Creating Change Conference to be held in Portland, Oregon

Creating Change is going to be great this year! There will be tons of transgender and gender-related workshops, discussions, and caucuses on top of our all day Pre-Conference Institute on November 7, Gender Splendor, which will be focusing on issues important to and affecting transgender people of color.

Creating Change is in Portland, Oregon, from November 7-10. The Gender Splendor Pre-Conference Institute starts on Thursday, the 7th, at 9:00am. The Conference ends at 1:30 on Sunday, November 10th. (Monday, the 11th, is Veteran's Day.)

For those of you who don't already know, this year we launch the first-ever Creating Change Conference theme: Building An Anti-Racist Movement. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is firmly committed to addressing the impact of racism in this country and in our movement, and to that end, much of the programming, workshops, discussions will be oriented toward issues of racism both inside and outside of our communities.

Our slate of transgender-themed programming is extensive. Our Gender Splendor day is coming together, with a planning committee including about thirty transgender people of color from around the country. On Friday night, there will be a gathering for transgender activists to get to know each other and network. A tremendous performance piece, B4T, by Imani Henry will also be performed on Friday, at 1:00 PM.

Transgender-related workshops and caucus discussions cover a full gamut of topics including federal legislation, youth, healthcare access, genderqueer identities, and sex. This year, the Transgender Civil Rights Project has worked to create more opportunities to talk about the federal agenda than ever before, with one workshop being a discussion of the transgender federal agenda and another focusing on the best methods for lobbying for transgender inclusion at the federal level.

NGLTF received over 300 workshop proposals for only 150+ available workshop slots. Our schedule is completely full; our conference director was unable to schedule many, many great proposals. In fact, we added additional workshop time slots in order to accommodate more workshops over our three days together.

I hope that everyone will come to this year's Creating Change so that we may all learn about and from each other, as people, as activists, and as sisters and brothers in the movement.

See you in Portland! (Complete registration and housing information for the conferences is on our website at http://www.creatingchange.org (including info about free community housing) and if you can't find something on the web, call the NGLTF Creating Change information number at .).

Lisa Mottet
Legislative Lawyer
Transgender Civil Rights Project
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
[email protected]


Read more about the Project at: http://www.ngltf.org/statelocal/transgender.htm


Below is a listing of most of the programming relating specifically to transgender, gender, and intersex issues. Please be aware that things may change before the conference!

PRE-CONFERENCE INSTITUTE

Gender Splendor: Building an Anti-Racist and Diverse Movement for Gender Freedom and Transgender Equality

This Institute explores the diversity of transgender experience, paying particular attention to issues affecting and important to transgender people of color. This Institute will focus on ways we can work together across our many differences and will provide attendees with a better understanding of the ways in which racism and transphobia intersect in our lives. Topics include non-transsexual and gender-queer identities, intersex issues, significant others, family, friends, and allies (SOFFA), and the impact of age, ability, race, class and immigration status. Innovative programs and projects that address these issues will be discussed. All people are welcome and encouraged to attend.

GATHERING

*Gathering for Transgender Activists (Friday evening) This gathering is for transgender activists and allies of every level - local, state, federal - whether you are new to activism or have been working for decades. Let's meet each other, learn about what others are doing, and make connections to help each other and ourselves in our collective fight for transgender equality.

PERFORMANCE B4T (before testosterone) written and performed by FTM activist Imani Henry, is a multi-media theatre piece that intimately explores race, sexuality and gender expression through the lives of three Black, masculine female-bodied people. Through a series of monologues and video clips, B4T (Before Testosterone) portrays the realities of various gender and sexual identities-including "butch," "lesbian," and "transgender".

WORKSHOPS/CAUCUSES/DISCUSSIONS

*Marginalize No More: How to Incorporate the Needs of Transgender Communities of Color Into HIV and Other Healthcare Services Despite evidence of high HIV/AIDS infection rates among transgender persons, comparatively few HIV care and prevention programs exist to meet their needs. This interactive workshop will feature participants in a discussion of the barriers and challenges to delivering effective HIV and other healthcare services to transgender communities of color, and will identify strategies for enhancing services to transgender communities at the Federal, State and local levels.

*Building a Federal Transgender Agenda What should the transgender movement be doing at the federal legislative level? Participants will hear differing opinions and then will engage in a collective discussion about the different options and priorities to achieve transgender equality at the federal level. This session is for transgender activists and committed transgender allies.

*Lobbying for Transgender Inclusion in Federal Legislation Participants will first discuss and learn the most effective messages and stances to take in advocating for transgender inclusion at the federal level. Second, participants will practice a lobby visit with the goal of having a Member of Congress agree to explicit inclusion of transgender people in a piece of federal legislation. Whether you are a beginner or have plenty of experience, you will learn something at this workshop!

*Transgender Victories and Challenges: The Policy Arena This year has been a mixed bag for transgender people in the policy arena. Activists have created great statewide victories like the New Jersey safe schools bill and the Hawaii human rights commission decision. We've also seen local anti-discrimination laws pushed to passage in large and/or diverse localities such as Allentown, PA; Dallas,, TX; Multnomah County, OR; New York City; and Tacoma, WA. But there have also been some setbacks, like the Minnesota decision and the Kansas marriage case, to name a few. We'll cover these things, and also take a sneak peek at bills that may pass soon and cases on the cusp of decision.

