2008 Day of Equality - Free Lectures and Workshops
2008 Political Debate: Democrats & Republicans
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Marriage equality. Inclusive hate crimes statutes. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. There is a great deal at stake for the GLBT community in this year’s elections at a local, state, and federal level. Join GOP political consultant Jack Campbell and National Stonewall Democrats executive director Jon Hoadley for a lively yet collegial debate with regard to the relative merits of the Obama and McCain campaigns, the Democratic and Republican party platforms, and GLBT issues as they have arisen in 2008 election cycle. The debate will be moderated by Dr. Ed LaMonte, the Howell Heflin Professor of Political Science at Birmingham-Southern College.
Jack Campbell is one of the founding partners of Public Strategy Associates, LLC. He has been in and around politics since 1982 when he began his career as a field representative for Folmar for Governor of Alabama. In 1984, Jack was a fundraiser for the Republican Party of Texas in Austin. In 1986, he worked for friends of Guy Hunt, the first Republican governor of Alabama since Reconstruction. Jack was a lobbyist for the Texas Association of School Administrators from 1990 to 1993. In 1994, he was campaign director for Judge Perry Hooper who became Alabama’s first Republican Supreme Court chief justice. From 1995 to 2000, Jack was the public information officer for the Alabama Unified Judicial System. In 2001, Jack moved back to Austin to serve as a lobbyist for the Texas Association of Business. In that capacity, he was also the PAC director for TAB’s Business & Commerce Political Action Committee. In the 2002 election cycle, Jack spearheaded a $2 million direct mail voter education effort in Texas targeting 22 House districts and winning 19 of those seats, effectively flipping the Texas House from Democratic to Republican control in one cycle. In 2006, Jack returned to Montgomery and joined Dan Martin in establishing Strategic Resource group. In 2007, Jack and Brent Buchanan founded Public Strategy Associates. Jack received his B.A. from the University of Alabama in 1977 where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta social fraternity. He resides in Montgomery.
Jon Hoadley is Executive Director of National Stonewall Democrats. With over 90 chapters across the country, Stonewall Democrats is the voice for GLBT Democrats and pro-equality allied Democrats. Throughout the country Stonewall Democrats works to elect pro-equality Democrats and improve the Democratic Party on issues important to the GLBT community. Prior to joining National Stonewall Democrats, Hoadley worked for the Gill Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to securing equal opportunity for all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression. Hoadley has also served as the campaign manager for South Dakotans Against Discrimination, the campaign that opposed the anti-marriage amendment in South Dakota and shocked the nation by coming within two points of victory. Jon served as the national coordinator of the Stonewall Student Network (now Stonewall Young Democrats), worked on various Democratic and ballot measure campaigns, and organized extensively on college campuses. Jon Hoadley graduated with high honors from Michigan State University where he received degrees in Social Relations from the James Madison College and Women’s Studies from the College of Arts and Letters. Hoadley’s research focused on gender rights, queer studies and politics, movement theory, and the impact of social movement activism on public policy.
Dr. Ed LaMonte
Jon Hoadley
A Spiritual Foundation for Community-Building
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
This workshop is designed to bring a spiritual dynamic to the glbtq justice movement. The values and spirit underlying our work and goals do matter as we seek full inclusion in the human community. This workshop briefly explores the inner spiritual resources which can sustain and empower us in a social and religious context that denies our dignity and spirituality as human beings.
Helene Loper is active in Soulforce Alabama and co-pastors God’s House, an independent Christian congregation in Tuscaloosa, Alabama with her spouse Rev. Susan Lowe. Helene grew up in the Presbyterian tradition but left it after seminary. Having tried denial of her orientation, and even heterosexual marriage for 15 years, she finally came out to herself and her family. Her relationships with her ex-husband, his second wife, and her two children are supportive and mutually respectful. Helene was ordained and served in UFMCC for ten years, seven of those in Mobile, Alabama. In 2000 she moved back to her home town Tuscaloosa as an out lesbian, spiritual, Christian leader. She is also involved in the Alabama Faith Council, currently serving as the interim chair of the Interfaith Dialogue work group. Helene’s Soulforce work has included direct actions at Presbyterian General Assemblies, introducing welcoming organizations to friendly PC(UAS) congregations in this state, dialogues within other Christian denominations, dialogue with the Governor’s office, “observing” in situations of injustice and violence, and other occasions of “soulforce presence.” This spiritual journey has lead Helene to a deep appreciation for the spiritual foundations necessary to sustain a non-violent presence in any situation. Out of this awareness, she has created a spirituality retreat for non-violent activists, which is currently being offered at various locations around the state.
