Fellowship & Funding Complete! What's Next?

As witnessed by the Fundraising Thermometer to the right, we have met our goal!


Our first project (A well-funded, 10 month Fellowship served by a Trans Youth in a Pittsburgh Non-Profit) is a smashing success.  The cooperative work between Rayden Sorock and Coro Pittsburgh has been brilliant and satisfying. 

Thank you so much for donating, volunteering, believing in our mission, and coming out to celebrate with us.

We are now going back into formulation to choose our next project.  Expect to see questions for followers, surveys of Trans Youth, and some inspired planning right here on the blog soon.

With Gratitude & Celebration, 
Bobby Peck, Madeleine Hershey & Jen Saffron

I'm feeling Friday's gravity...

I owe you another post!

Today I "mocked" my presentation in front of people for the third time. I can really see this shaping up and I am really excited to share it on Friday at the ITL Commencement. There's still so much to do of course, but at this point I am beginning to feel okay with whatever happens. Allowing the space for me to just be how I am at the event.

I am so invested in the fellowship and the people who have made this happen. I am feeling very thankful for all the help I've gotten along the way. And I am learning how to be present to all I've accomplished.

The 40 or so blog posts I have written here chronicle the first ITL fellowship experience. I am happy to be able to share to publicly what I've been through. Thanks!

P.S. Please check out Initiative for Transgender Leadership on Facebook to find the event page and confirm your attendance!

Four weeks to go!

Hi all--

Here we are: down to the end of it. I wanted to share a few updates from recent events. First of all, the Building Change conference happened Oct 13-15 and for it, I led a workshop on LGBT workplace issues and also helped facilitate the final Saturday session. My workshop had few people in it--low turnout is always frustrating--I think I could have done a better job of advertising for it, but with everything else, it kind of dropped off. Still, I think the folks who were there got something out of it and I was glad to have Stephen Alan Glassman, former cabinet secretary to Ed Rendell and first out elected official in PA, as well as Ella Kuperminc, the first allied member of Alcoa's LGBTA employer resource group (EAGLE).

Winona LaDuke

Building Change offered the opportunity to have some great conversations with community members of all stripes. The keynote speaker was Winona LaDuke, Native American (Anishinaabe), economist, environmental activist and former Green Party VP nominee with Ralph Nader. I was really impressed by her and how she grouped growing corn in with other ways of changing the world. It's the little things that have the biggest impact if one sees all things as connected.

I think there are some changes that could be made for future Building Change conferences, and it will be interesting to see how the continuations committee keeps going with the Action Plan to Build Social Justice in SWPA. However, I think a lot of folks got a lot out of it, and it was a great experience for me to see the inner workings of conference planning, and more experience leading workshops and facilitating is always good. Visit www.buildingchangewpa.org to stay involved in the process.

The next Pittsburgh QUILTBAG/LGBTQA 5 year plan meeting is happening Nov. 5th from 12-2 at First Unitarian at 605 Morewood Ave. This will be a potluck, so please bring some snacks if you can. Facebook event page is here. There are still many questions about what we are doing, how and why--but shaping these things takes time. I hope we can get another surge in attendance like the first meeting. Email raydensorock [at] gmail [dot] com to get on the mailing list.

Apart from that, my final presentation is coming up--Nov. 18th! View the press release here. Please check out the Facebook event page here. We still have about $1500 to raise before then to meet our goal so if you have thought about donating--even $5 or $10--please consider making your donation now through PayPal or by check. Make out checks to Persad Center and put "ITL" in the memo line. Mail to 5150 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15224. Thank you!

My People Film Series: Queer Legacies

My People Film Series: Queer Legacies
Presented by Kelly Strayhorn Theater
Tuesday, November 1-22 | 7PM

The 3rd annual My People Film Series returns in grand style with more films, more filmmakers, performances, and in depth discussions about our communities. Join Kelly Strayhorn Theater and New Voices Pittsburgh: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice for an exploration of Queer Legacies. From radical queer elders and legendary jazz composers to trans masculinity and immigration – we’ve got something to talk about!

My People Film Series is a four-part series highlighting the lives and experiences of queer people of color with award-winning films, performances, and discussions. While the films focus primarily on queer people of color, My People seeks to affirm underserved and underrepresented groups and help identify strong, active, and vibrant communities.

General   | $10
Film Pass | $30

Share on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=200826853323009
More info and tickets: http://www.kelly-strayhorn.org/calendar/event/my-people-film-series-queer-legacies/

Tuesday, Nov 1 | 7PM

The Untitled Black Lesbian Elder Project (UBLEP)
Filmmakers: Tiona McClodden and Lisa C. Moore;
Length: 30 minutes

Tuesday, Nov 8 | 7PM

Billy & Aaron 
Filmmaker: Rodney Evans
Length: 11 minutes

Rex vs. Singh
Filmmakers: Richard Fung, John Greyson and Ali Kazimi
Length: 30 minutes

More Than Love (trilogy)
Filmmaker: Jillian Peña
Length: 36 minutes

TomboiGatoeyMango
Filmmaker: Jai Arun Ravin
Length: 3 minutes

Tom/ Trans / Thai 
Filmmaker: Jai Arun Ravin
Length: 17 minutes

Tuesday, Nov 15 | 7PM

Zero Degrees of Separation 
Filmmaker: Elle Flanders
Length: 85 minutes

Tuesday, Nov 22 | 7PM

Billy & Aaron 
Filmmaker: Rodney Evans
Length: 11 minutes

Brother to Brother 
Filmmaker: Rodney Evans
Length: 94 minutes
_____________________________

My People Film Series: Queer Legacies is a program of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater is partnership with New Voices Pittsburgh: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice and Carnegie Mellon University’s Hear Me project.

