creating change

First sitting Cabinet secretary to address nation’s largest annual gathering of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights advocates

BALTIMORE, Jan. 28 — Today, while addressing nearly 3,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced a new HUD policy to fight discrimination against LGBT people in federally supported housing programs.

The new rules, to be published next week, will help LGBT people and their families across the country stay in their homes, get the loans they need to buy homes, and access life-saving federal assistance programs to help get low-income people and families back on their feet.

Donovan is the first sitting Cabinet secretary in history to speak at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, the country’s largest annual gathering of LGBT rights advocates. They have been meeting this week in Baltimore to strategize and mobilize in this critical election year.

I think activism is in my genes. I know that being an activist is part of my identity. I've been an activist since I came out as a babydyke back in the mid-80's. As you were handed your dyke credentials and taught the secret dyke handshake, you were also instructed to get to work. One of my first political acts outside of voting was to write to my senator urging him to vote against Robert Bork's confirmation. I can remember being so excited to march to the state capitol about 1,000-strong to demand our rights. We decried the Bowers v Hardwick decision. We stated how we would never give up until gays and lesbians were treated equally (bisexuals and transgender people were still invisible at that point). I understand Columbus' pride parade has grown up.

My first March on Washington was back in 1987. I remember feeling absolutely giddy that for one moment in history, we were in the majority. I really cut my activism teeth with ACT-UP. I had friends who were diagnosed with HIV. I've lost some of them. So I was angry. I was angry that our government turned a blind eye to the suffering of its citizens. We took our anger to the streets in the form of civil disobedience. We cried as we walked through the AIDS Quilt memorial project. We engaged others and explained how the AIDS crisis affects them as well. And we organized to March on Washington in 1993.

I've worked with other organizations over the years but I think my proudest work is right here with Ingersoll Gender Center. No, no one paid me to say that. It is an honor to see people walk through our doors for the first time, taking those first courageous steps towards living a more authentic life. I see people rebuilding their lives after losing everything when they come out. I see people thrive.

In addition to being an activist, I have a reputation for being a hothead. I honestly have no idea why <insert tongue-in-cheek smiley here>. Sometimes I can channel my anger into constructive endeavours. But usually, my anger is unbridled and gets in the way of my activism by damaging important relationships. I can also be accused of acting before thinking and this is the point of this blog post.

Creating Change empowers grassroots organizers by providing them with skills and opportunities to further their work at home. I had a good friend in Dallas and had wanted to attend Creating Change for years. Thanks to being unemployed, having a free airline ticket and a friend who was willing to let me crash in her room, I was finally able to attend. On February 4, I attended the day-long institute for Trans Rights NOW! I heard time and again that one should "expect good intentions" when working with other people and organizations. Expect Good Intentions. What a simple concept yet one that I seem to have missed in all my years as an activist. This was never made more clear to me when I confronted my own actions in the debacle otherwise known as Ron Gold-gate.

One of the things I love the most is serving on the NGLTF (The Task Force) national Board of Directors.

This wonderful organization is fully and wholly Trans and Gender Identity inclusive, and a prime mover in the effort for Trans Equality – in fact, along with the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Task Force leads UnitedENDA in the work of winning inclusive Federal Employment Non Discrimination legislation. (check out http://www.unitedenda.org for info).

The Task Force has many other virtues, and here is one I want to bring to your attention, coming up this week. Every year the Task Force hosts the most exciting conference in the worlds of Transgender, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual people. The annual conference is known as the National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change. http://www.thetaskforce.org/events/creating_change .

“The 22nd National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change will be held at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel in beautiful downtown Dallas, Texas, Feb. 3 - 7, 2010. Produced by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Creating Change Conference (as it is affectionately known) is the nation’s pre-eminent political, leadership and skills-building conference for the LGBT social justice movement.

Since 1988, Creating Change has been the opportunity for thousands of committed people to develop and hone their skills, celebrate victories, build community, and to be inspired by visionaries of our LGBT movement and allied movements for justice and equality.

The primary goal of the Creating Change Conference is to build our movement’s political power from the ground up to secure our overarching goal of full equality, social justice and dignity for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the United States.”

Here is a partial list of the Trans and Gender Identity specific Workshops, Trainings and Caucuses that will be occurring at Creating Change – I’m proud of this work and of all the folks who have developed these offerings. And I know that new caucuses and meetings will rise up from the interests of those who attend, it always happens that way!

• The National Transgender Discrimination Survey: A Talk on Preliminary Findings Research and Policy
• Transgender Inclusion at LGBT Orgs: Mastering the Basics Training Academy
• Train the Trainer: Teaching Transgender Inclusion for LGBT Orgs Training Academy
• Forget the Polite Conversation: Getting Real About FTM Transition Transgender Community & Issues
• No Retreat Transgender Community & Issues
• SOFFAs Supporting Each Other Gender Issues
• Creating Transgender-Inclusive College Policies and Practices Campus
• Talking About Sex in the Trans and Trans Allies Community Sexual Freedom
• Trailblazing for Transgender Health Health
• Trans Youth & Safe Schools: Advocacy & Policy School Issues
• transACTION -- A Transgender Curriculum for Churches and Religious Institutions Training Academy
• Getting to Know You Transgender Community & Issues
• Transitioning Beyond the Boxes Gender Issues
• The Cutting Edge in Trans Rights: Healthcare, Prisons, and ID Documents Transgender Community & Issues
• Staying Safe While TRANSitioning Transgender Community & Issues
• The Journey from Laws to Jobs For Trans People Transgender Community & Issues
• Caucus for State and/or Local Transgender Advocacy, Legal, and/or Political Organizations/Activists Transgender Community & Issues

And even if you can’t make it to the Conference, do try to visit one of our Ingersoll support groups in Seattle. Easy access, a warm and respectful welcome, and real direct help are some of the reasons we think you’ll be very happy with adding Ingersoll to your short list of Trans and Gender Identity supports in your personal process of Self Discovery.

With respect,
Marsha Botzer