Back from the Dead: Bloggers at Creating Change

Here is the thing: I never get sick. I don't know why. That's just the way it is. So when I began to cough and sniffle last week I hoped it would not turn out to be my first bout with the flu virus since the start of the millenium. Specially as I had a scheduled trip.

Instead, it was a miracle I made it to Detroit on Thursday for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Creating Change conference - and survived to tell the tale!

Let's just say I spent Thursday and Friday having an out of body experience in my hotel bedroom (at least that's what I call it).

And that I managed to get in good enough shape to boogie the night away last night in the company of comedian Kate Clinton and her partner, Urvashi Vaid (a former Task Force Executive Director); Lorri L. Jean, Chief Operating Officer of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center (also a former Task Force Executive Director); and a hundred or so other revelers who honored activist Trishala Deb of the Audre Lorde Project in a secret annual ceremony that ended with a "Pomp and Circumstance" march down the elevators into the Detroit's Marriot Hotel Renaissance Center (Shh! Don't tell anyone!).

Back in New York tonight, feeling much better. Day off tomorrow so I might very well have recovered 100% by the time I get back to work.

One good thing: I got to meet some other bloggers at a small get together organized by Bilerico. Pictured above (l-r): H. Alexander Robinson from the National Black Justice Coalition; Lane Hudson, the former Human Rights Campaign staffer who exposed Florida State Representative Mark Foley for his indiscretions; blogger Wayne Besen; Bilerico's Bil Browning; former GLAAD staffer and current PR maven Cathy Renna; Bilerico's Jerame Davis and - hm - yours truly (even though I don't think I was feeling my best just yet as the photo was taken on Friday).

Here is more about Bilerico contribuitors. Here's Mike Roger's take.

Latinos at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Creating Change conference

Above: Pedro Julio Serrano, the Task Force's Communications Coordinator, discusses the role of LGBT Latinos at the next Creating Change conference (in Spanish)

This year, the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force is reaching out to LGBT Latinos throughout the United States and asking to consider participating in their annual Creating Change conference taking place from February 6th to February 10th in Detroit, Michigan. Yes, I will be among those who will make the trip to the Wolverine State come next month.

This morning the Task Force sent out a press release with details on specific events relevant to the Latino LGBT community. I am taking the liberty of posting the information here as well:

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Latina/o activists to gather at National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change

January 04, 2008

MEDIA CONTACT:
Pedro Julio Serrano, Communications Coordinator
pserrano@theTaskForce.org

Conference highlight
Nuestro Futuro, a Caucus for LGBT Latinas/os

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 — Everyone knows that Latinas/os comprise the largest minority group and a fast-growing voting constituency in the U.S. What everyone doesn’t know is that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are among the top three voting blocs. Put these two groups together and you’ve got one powerful, winning combination. That’s exactly what’s going to happen right on the heels of Super Tuesday, when LGBT Latinas/os join with 2,000 activists to strategize and organize for the coming year at the National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, Feb. 6–10, in Detroit, Mich.

LGBT Latinas/os will be tackling big issues such as the need to develop a national agenda for the Latina/o and African-American communities; bridging the divisions of race, gender and class; anti-racism organizing and people of color organizing; and, most importantly, how to move forward as a Latina/o LGBT movement. The conference will feature five intensive daylong institutes directly related to these issues.

“Creating Change is the one time, one place, one opportunity the national Latina/o LGBT community has to come together to strategize on how to move forward as a movement,” said Pedro Julio Serrano, communications coordinator of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “We look forward to a truly wonderful and welcoming conference this year, one that will inspire us all to continue united in this struggle for justice.”

The conference, sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, has trained 30,000 movement leaders since its launch in 1988. Key highlights this year include:

• Nuestro Futuro, a Caucus for LGBT Latinas/os
• Race Matters — Bridging the Divisions of Race, Gender and Class
• Families to the Front: Cross-Issue Social Justice Work Around a Central Family Theme
• Building Bridges Across Our Communities: People of Color Organizing

On Friday, Feb. 8, and Saturday, Feb. 9, the Task Force Academy for Leadership and Action premieres a highly challenging training curricula for organization leaders. Training components include skills for executive directors, conflict resolution, volunteer recruitment, fundraising, campaign strategies, and crisis management and media skills.

The conference also features 15 additional daylong institutes on Wednesday, Feb. 6, and Thursday, Feb. 7, focused on a variety of topics and leadership-building sessions. In addition, more than 100 workshops, caucuses, meetings, receptions and social events will be offered over the course of the conference weekend.

Registration for the 20th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change is now open and can be done online at www.creatingchange.org. The conference is supported by its founding sponsor, the Anita May Rosenstein Foundation.