Initiative for Transgender Leadership Commencement Celebration

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information:

Contact: Madeleine Hershey and Rayden Sorock

Email: transleadership@gmail.com

INITIATIVE FOR TRANSGENDER LEADERSHIP

COMMENCEMENT CELEBRATION

An Evening for Appreciation, Entertainment and Community Building

On Friday, Nov. 18 from 6:30 to 9:30pm at the Union Project at 801 N Negley Avenue in East Liberty, the Initiative for Transgender Leadership (ITL), in partnership with the Union Project, will be hosting a Commencement Celebration.  ITL is inviting community members to honor the ITL’s first fellow, Rayden Sorock.  We are celebrating the completion of the inaugural 10-month fellowship program dedicated to the professional development and leadership of transgender youth in Pittsburgh.  The event is free and open to the public.

The Initiative for Transgender Leadership originated when three friends—R. T. Peck, Jen Saffron and Madeleine Hershey—decided they would do something to bridge the professional gap for transgender youth.  The ITL’s first project was a 10-month paid fellowship position at a Pittsburgh non-profit for one transgender youth.  The primary goals of the ITL fellowship program are: (1) to provide a professional and leadership development opportunity to one trans-identified youth; and (2) to serve the sponsoring organization's mission, as well as expand its service capacity.  The fellowship’s sponsoring organization is Coro Center for Civic Leadership.

Over the course of the evening, Rayden will present his fellowship experience and there will be performances by local artists.  Refreshments will be provided.  The Commencement Celebration is an opportunity to recognize everyone who has supported this project and Rayden.  We are celebrating our successes and opening up new possibilities for transgender awareness and youth leadership in Pittsburgh.

The space is handicapped accessible and sign language interpretation will be provided.  Parking is available in the Union Project parking lot and on-street.  Please contact transleadership@gmail.com to RSVP and with requests for accommodations.

EVENT:         Initiative for Transgender Leadership Commencement Celebration 
WHERE:       Union Project  801 N Negley Avenue Pittsburgh PA, 15206 
WHEN:          Friday, November 18 from 6:30pm-9:30pm 
RSVP:            transleadership@gmail.com 
ACCESSIBLE: Yes

###

Sharing Piece from Coro Newsletter

Rayden Sorock is the first Initiative for Transgender Leadership (ITL) fellow, currently placed at Coro Pittsburgh. He shares with us about the ITL, his experience working with Coro over the past several months, and considers what could be next. His final presentation is Friday, November 18^th at the Union Project from 6:30-9:30. This event is free and open to the public, so save the date!

So what is the Initiative for Transgender Leadership all about?

Often transgender people are held back from actively pursuing challenging professional experiences, of they are actively turned away from these positions due to discrimination. Two years ago, three friends—R T Peck, Jen Saffron and Madeleine Hershey—got together and decided they would do something to bridge the professional gap for young transgender people. What emerged was a 10-month paid fellowship position for one transgender person between the ages of 17-25. That fellow would be placed with a sponsoring non-profit organization in Pittsburgh and would receive mentorship from R.T., Jen and Madeleine throughout the term.

The primary goals of the Initiative for Transgender Leadership (ITL) fellowship are: to provide a professional and leadership development opportunity to one trans-identified youth; to serve the sponsoring organization's mission of diversity, as well as expand its service capacity; and to "change the world"!

How did you come to apply for this opportunity?

I have been living in Pittsburgh for almost 2 years. I first visited in 2008 to stay with a friend and fell in love with the city.

I grew up in Massachusetts and attended college at State University of New York at Purchase where I studied literature. After I graduated, I moved in with my parents to their new home in Maryland and started hunting for a position working on a farm. Through the PA Association of Sustainable Agriculture, I found Blackberry Meadows Farm in Natrona Heights, PA and lived and worked there for a full season. I continued an interest in the environment and education while working at the Waldorf School, Construction Junction and Garden Dreams.

Last fall, a friend of mine saw the ITL's call for applicants and suggested I apply. After an interview process, I was selected in November of 2010 and begun my fellowship is mid-January of this year.

How did Coro Pittsburgh get involved?

Regina Anderson, the former Director of the Regional Internship Center (RIC), requested that Coro, being the parent organization to the RIC, sign on to be a sponsoring organization. The RIC pledged to provide a welcoming and supportive place to work; to offer direct supervision; and to attend a transgender cultural competency training led by a member of the ITL team.

Since January, the RIC and Coro have provided to me direct human resources support, access to trainings, events and resources, as well as enabled my integration into the Coro experience and network.

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy also applied to be a sponsoring organization. Even though a position at the PPC would have provided an opportunity to work in the field of environmental advocacy and education (which are primary interests of mine) and the opportunity to work under Marijke Hecht, Director of Education, I decided to go with Coro because of it's extensive network in a variety of non-profit and service areas, and because I saw similarities between the opportunity I was given and the internship opportunities I would be working to create and improve as a member of the RIC team.

What have you been working on?

For the majority of my fellowship, I have been working with the Regional Internship Center (RIC) and learning all about social media, the creation of successful internship programs, and how to outreach effectively. I went from just taking notes at the RIC's signature "Creating a Successful Internship Program" workshop to preparing to lead my own on October 19^th at Penn State Fayette. I can see how the process for creating successful internships can be used as model to improve efficiency and sustainability for an organization as a whole. 

More recently, I have been working with Misti McKeehen, Director of Operations & Outreach at Coro, on a series of recommendations to improve LGBT inclusion in the part-time Coro program, Women in Leadership (WIL). Also, I am working on a resource for Coro to share with partner organizations and businesses interested in learning more about LGBT workplace inclusion.

