond 2012: Crafting an Agenda for the Black LGBT Community  
Saturday, January 26
10:45am – 12:15pm
Hilton Atlanta
255 Courtland Street NE
Atlanta, GA

This past administration has made historic accomplishments as it pertains to the advancement of equality for LGBT people in this nation. From the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, to the signing of the Affordable Care Act, and the President publicly expressing his support for same-sex marriage, it cannot be denied that there were significant political gains on behalf of the LGBT community. As we enter into a new presidential administration and congressional make-up, what are our political goals? What adjustments need to be made to our strategy and messaging? How do we maintain the political gains of the last administration?

You may also want to consider attending NBJC's fourth annual OUT on the Hill Black LGBT Leadership Summit in Washington DC this September.  I've had the pleasure of being at the last two OUT on the Hill Summits to cover and participate in them.

You'll also have the opportunity to attend events at the CBCF-ALC and there is always an NBJC sponsored panel discussion or event during the CBCF-ALC as well.  


The fourth annual one since it is occurring during this anniversary year for NBJC will be a highly anticipated one that will include the first ever all Black transmen's town hall meeting 

I will be keeping you updated as the OUT on the Hill date gets announced and the seminars and workshop schedule gets fleshed out, but you'll definitely want to be there when it happens. 

There are not many events you get to meet and hang out with Black LGBT leaders from around the country, and this is the one you want to be in the room for.



Happy 10th anniversary NBJC, and may this be a fantastic year of growth for you. 
    

Creating Change 2014 Houston Bound?

Attended a meeting last Thursday along with other leaders of the Houston rainbow community in which we heard some exciting news.  

The Houston LGBT community has long been more than a little peeved about Creating Change going to the third largest city in Texas twice and we were excited to hear that the Task Force's Sue Hyde and Russell Roybal were on our end of I-45 for a change last Thursday.

They were conducting a site tour and inspection of the Hilton Americas Hotel to consider it as a host hotel for the 2014 Creating Change Conference that is produced and sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

The Hilton Americas is downtown right next door to the George R. Brown Convention Center with Discovery Green Park right across the street from the hotel and the Toyota Center on the opposite side of it.
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The last Creating Change I attended was the 1999 one held in Oakland and I have some fond memories of it.  I also highly recommend attending a Creating Change to anyone who wishes to get better at the LGBT activism game or learn about the rainbow community in general because it strives to be a 'one stop shop' for activism.  It's also been since its start in 1988 one of the more diverse conferences in the TBLG community with programming covering everyone from ages 18-80.

I definitely wanted to be in the room for that meeting at the Hilton Americas Hotel and hear firsthand about our chances for landing one of the premier GLBT community events.  To let you know how much our city wants it, there were three representatives from the Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau in the meeting to plead my hometown's case for bringing Creating Change here.

The 2012 Creating Change in Baltimore brought over 3000 people there from around the country for its over 280 seminars and training sessions conducted during its five day run and the 2013 edition will be held in Atlanta January 23-27 at the Hilton Atlanta Hotel

Ms. Hyde shared with us that Houston has been on the Task Force radar as a potential host city for years, but lack of a big enough for their purposes convention hotel was one of the stumbling block issues keeping my hometown from hosting the event.  That has been rectified with the 2003 opening of the 1,200 room 24 story tall Hilton Americas-Houston hotel.  

It has 30 meeting rooms, two ballrooms with one being 40,000 sq feet in size. It is also connected to the George R. Brown Convention Center via two skybridges if additional exhibit space is needed. 

Houston is the largest city to be governed by an openly gay mayor, something that the Houston rainbow community is very proud of since she started as a community activist and was chair of the LGBT Caucus.   There was the desire to have Creating Change here while Mayor Annise Parker is still at City Hall. 

Mayor Parker as a back in the day 1994 Creating Change attendee also supports it coming here as well. 

For that to happen and for her to be doing a keynote speech welcoming the attendees of a potential Creating Change to Houston, she would have to survive another civic election cycle in November 2013 for her third and final term 

The final decision on the 2014 Creating Change host city will be announced sometime in July, and I and the attendees of the Thursday meeting were happy to hear there is a strong possibility that people might be coming to Houston in January 2014    

And if it does, you'll see a smiling TransGriot and many of our Houston rainbow community folks ready and willing to welcome you to our hometown and show you our legendary Texas hospitality. 

I'll also tell you where some of the best places are for barbecue in Houston if you do.

NAACP President Ben Jealous' Creating Change Keynote Speech

The 2012 edition of Creating Change kicked off on the 25th.    Since Creating Change is happening in Baltimore this year, the headquarters city of the NAACP, last night NAACP President and CEO Benjamin T. Jealous was on hand to give the keynote speech for Friday's evening plenary session.



If and when I find a transcript of it or a full video for his plenary speech, I'll post it to the blog.

NAACP's Ben Jealous To Be Keynote Speaker At 2012 Creating Change

The 2012 Creating Change Conference will be held in Baltimore, MD from January 25-29 which also happens to be the historic headquarters city for the 102 year old National Association For The Advancement of Colored People. 

So it didn't surprise me when I heard the announcement that NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous will be the opening plenary keynote speaker on January 26. 

The NAACP is making a commitment to doing a better job of advocacy on TBLG issues, even though they stumbled out of the gate with it at their convention in Los Angeles with the trans and bi free panel discussion.  

Under Jealous' leadership the NAACP launched its LGBT Equality Task Force in 2009 in partnership with the National Black Justice Coalition.  Most recently, the Baltimore NAACP chapter joined the steering committee of Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the broad and diverse coalition working to bring civil marriage equality to Maryland.

Should be interesting to hear that speech and what he has to say and hope I can make it to Baltimore to be in the house for it.
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