Press

17th Annual Creating Change™ Conference

Meet Us In St. Louis! Nov. 10-14, 2004

MEDIA CONTACT:
Roberta Sklar, Director of Communications
media@theTaskForce.org
646.358.1465

What will your life be like post-Election Day? Regardless of the outcome of the presidential election and anti-gay ballot initiatives we won't stop agitating for change - and we know you won't either. And what better way to hone the skills you need than by attending the nation's largest and most unique annual skills building and strategy conference of activists and organizers who work in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement? Creating Change™, founded, sponsored and organized by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is in its 17th year. Aptly timed to take place just after Election Day, we invite you to rest up and then meet us St. Louis!

Come early to participate in these rigorous full-day pre-conference institutes on Wednesday and Thursday, including:

People of Color Institute

Finding the “I” in then Middle of Racism

Building Our House: Dismantling Institutional Racism

Organizing for the Next White House Conference on Aging

Meet and Honor Our Movement Pioneers

Meet our movement pioneers Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon at the Opening Plenary on Thursday evening and don't miss the film about their lives, “No Secret Anymore” on Saturday. Other films about our history include: “Gay Pioneers,” with footage from the first organized annual “homosexual” civil rights demonstrations from 1965-1969, and films about the 1987 & 1993 Marches on Washington.

National Speakers

Hear from our movement's national leaders about current issues and challenges we face.

 

Dr. Mary Frances Berry, founding board member of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation
Keith Boykin, President of the National Black Justice Coalition
Amber Hollibaugh, Director of Education, Advocacy and Community Building at Senior Action in a Gay Environment
Mara Keisling, Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality
Clarence Patton, Acting Executive Director of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs

Learn skills you need for the work you do in fourteen Skills Academy sessions, including:

Thriving in the Midst of Controversy: Dealing Effectively With Conflict in LGBT Communities

How to Advance a Proactive LGBT Policy Agenda in the Next Presidential Administration

If You Build It - Will They Come? Practical Tools for Building a Multi-racial LGBT Team

These and the eleven other 3-hour Skills Academy sessions will recharge your political power cells. Bring your questions!

With over 140 workshops, panel discussions and caucuses - whatever topic you are interested in or agitated about, we’ve got a session for you! Check out these workshop topics:

Aging & Ageism

AIDS/HIV

Anti-Racism

Anti-Violence

Art & Culture

Bisexuality

Bodies/Gender/Identity

Campus

Economic Justice

Elections/Campaigns

Families

Fight the Right

Fundraising

Health

International

Leadership

Leather

Legal

Legislative

Marriage

Media

Military/Veterans

Movement Building

Organizational Development

Organizing

People of Color

Political Q’s

Public Schools

Queer Culture

Rural

Sexual Politics

Spirituality & Faith

Survivin’/Thrivin’

Technology

Transgender Issues

Youth

Join more than 2000 colleagues from across the country in St. Louis for this year's Creating Change™ conference and meet and learn from some of the most experienced activist leaders in our communities: Rev. Steven Baines, Dr. Mary Frances Berry, Joan E. Biren, Richard Burns, Mandy Carter, Bran Fenner, Matt Foreman, Amber Hollibaugh, Lorri L. Jean, Frank Kameny, Don Kao, Mara Keisling, Harry Knox, Malcolm Lazin, Yosenio Lewis, Kerry Lobel, Clarence Patton, Suzanne Pharr, Betty Powell, Sylvia Rhue, Eric Rofes, Carmen Vazquez, Karen Williams, Evan Wolfson, Beth Zemsky, and many, many more.

The Creating Change^™ program book is available online now at www.CreatingChange.org.

Creating Change^™ creates unlimited opportunities to connect, collaborate and network with like-minded folks.

If you've already registered, we'll see you in St. Louis! If you haven't registered yet, Register Now! And please pass this message on to friends and colleagues. www.CreatingChange.org

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.