Also, I am working on the Outreach and Action Plan committees for an upcoming conference called Building Change: A Convergence for Social Justice. This conference will occur October 13-15 and it seeks to engage as many people as possible into building a social justice movement throughout southwestern PA. For more information please visit www.buildingchangewpa.org.

One main goal of the conference is to generate discussion and progress around an "Action Plan": a plan to build social justice in our region over the next five years. I thought, why not get this discussion started amongst members of the LGBT community and organizations serving the community in Pittsburgh? In August a group of nearly 60 people met at United Cerebral Palsy to begin generating a vision for the LGBT community. Please contact me at rsorock@coropittsburgh.org for more information or to get involved.

Throughout the fellowship, I have led and co-led trainings and focus groups on transgender awareness and LGBT workplace issues.

What's next for you? What's next for the Initiative for Transgender Leadership?

First of all, my fellowship culminates on Friday November 18^th with my final presentation at the Union Project. This event will be free and open to the public. For more information visit: www.transyouthleaders.blogspot.com. Being the ITL fellow and working with Coro Pittsburgh has helped me build a strong network of people doing great work throughout this region. I feel confident that my experiences in this fellowship put me at a professional advantage and I am excited to think about what's next.

For the ITL, we are exploring a few different ideas including continuing the fellowship program and developing a "mentoring the mentors" program to promote peer-to-peer mentorship among transgender youth. I intend to stay involved with the ITL in the future and I know we will continue to do great things. Please stay in touch by emailing transleadership@gmail.com.

ITL Fellow in the News!

"Positive OUTLook" with Sara Luby
OUTtvPittsburgh/www.outonline.com
September 22nd, 2011



Sara stepped in to host Positive OUTLook this week as Nayck Feliz was out of town. Nayck's show is tagged: Health and Wellness in the LGBT Community in Pittsburgh and Beyond.

Sara works at the Positive Health Clinic at Allegheny General Hospital. We talked about ITL, my current projects, the Pittsburgh queer community 5-year plan, how great the acronym QUILTBAG is, and the recent rally in response to anti-gay violence in Boomfield. Great show! Thanks Sara & Nayck!

Thanks to the show's sponsors: Pitt Men's Study and Pittsburgh's OUT!

"Helping Transgender People Find a Voice" by Erika Beras
Essential Public Radio
September 21st, 2011

This radio piece is about voice coaches for transgender women. I make an appearance around 4:40 to talk about transgender voices. Erika and I had a great chat during the interview and we talked about Purchase College, where we both went to school.

Link: http://www.essentialpublicradio.org/story/2011-09-21/helping-transgendered-people-find-voice-7237

"Transgender Community Tries to Enlighten" by Tony Norman
Post-Gazette.com
September 16th, 2011

Tony Norman met Mad and I for dinner to talk through this piece about the ITL and the Stories on the Square event. We ended up talking even more about trans etiquette, trans representations and the trans community. Really a great opportunity to have an in depth conversation with Tony, who was so refreshingly up front about not knowing this or that about trans people. I've gotten a lot of good feedback about this article and I appreciate Tony for putting himself out there and spreading some good press about trans folks, and thanks to Mad for setting this up!

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11259/1175033-153-0.stm

A thousand times - Thank You!

Last Friday's Stories on the Square event raised over $3100! What an amazing feat of teamwork and enthusiasm. Thanks to the Square Cafe for being exemplary hosts. Thanks to all of the performers--Madeleine Hershey, Vanessa German, Brian Broome, Phat Man Dee, and Christina Springer. And thanks to Wendy Bell for hosting. Thanks to everyone who donated raffle items, to everyone who attended and to everyone who got the word out. We had every seat filled, some tears were shed, lots of hugs, lots of laughs, and many pictures were taken. Speaking of which, post your pictures from the event and share them with ITL on Facebook!

Yesterday, Mad and Bobby and I were talking about how tough it is to track the kind of progress we are making, because so much of it is in face-to-face conversations, genuine enthusiasm, little shared moments, and personal triumphs. How do you put that on a grant application? That's not the point. We all know how we feel when we are working together on something bigger than all of us. But certainly, being able to say we raised this much and had that many attendees at such-and-such event will help us prove our worth when it comes to major fundraising efforts.

Thinking ahead (only 2 months!) to my final presentation. Hope you all are there and thanks again, really.

With love,
Ray

Building Change: A Convergence for Social Justice

Registration now open for October conference

Building Change: A Convergence for Social Justice

Registration is open for Three Rivers Community Foundation’s exciting social change conference, Building Change: A Convergence for Social Justice. This three-day conference will address several key issues, including Disability rights, Economic Justice, Environmental Justice, LGBT rights, Peace and Human rights, Racial Justice, and Women, Youth, and Families.

There will be skill building workshops, panel discussions, community dialogues on core issues, an art show, a film festival, round table discussions, and inspiring speakers, including our key-note speaker, Winona LaDuke.

Building Change isn’t only a convergence of ideas and core issues. It’s also a convergence of grass roots organizers, activists, and participants from 10 Southwestern PA counties, including: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Green, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, and Westmoreland.

Building Change will run from October 13-15 at the Heinz History Center (1212 Smallman St, Strip District).

Ticket Prices:

Daily Tickets (Thurs-Sat): Sliding scale of $5-$10

Three-Day Convergence Pass (does not include nights): Sliding scale of $20 to $25

Thursday Evening Reception with Winona LaDuke: $25

Thursday and Friday Evening General Admission: $10

Film Festival Screening: Suggested donation of $5

All-Access Pass: $80

To learn more about the event mission and schedule, and how you can get involved visit:  www.buildingchangewpa.org

Pittsburgh's QUILTBAG Community 5 year Plan Meeting PART II

Part II of Pittsburgh's QUILTBAG Community 5-year Plan Meeting

Summary of Findings

In regards to the question posed to participants: What is the Pittsburgh-area QUILTBAG community to you? Participants defined our community is a subculture, it is fractured, it is welcoming, it is different groups coming together, it is united by challenges and oppression, it is loosely connected, it is transient, it is Pride, it is our organizations & their programming, it is family/friends, it lacks a geographic center. There was hesitance to even say “community” as there are many communities and they don’t always come together.  Generally, participants expressed dismay and frustration about the extent of divisions within the QUILTBAG community. Divisions that came up: generational, racial, religious, queer men vs. queer women, ally vs. LGBTQ, political, regional, HIV status, economic.