OUTSpoken Families
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM, with a break for lunch
Dustin Kight is the Communications Manager at Family Equality Council, the national organization working to ensure equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families by community building, changing hearts and minds and advancing social justice for all families. Dustin has co-run the OUTSpoken Families storytelling training program for +2 years, and has been actively involved in the safe schools movement on behalf of LGBT families.
OUTSpoken Families is Family Equality Council's groundbreaking, national storytelling training and engagement program for LGBT parents, their family and friends. Launched in 2005, OUTSpoken Families has touched hundreds of lives through in-person training opportunities and events in +15 cities nationwide. With its emphasis on the power of personal storytelling to change hearts and minds, OUTSpoken prepares people of all backgrounds and experience levels to create visibility and make change for the LGBT community. Whether you're looking for strategies on coming out to your immediately family members, ensuring that educators understand and treat your family fairly, or moving legislators and the media in the direction of equality for all, OUTSpoken Families has a place for you.
The training lasts four hours and will include writing and speaking activities, as well as small group work and large group discussions. Emphasis is placed on creating comfort and building confidence of all participants. Sharing experiences and practicing strategies for effective storytelling are high priorities.
Dustin Kight
Racism, Heterosexism, and Sexism: Examination of “Sameness” and “Difference”
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Catherine Smith is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. Previously, she taught Torts, Employment Discrimination, Extremism and the Law and Criminal Law at Texas Southern University. Prior to her time in Texas, Smith was a legal fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, where she researched and litigated civil rights cases with a particular emphasis on race, incarceration, homelessness, national origin and disability. Smith received both her Masters in Public Administration and her J.D. from the University of South Carolina Law School and her B.A. in Government and French from Wofford College in 1991. She has authored several articles and currently has a work-in-progress titled “Race-Based Civil Conspiracy Theory.” Smith is joined by co-facilitators Jennifer Holladay Smith, Senior Advisor for Strategic Affairs at the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Lecia Brooks, Director of the Civil Rights Memorial Center.
Straight Father, Gay Son
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Charles Suhor describes a richly complex relationship with his late son, Stephan Sure (born Gregory Suhor), who was out of the closet as a gay man but not as a writer. After Stephan’s sudden and violent death, Charles gathered his writings for a collection titled The Book of Rude and Other Outrages: A Queer Self-Portrait. Excerpts from the book will illuminate the unfolding of Stephan’s awareness and his ambivalent interactions with family and society.
Charlie Suhor, Ph.D, is a retired public school teacher from New Orleans and former anti-censorship activist for the National Council of Teachers of English in Urbana, Illinois. An award-winning jazz journalist and education writer, he now lives in Montgomery with his wife, Deborah Little, a past president of PFLAG. He gathered his son Stephan’s writings for the Book of Rude volume with the encouragement of Deborah and his ten surviving children.
Building a LGBTQ Organization: A Workshop on Queer Youth Experience
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
This workshop will focus on the ways in which queer youth experience can be understood in a larger national and historical context. We will discuss ways in which this experience can be harnessed to help students build individual LGBTQ organizations within their communities by pulling on local, and national resources as well as the individual desires of the people their community is made up of. The workshop will be a place to discuss the challenges of outreach for a diverse community, helping to meet the individual needs of members, locating resources for support, as well as common successes/problems faced by students in Alabama. All high school and college students are welcome to attend as the main goal of this conversation will be gaining ideas and strength through shared experiences. The workshop will also include a discussion of the ways in which historically LGBTQ organizations have developed, and some of the contemporary issues that affect the community.
Joshua Burford is a native of Alabama who has lived in Tuscaloosa since the early 90s. He currently works for the University of Alabama in the Community Service Center. Josh received his Masters degree in American Studies in 2004 and have been working with Freshman students since its completion. Josh has been an advocate for the Queer community his entire life and began working with LGBTQ students in the Fall of 1998. He currently advises Queer Freshman students at UA, teaches LGBTQ history in the American Studies department, works with the state-wide LGBTQ scholarship fund, and is the President of Capstone Alliance, the LGBTQ Faculty/Staff organization at UA. Josh is a collector of books and odd people. He prefers the company of misfits, failed celebrities, deviants, and people who don’t just think outside of the box but erase it in favor of other shapes.