*What Does the American Public Think About Transgender Issues? This workshop will deliver the results of the groundbreaking Transgender Polling Project conducted by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) that was completed earlier this year with the assistance of a diverse group of Transgender activists from around the country. The results of this project provide useful data that will help activists to develop messaging to communicate the issues that face the transgender community to legislators and mainstream America.

*Best Interests of the Child This workshop will present topics and discussion on the issues a transgender parent may face. Topics include custody and transition; what are the legal, social and/or psychological issues for trans parents rights, custodial and non-custodial; who is the mom?; who is the dad?; what about the children?. This workshop will include video clips from the Court TV case of Kantaras v. Kantaras.

*Gender, Disability, and Medical Abuse This workshop investigates the parallels between the experiences of trans people and that of intersex people, but not through the lens of gender theory as they are commonly addressed. Instead, it attempts to explore alternative approaches to building a true intersex-trans alliance through drawing knowledge from the critical disability theory and disability activism that problematize the social construction of normalcy and criticize the abuse of power inherent within the biomedical model.

*Gender Theory / Gender Politics (Part I and Part II) Are some genders "real" and others boy-dykes, bio-girlz, trannie-boys and trykes "artificial?" Is gender something we are, or something we do? Is homosexuality a fact of bodies, or a way of politicizing their pleasures? If Feminism is about women's political needs, then who counts as women? Identity politics, genderqueers, and problem of knowledge -- join a lively, low-impact look at what theorists like Judith Butler are saying and why it should matter to you.

*Supporting Trans Youth: Allies 101 This interactive session will provide essential information for service providers and others who want to support trans youth. Topics include relevant terms and concepts, the transition process, the specific service needs of youth in transition, differences between issues/needs of transitioning youth and adults, messages from trans youth about what they want and need from us, and challenges and rewards of supporting trans youth.

*First Stop the Harm: Intersex in the 21st Century A new medical protocol is being prepared by intersex activists. The revolutionary patient-centered protocol will dramatically alter the landscape for the future intersex births and the way they are treated within the medical community. The new protocol, already being adopted by progressive hospitals, dramatically changes the way intersex children and their families are treated within the medical community. It seeks to end early surgical intervention by replacing it with treatment within the psychological realm and with peer support. This workshop will introduce this new patient -centered protocol being prepared by ISNA. A comparison of the outdated concealment-based and the new, patient-centered protocol will be included to give attendees a basis on which to speak about the issues afterwards within their own organizations. Action items and a plan for activists to work with towards the implementation and adoption of the new protocol will be discussed.

*Beyond the Basics: Transgender Workers Building Solidarity A look at contracts, internal union practices, and how the labor movement has dealt with LGBT civil rights concerns. We will hear about recent successes, do some concrete brainstorming, examine strategies for working to change union non-discrimination policies and negotiating transgender protections in the collective bargaining process.

*GenderQueer Across Generations: A Continuing Dialogue This is an interactive session, for youth and adults to explore and create a space to dialogue across generations of GenderQueer folks, trying to figure out how we can work together to create a space for young people to lead in the movement for change in our community understanding of gender. What are the issues that gender questioning youth face and what are the issues that transgender, transsexual youth, and differently gendered youth face in our movement and our society, and how we can learn from each other.

*GenderQueer Activism in the LGB Movement This roundtable will be a community dialogue space to discuss GenderQueer identity, organizing in the LGB movement, and looking at what some of our challenges and successes are, and where we go from here.

*Playing Doctor: Renaming Desire - Trans/Non-Trans Sex The caucus will focus on sex between trans and non-trans people, and the fears, desires and assumptions about that sex. This will be an opportunity for people to gather and talk honestly about sexual attraction between and among trans and non-trans people and the political implication(s) of manifesting that attraction. We will talk about identities and gender roles and assumptions and the limitations of such. We will do all this and more in an atmosphere of openness and clarity. ATTENDEES: Please be aware that we will be using adult language in this caucus.

*Gender-izing and Racial-izing Desire: How Do We Get Who We Want and What We Want? What does it mean to be queer, sexual and a person of color? Which words are used to describe us? Which words are words we would use versus what is attributed to us? In what ways have we been acculturated to think about desire and to think about gender and race in relation to desire? What purpose does that type of thinking serve? Who does it serve? How does oppression fit into our notions about race, gender, sexuality and desire? How do we reinvision a world where desire transgresses the realms of memory and lived experience? How do we redefine the language used to express desire? Please join us as we engage in a lively discussion on the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, desire and cultural oppression. ** People of color only **

*Breaking Down the Barriers Between the Transgendered and Non-Transgendered Lesbian Issues of sexism, transphobia and discrimination are occurring in the lesbian community toward the transgender lesbians. In this workshop attendees will articulate and weigh perceived issues, participate in discussion, and arrive at potential solutions. The goal is to gain an understanding of each other and determine an action plan to begin the process of improving relationships within the lesbian sisterhood.

*Transgender College Students Transgender students are beginning to demand more from their colleges and universities across the country. In this networking session, we hope to bring together those people who are researching the experiences of transgender college students. We hope to share ideas, strategies, and findings that will enable participants to return to their institutions with a network of people who are willing to work together to make the lives of transgender students better.