In regards to where we want to see our community in 5 years, participants responded overwhelmingly with more. We want more resources (health, legal, emergency, housing) for youth, older adults, transpeople, sex workers, prison populations, etc. We want those resources to be accessible and up-to-date. We want more collaboration with allies, with a variety of organizations. We want more communication and more support for each other’s events and causes. More organizing around issues that affect some of us so they affect all of us—broadening what it means to be a QUILTBAG issue. For example, why isn’t Jordan Miles a queer issue? Why isn’t Marcellus Shale a queer issue? We want more discussion of, working on and unlearning racism within the community, and we want white people to take the lead more often on making that happen. We want events that are not in bars, substance-free, and welcoming to many different kinds of people within our community. We want Pittsburgh to become a queer destination, especially for young people and artists. We want to see the same enthusiasm about QUILTBAG issues year round and not just during Pride. We want more visibility and more people coming out. We want our allies to be educated. We want service providers, health care providers, and emergency responders to understand our issues. We want a space (preferably a building) that is self-sustaining and stands as a hub for the QUILTBAG community and provides event space, health care, a place to sleep, and youth services. Overall, intersectionality is huge and taking care of our own is huge. We can enact power to create change by unifying and bridging the gaps that divide us.

The Issues Gallery Crawl activity allowed participants to move around and record ideas about various issues apparent in our community. For each issue, there were two columns with something like the following: What is already happening? What needs to happen? That way, we have a space to focus on assets/the current state of things as well as generate ideas for change.

What a Pittsburgh-area QUILTBAG Community 5-Year Plan might look like

• Mission statement (i.e. what the 5-year plan is what it stands for)
• Vision (i.e. our ultimate goal for our community/communities)
• Background and history (i.e. previous plans, progress made, where we go from here)
• Structure of the plan (i.e. continuations committee, how to share the information)
• Themes of change (i.e. intersectionality, collective organizing, expansion of resources)
• Specific goals, steps to get there and timelines to measure success

[All information would be informed by ideas generated by this and future 5-year plan meetings]

Pittsburgh's QUILTBAG Community 5 year Plan Meeting PART I

QUILTBAG: queer/questioning, unsure/undecided/unisex, intersex, lesbian, transgender/transsexual, bisexual, asexual/ally, gay/genderqueer

Event Background and Planning

So where did the idea to hold a 5-year-plan meeting come from anyway? The Initiative for Transgender Leadership was created to enable leadership and professional development for transgender youth in Pittsburgh.One of the goals of the fellowship is to create positive change in the community.

Furthermore, this October 13-15^th the Three Rivers Community Foundation will put on the first-ever Building Change: A Convergence on Social Justice conference [Registration is now open!], which will bring together community members to begin building a regional, cross-issue movement. One of the goals of the conference is to generate a community-generated Action Plan to build social justice movements in the region.

Additionally, on June 22^nd, representatives from organizations that serve the QUILTBAG community were invited to attend a workshop on “Creating a Successful Internship Program” with the Regional Internship Center (a program of Coro Pittsburgh). I led a discussion following the workshop on community assets and challenges, and how to create a better community through the use of successful internship programs. This conversation sparked interest for more group discussion on community issues.

Why not get started on creating an action plan for the QUILTBAG community? That way, our community can have something more complete to bring to the table at the conference. Generating these discussions also has a positive impact within the community: building coalitions, bringing community members into the same space to share ideas, creating a more comprehensive image of the community, etc.

More than 130 people were invited to the meeting to begin creating a 5 year plan for the QUILTBAG community. Invitees were encouraged to fill out a registration form that would give them an opportunity to RSVP as well as contribute ideas, even if they could not attend. Responses to “Top 3 Community Challenges” were added to a list that was available for attendees to draw ideas from.

Fifty-seven people attended the meeting at United Cerebral Palsy. Originally the meeting was to be held at the GLCC, but because of difficulties with the handicapped accessibility, it was decided to change the location.

Structure of the Meeting

            There was time for a mixer between 6:30 and 7pm and attendees could talk, schmooze, peruse fliers and resources, sign in, and eat snacks. The meeting itself ran from 7-9pm. Eight tables were set up with eight chairs for each. Markers and note-taking paper were provided.

            Etta C., Lizzie A. and I co-facilitated. Jessica M. provided ASL interpretation. Anne L. provided vegan/gluten-free/soy-free desserts. The meeting begun with introductions, a quick background, and setting the meeting ground rules (for example: speak from your own experience, notice who is talking and who isn’t). Attendees were asked to introduce themselves to the rest of their own tables to cut down on go-around time. Two shorter brainstorming activities generated ideas about what the QUILTBAG community is to us and where would we like it to be in 5 years. Participants were encouraged to think big. The longer activity asked participants to walk around and write down ideas on large paper based on central themes (generated by the registration forms). This was called a “Gallery Crawl”. After each activity, participants reported back to the group. At the end, we evaluated the meeting.

What happens when queers speak out against violence

On Wednesday, August 24th I got 5 text messages within 2 minutes about a friend of mine who had been held at gunpoint for walking hand-in-hand with her girlfriend in Bloomfield. Would I come to a rally in front of the Pleasure Bar that night and show some solidarity with my queer brothers and sisters? Of course. In the meanwhile I wept in my cube thinking about the futility of community organizing while people I care about are getting guns shoved in their faces for being queer.