Planning with a Purpose: Protecting Your Partner’s Legal Rights
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
The lack of legal recognition of same-sex couples can leave partners vulnerable in a crisis or emergency. In the absence of an Advance Directive or other legal document, your partner will not be able to make health care decisions when you are unable. Without a Will or other legal arrangement to distribute property at death, your partner will not receive any of your property. Future planning is one strategy same-sex couples can use to establish their legal rights. This training will cover the basics of future planning, including the elements of a properly executed Will and Advance Directive.
Nic Carlisle founded Aiding Alabama, a legal services project dedicated to protecting the legal rights of people living with HIV/AIDS in Alabama. The project is hosted by the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program and works in partnership with Alabama’s AIDS service organizations. Carlisle graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2006. Before graduating, he started the law school’s first gay-straight alliance.
Nic Carlisle
Media Essentials Training
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Media Essentials is the core training created by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and designed to give you a thorough introduction to the skills you need to effectively work with the media. Part I: Media Basics works through the most basic media skills, including developing a media message, writing effective press releases and introductory letters, and creating press packets. Part II: Media Presence focuses on interview skills, preparing you for the toughest questions. You'll learn to create an effective sound bite and to avoid some of the most common interview mistakes. Specific areas of focus will be on appropriate terminology in speaking about GLBT people and issues, writing effective letters to the editor, and blogging.
Paul Karr joined GLAAD in early 2007 as the Director of the Media Field Strategy Program where he oversees a staff of regional strategists working with national, statewide and local GLBT organizations to help plan and coordinate media and communications work. Prior to joining GLAAD Paul worked for more than ten years in the economic justice movement as a union organizer, researcher, campaign strategist and communications expert for organizations like the AFL-CIO and H.E.R.E. Most recently Paul served as the Communications Director for the Center on Policy Initiatives in San Diego where he led the media and communications work for the San Diego Living Wage campaign and the San Diego Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice.
Yana Walton joined GLAAD in the summer of 2008 as the Southern Region Media Field Strategist where she helps expand local and regional organizations’ communications capacities and monitors local media outlets to ensure fair, accurate and inclusive coverage. Yana relocated from Salt Lake City, Utah where she was Director of Communications for Utah’s GLBT community center. Prior to that, she was a GLAAD Technical Assistance Fellow and coordinated statewide outreach and volunteer programs for Planned Parenthood Association of Utah. Yana graduated from the University of Utah with degrees in gender studies and history, focusing on GLBT American history.
Paul Karr
Yana Walton
Transgender Health
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Join us for a panel discussion of health care access and treatment of transgendered patients, jointly sponsored by Equality Alabama and Alabama Gender Alliance. Topics will include barriers to access (and local progress in smashing them down), diagnostic criteria, the Standards of Care, steps in the triadic process for transition, options in sexual reassignment surgery, and threats on the horizon in the upcoming DSM-V. AGA will provide info-paks on CD-ROM.
J. D. ‘Ox’ Freeman is the founder and President of Alabama Gender Alliance, a Southern Comfort Conference committee member, an Admin on TransSpace, and a former officer and board member of Equality Alabama. He will be presenting the transmasculine interest workshop, "The Self Made Gentleman and his Inner Cave Man", at Southern Comfort 2008. When not making the world a better place for transfolk, he concerns himself with the global challenges of climate change, peak oil, and peak water.
Robyn Hall is a member of the Advisory Council of Alabama Gender Alliance and a regular attendee of the Southern Comfort Conference. A genuine southern belle, she is often found mentoring those with less experience through the trials and perils of trans expression while balancing the needs of family. She remains married to her loving and supportive wife, and continues to parent her two children.
Rebecca Leah Harris builds bridges—bridges between the intersexed and the transgendered, bridges between queers and conservative communities of faith, and bridges between local customs and a global practices. For this reason, among others, she is a highly valued member of the Advisory Council of Alabama Gender Alliance. She is also an ordained minister.
Jay Irwin is an officer and board member of Equality Alabama and a member of the Advisory Council of Alabama Gender Alliance. He is a PhD candidate at UAB in sociology, focusing his dissertation research on self-identified lesbians in the South. His interests include the homeless, women's health, and the transgender/transexual experience. He spends most of his time waist high in books on sexualities, gender, health, and disadvantage—or playing Guitar Hero on Nintendo Wii.
Joel Melvin, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist. He received his doctorate degree from Auburn University in 1995 and attended Birmingham Southern College as an undergraduate. Dr. Melvin see patients ages 13-80 and specializes in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and personality disorders. He is the primary mental health care provider for transgendered patients within the Birmingham metro.
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