I got word on the way to the rally that the cops had told people to move and everyone was moving to Friendship Park. I showed up around 7:30, half an hour after the official start. Some people had gone to the park already when I arrived, some remained. I wanted to stay in front of the bar too. In front of the Pleasure Bar is where another community member was hit in the face by a homophobe a year ago. We had a huge rally when that happened. Over a hundred of us probably stood on the sidewalk in front of the bar and got a lot of attention. Some media crews showed up, people spoke and cheered and we took up SPACE. It was amazing. Cops showed up mostly to keep us safe and stayed out of our way.

This time around it was clear things were different. When everyone got to the park, all the energy left us. It was downright boring. We weren't doing anything! We could have all just been hanging out and no one passing by would know that we were angry about something very specific that happened just over there, if only we could stand there and protest in peace like it is our right to do so.

Word got around that the cops said we couldn't block the sidewalk in front of Pleasure Bar but we could rally in the park or march, as long as we kept moving. So people started to move again. We wanted to take the streets! Show that anti-gay violence is not to be tolerated in our community! We wanted people to see us and wonder what happened and join us. But we got less than 2 blocks when cops started showing up. By the time I got in front of Nico's the cops already had one of us in cuffs held against a car! What did they do? I had no idea. I started filming. There was a round of "Let them go!" but now that they had one of us they weren't gonna back down. What did the cops do next? Called in more backup - a few scary K9 teams and a paddy wagon. Everyone froze. Why were they arresting people? Someone was arrested for asking. Scared and defeated, we made our way back to the park. Some kid yelled "fuck you!" to a cop. Yeah, like that helps AT ALL.

Once back at the park, anger and tension hit a peak. People shared information, hugged, felt like crying, uploaded pictures of the arrests, watched more and more police vehicles take over the church parking lot, watched our toes to make sure we stayed off the sidewalks and heaven forbid incur more wrath from the police. Where were the police the other night when my friend had a gun pulled on her?

I stood dazed and watched it all. The sun was setting. Channel 4 finally showed up and took some interviews. By that time, half the group had left. I was introduced to a man who was beaten so badly in Wilkinsburg a couple of weeks ago that his jaw was still broken. Why didn't we show up for him? I heard story after story about cops being unhelpful or downright abusive to queers for reporting incidents.

I know police reports could have been filed sooner. Yeah, we could write up a report for the Citizens Review Board or whatever. Yeah, we could wait 5 years for some inadequate cultural competency trainings for the city police. But we were angry NOW. We had something to say NOW. We were fearless together and we wanted to make the homophobes so scared by our love for each other that they would never show their faces again in Bloomfield or anywhere in the city that we love. We wanted to be SEEN. Not as "violent protesters", not as a rag-tag bunch of weirdos, but as a group of people who may not all know each other but could damn well show up (with posters, too!) at short notice to say "Pick on one of us and you pick on all of us!" (to steal a phrase from Ocean's sign :)

We clearly have the energy and the passion. Let's clarify our message, get it organized and keep showing up -- cops or no!

[Afterword: It recently came to my attention that the first time the cops heard about the rally was when a neighbor called the cops in earnest--not wanting this sort of thing to happen--and the cop said he couldn't do anything about us being there cause that is allowed. No one called the cops to give them a heads up about the rally which is what happened at the last one and gave us some credibility. We need to spread to the word about this kind of info. What are our rights when it comes to police interaction? How do we interact with the media to get the best possible representation? Workshops anyone? --R.S. 9/9]

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More coverage of this event, some clearly better than others:

Missing the Point: Protest arrests highlight disconnect between cops, LGBT community by Lauren Daley
Bloomfield Queer Rally: LGBT or was it an anarchist event? by Thomas C. Waters
Bloomfield Queer Rally: at the hearings by Thomas C. Waters
Only on 4: Gay Rights Demonstrators Taken Into Custody After Protest by "Crap Here, Crap Now" WTAE
Man arrested in gay rally on probation for G-20 by Pittsburgh "I Missed the Point" Tribune-Review
Protesters arrested at Bloomfield anti-homophobia rally by Pittsburgh "What's a rally?" Post-Gazette
YouTube: Arrests in Bloomfield at Anti-Violence Rally

Stories on the Square: Coming Out From Under/Stories of Emergence

Do you like passionate, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants story-telling? Come to STORIES ON THE SQUARE to witness great story-tellers doing what they do best.

STORIES ON THE SQUARE happens at the Square Cafe in Regent Square on Fri. Sept. 16th. Doors at 7pm, show at 8pm. Tickets are $45 and benefit the Initiative for Transgender Leadership

Hosted by Wendy Bell of WTAE. Featuring Brian Broome, Phat Man Dee, Vanessa German, Christina Springer, and more!

Check out the Facebook event page here and invite your friends!

Note: Donations made through PayPal will not result in ticket reservations.  To purchase tickets stop in Square Cafe during business hours or email TransLeadership@gmail.com.

Transgender 201 Training 8/4/11

At the beginning of August, Bobby and I had the opportunity to share our knowledge of trans issues with my co-workers: staff at Coro Pittsburgh as well as Public Allies and someone from the Allegheny County Dept. of Human Services.

We presented a PowerPoint, which was a combination of many efforts. In some ways the presentation was similar top the one Mad and I did in March for the Presbyterian Task Force on Ministry with Sexual Minorities. We encouraged participants to take a close look at all of our gender assumptions, how really--no (or very few) people we know actually fit the stereotype of what a man is or what a woman is. We went through the basics: binary vs. continuum, pulling apart gender & sex, pulling apart sexuality & gender identity. We did our best to define who falls under the trans umbrella and who doesn't (this isn't always so clear). We talked about issues that trans people face, and showed profiles of trans celebrities (mostly academic, artistic and/or politically active).

One of my favorite slides is for when we talk about the positives of the trans community--our assets. I can get bummed out talking too much about all the hardships trans folks face, even though sharing that info is very important. I like to show what's so great about us too.

The main activity at the end was breaking into groups to begin to figure out how to create structures in the workplace (policy, procedure, culture, etc.) that support trans inclusion. For example, the Coro offices are located in a large building with many other renters. How do we ensure the bathrooms that we share are safe places for trans folks? What resources do we need to successfully address the need for safe bathrooms? What roadblocks do we foresee and how are we going to work through them?

Overall, I was happy with how the presentation turned out. I'm excited to do more of these (any takers?) especially because of the conversations that get started around trans issues and 'cause we get the chance to lend value to our own experiences as worthy information to share.

Landmark Education Part II

Continued from the previous blog post: Landmark Education Part I

So, I decided to commit my 25th birthday weekend to something totally different: the Landmark forum. Full days on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, then back for a re-cap on Tuesday evening. In my view, it's like a weekend crash-course in getting-to-know-yourself and generating-a-new-life-philosophy. Putting things into perspective, getting a grip on patterns one keeps doing over and over again. I also described it to some people like an extended poetry reading or consciousness-raising session. Folks shared incredibly powerful stories and we were all witnesses to each others' transformations large and small.

I was thinking a lot about my fears of coming out, about integrity & accountability, about relationships and all that stuff that hangs over my head and never gets said. At every break you are given "homework" like, think about this or that decision you made when you were 5 or 14 or 24 that shaped what you thought you were capable of from then on. Or, call up someone in your life and have a totally unreasonable conversation with them, for example, have that conversation you know in your heart to be impossible and do it with urgency and courage and love.

It's very freeing, pinpointing the moment I decided for myself that I was going to make myself be "the responsible one" from then on because I couldn't count on anybody else, even though I didn't want to be responsible and raged against it. One snippet I like that came up a lot that weekend "what we resist, persists". Like we all know a parent's behavior we absolutely do not want to repeat but--there it is--and it seems even more prominent the more we try to fight it. So just making the decision to leave decisions we make about ourselves and other people (I'm too this, or not that enough) in the past where they belong, because otherwise, those decisions and resentments shape how we see everything in the future and squeeze out any possibility that we can do anything new.

I have more to say about this that I can't remember now. I did have some incredible things come out of that weekend. Met some really amazing people. Felt like I was in a really safe space. Laughed, cried, had some conversations with people I never thought were going to be possible, really got to the bottom of a distressing family mystery, and I think, became a much better listener.

I'm currently attending the Landmark 10-week seminar series "Causing the Miraculous" 'cause, why not? On a somewhat-related note, I just finished reading, again, The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies, a Canadian playwright with a magnificent beard. These three books are about how tiny decisions create entire lives of consequences, how the minor characters make all the difference, and how the world of the miraculous really isn't that far away. Plus it's full of magicians, circus freaks and brilliant weirdos.

Landmark Education Part I

Back when I first started this fellowship, Mad invited me to do the Landmark Forum, an intensive weekend of philosophical education and self-work. All three ITL co-creators did some variation of the program and they all seem to speak the same language during planning meetings. I check out the website once and promptly forgot about it.
Mad brought it up a few more times. I was wishy-washy. It seemed creepy and expensive and not-for-me. It seemed vaguely religious, and too good to be true. Mad invited me a few more times and then in May she told me that there was going to be an introduction meeting in Pittsburgh led by someone she really admired. I decided to go with and check it out, partly so Mad would quit asking me. I appreciate that she warned me, "Now, people here are going to seem a bit more happy and shiny than the regular session" so I knew to take it with a grain of salt. The marketing of it is pushy and annoyed me. I didn't like how everyone anticipated every negative thought I was having. But Mad shared some thoughts with me personally that made it more about a gift she was offering me to offer to myself. I was also struck by some observations she had of me that seemed really "confronting" and really showed me that she was paying close attention.
Furthermore, the speaker was really good. He was excellent and eventually was like, "Oh, I'm sure I could tell you a bunch of reasons to do this, but why not just do it 'cause what the hell?" I liked this. I decided to do it cause "what the hell" and because I felt like I needed something big and totally different in my life to shake me up. Also, it seemed uncanny that the next Pittsburgh Forum was over my birthday weekend.
I was told that the Landmark Forum starts when you register, however, I did do my immediate ambivalent ramble: "Oh no! Why did I just sign up for this thing on my birthday weekend? Everyone is going to think I am a big weirdo and voluntarily brainwashing myself...I'm going to start talking in annoying jargon and blah, blah, blah..." But then really started to see how it was true for me: it did start once I registered. June was an awful month and I kept thinking how I really needed a new perspective on things, needed something to shake me up. My b-day weekend came along soon enough and I really worked hard to get as many things out of the way and taken care of before the weekend really began. Knowing I was about to do this motivated me in a way I really needed. I wasn't looking forward to 13-hour days in an overly-air-conditioned room in Greentree...but I was optimistic.

Sharing Larkin Street Stories video

[Shout out to the folks at the Transgender Response Team in Baltimore for passing this info along!]

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has made a series of brief videos available for youth-serving organizations, intended to assist providers in building their capacity to serve LGBTQI2-S (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and two-spirt) youth. The collection is titled "Larkin Street Stories", and all videos are shot at Larkin Street (a homeless drop-in center in San Francisco) using real agency staff and clients.

The third installment is "Neither/Nor: Working with Transgender Youth".

Description: In Episode 3 of Larkin Street Stories, Toby coaches a transgender youth who is preparing for an important job interview. During staff meeting, Larkin Street staff members discuss the importance of never making assumptions about a youth's identity and allowing youth to self-identify. Loch shares Larkin Street's approach to creating an intake form that is inclusive of all identities.

Next Phase!

Due to some shifts at the Regional Internship Center, I am shifting the focus and structure of my project and the next four months will look quite different from the past 6. Things have been a little up in the air, as makes sense, because of these changes, but now I'm on the ground again and excited about what comes next. For the next 4 months, I will be focusing on the following areas:

1. Design and presentation of a comprehensive series of recommendations for Coro's organizational structure (including ways Coro influences its network and community) to ensure Coro stays far ahead of the curve when it comes to LGBT diversity and inclusivity. The recommendation plan will include a timeline of implementation (ex. what should be done by when).
• Examples of recommendations might include: requesting Coro alumni to include sexual orientation and gender identity when filling out surveys to keep track of LGBT people going through the programs, standardized informational packets of LGBT issues/best practices to be distributed among Coro partners and affiliates, procedures for ensuring transgender people's preferred names and pronouns are used when applying for programs & placement, etc.
2. LGBT community involvement and consultation for LGBT organizations in and around Pittsburgh:
• For those organizations who serve the LGBT community interested in strengthening or creating internship programs
• To create a LGBT community 5-year plan informed by LGBT organizations, community representatives and community members. This plan to be included as part of the overall 5 year plan for the region to be created at the 2011 Building Change conference. More info: http://trcfwpa.org/news-events/building-change-convergence/. Also planning an LGBT workplace issues training for employers as part of the conference.
3. To ensure continuity of responsibilities with the RIC and the ITL including social media work, tracking internships created, presenting another workshop on internship programs for employers, and creating and presenting a final presentation of my fellowship experience on November 18th, 2011 (save the date!).

Would love to chat about any of these projects with our readers. You can email me at rsorock [at] coropittsburgh [dot] com. More updates to come!

Words of Wisdom: What I've Learned So Far

Looking ahead to November 18th. Just over four months to go and using this time to take a step back, assess what I've done and learned and regroup to get to the next level. This is really just a list for me to take stock, but it may have some useful tips, especially for folks struggling with professional development.

1. You can't know if you can do something yourself until you do it. Especially apparent when you see someone else doing it not as good as you think you can.
2. Inviting someone personally to your event is more efficient and effective than sending out 1,000 emails.
3. Use a variety of methods to outreach an event: in person, over the phone, email lists, personal emails, snail mail, social media. Follow up & follow up again.
4. Share stressful feelings sooner rather than later (useful in many areas of life).
5. Use checking in and meeting up in person to keep on track and stay accountable. It's easy to hide behind an email.
6. Embrace organizational change to stay ahead of the game and stay relevant. These things happen all the damn time.
7. Visual organization helps mental organization. Tidy up the desk! Put business cards in one place!
8. Planning events effectively always takes more time than you think.
9. Share what you know, what you've learned. Ask for what you need, seek out people who have skills & connections that can help you.
10. Speak up for communities you don't see represented in research, in meetings, etc.
11. Give people the benefit of the doubt. They may not know what you are talking about or be aware of your perspective. They may be afraid of speaking from a place of ignorance. They may just be having a bad day.
12. Listen.
13. Emails can always be shorter. Less text on that flier is better.
14. A good presentation means a lot.
15. Having that tough conversation clears the air.
16. Say out loud when things should be kept in confidence and get acknowledgement.
17. Real change takes time, but much can be done now.

Making Strides and Thinking Ahead...

Last Wednesday, June 22nd, I got the chance to see the fruits of my labor in the form of a workshop on internship programs for organizations in Pittsburgh that serve the LGBT community. This is something I started to put together back in April and went through the steps of:

• generating an invite list;
• securing the room;
• feeling confident enough to assist in leading the workshop;
• developing a discussion about our lgbt-community;
• email, phone and face-to-face outreach for the event;
• buying snacks for the event;
• DOING IT!;
• thinking ahead to what happens next...

so...the sunday before the event I had no confirmed RSVPs and was kinda freaking out, but I am really happy to report that 8 people attended from the following 7 organizations: New Voices Pittsburgh, Delta Foundation, Planned Parenthood, GLSEN, GLCC, ALPHA, and PATF! What a great mix of organizations and perspectives. It seems like the most helpful part of the workshop is the discussion between organizations: what they need, what works, what doesn't.

I see the "Creating a Successful Internship Program" workshop as offering assistance not only in comprehensive internship program creation but also in just taking the time to take a hard look at the organization's goals for the future. What is the work that needs to get done? What work would we like to get done? How can we provide a great experience for an intern and also benefit from the intern being there as much as possible? There is much potential for brainstorming & breakthroughs.

The discussion following the workshop was prompted by sharing my personal perspective of our LGBTQ community's assets and challenges and how creating better internship programs can help the community. Workshop attendees provided additional assets including: cultural history of people of color, labor rights and challenges including: HIV/AIDS stigma, neighborhood segregation, inadequate transportation.

Transportation kept coming up and that was a surprise for me: I know our transportation system is seriously lacking, unstable, and unreliable. But I never had considered it a queer issue before. But of course it makes sense: for lower-income LGBTQ people, especially youth and people living outside of a major city, access to safe, reliable and affordable transportation means the difference between having access to services & a queer community and not being able to participate, to their detriment and our community's. Plus for queer youth who may not be out to their families, they especially need independent means of transportation to get support and attend community events. Here is one issue just about every community in Pittsburgh can rally behind: TRANSPORTATION. We need it to be more affordable, more reliable, offer more transportation options (water taxis, car taxis, trains, trolleys, bike lanes, etc.).

I also want to respond a little to another issue that come up when discussing one major LGBTQ community challenge: divisions within the community. Namely, how do we actually build community and do it responsibly? For example, if I see that the group I work with is not serving the African-American/Black community as we should, I could go to where the community is, talk with various people, get new perspectives, etc. What often happens is taking one person's perspective as representative of an entire community, expecting that person to be the educator all the time, and not taking responsibility for the pain that might arise when talking about these issues. I have experienced the fatigue of being a community representative--people asking me questions that are not appropriate or relevant and maybe something I absolutely do not want to talk about right then and there. Feeling that need to speak up for my community when I see it isn't represented in a "representative" study...There is a lot of discomfort and pain associated with these conversations. Seeing each person as unique and only a representative of one may be helpful. Taking a stand and then responding respectfully to critiques, changing behavior, speaking up for those with less privilege, using one's status to advocate for others. These are ways to build community.

Stay tuned for another post about what happens next...

Pride Month!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who showed support at the June 10th Dreams of Hope fundraiser!! The Community House Church is a beautiful space with an over-abundance of genuinely nice people. Wow, those Dreams of Hope kids too...It takes a lot to be so professional, while candid, and deliver a great performance. I also really loved how comfortable audience-members felt in sharing some personal and touching stories how they really needed something like Dreams of Hope when they were younger and are still feeling the pain of bullying years later. I felt honored to be sitting with the young adults of Dreams of Hope and may have teared up once or twice...

The feeling at Community House reminded me of a film screening I went to with my partner, her sister and a friend on June 9th at the WQED studios.

Two Spirits: "Fred Martinez was one of the youngest hate-crime victims in modern history when he was brutally murdered at 16. This film explores the life and death or a boy, who was also a girl, and the essentially spiritual nature of gender."

First of all may I just say that I love WQED! Deborah Acklin, WQED's president and chief executive officer, spoke to us at the beginning about WQED being such a great place to work, with a rich history in bringing a diversity of perspectives to communities. She spoke of Mr. Rogers and his commitment to making television nurturing and educational. I never knew WQED was the first! The room was nearly full of people and chilly.

The film was beautiful and showed a variety of perspectives, although it was at times too dramatic. The best parts were the close-ups of Fred's mother speaking about her son and her very real awareness and feelings about him. I like that the directors chose to include a lot of the history of the oppression of and brutality against native peoples in this country.

After the film, a member of the transgender community, a member of the American Indian community and a member of the film community sat on a panel and a moderator asked questions to each. Then the audience was asked to provide questions. One older man spoke for a long time (and maintained most people's interest the whole time) about how Paganism (which he actively practices) allows for much more celebration of the body, of gender fluidity and or sexuality than nearly every other major religion in the world. How sad that so much torture and "justified" hatred is promoted by religions throughout history...I spoke to this man after the Q&A session and thanked him for sharing personal stories of overcoming bullying and discrimination and living through the AIDS epidemic. I see a need for more inter-generational connections in the queer community. There is conflict for sure. Older gays tend to think only in terms of gay and straight and many men are often blatantly sexist. Younger folks invoke the wrath of older gays, who believe we all don't know how good we have it. And there is this big gap in our community--everyone that died of AIDS, is dying. Not to mention all the other ways we are divided as a community.

I raised my hand at one point and said how tired I am of seeing films about trans people who are murdered, are murderers, or who kill themselves. I outed myself and I asked why aren't we seeing more films of queer people who survive? I can't really remember now what they said. But something like--these traumatic stories are effective, and who wants to watch a movie about a a boring well-adjusted person anyway? I guess also that there are so many of these hard stories to tell and they deserve to be told--all of them.

After the event I had my picture taken with Mr. Rogers, the dinosaur out front.

Pride weekend was emotionally fraught, thinking about what we all had to endure to make it to this point, what still has to be done. I may have my personal issues with Pride's focus on getting wasted, corporate junk and apolitical-ness but when I saw that man in the parade in a cop uniform (not actually a cop unfortunately), hairy chest visible to the world, twirling with a baton and looking AMAZING, everyone cheering for him and taking his picture, and he kept his energy up the whole time...I just thought how great it all is, being out, loud and proud.

Dreams of Hope Benefit

On Friday, June 10 from 7 – 10 p.m. at Community House on Pittsburgh’s North Side, dynamic youth performers Dreams of Hope will share their talents and stories at their performance to kick off Pride Weekend in Pittsburgh!

Tickets are $5 for students, $10 general admission and $20 for champions for information and to purchase tickets via the PayPal button at http://transyouthleaders.blogspot.com. All proceeds benefit the Initiative for Transgender Leadership, a job training placement initiative for transgender youth.

Join us June 10, 7:00 PM Community House,

120 Parkhurst Street Pittsburgh, PA 15212 where

Dreams of Hope will entertain, engage, and teach us.

Dreams of Hope is teaming-up with ITL to benefit our Trans Youth Fellowship.  The fellowship provides professional skills, mentoring, and community impact.  We have raised nearly $13,000 of the total $20K needed to support (1) the Fellow (Rayden Sorock), (2) the Sponsoring Organization (Regional Internship Center of Coro Center for Civic Leadership), & (3) grassroots change of the region's transgender conversation.

Learn more: http://www.dreamsofhope.org/about

Philly Trans Health Conference & other updates

Hello all!

I haven't posted since before Memorial Day and I'm thinking about all this beautiful weather we've been having--with the exception of today's black skies and thunderstorms. Mem day weekend was spent attending the Justice for Jordan Miles protest downtown--http://justiceforjordanmiles.com/--where I saw Jen and her son; and biking almost 50 miles on the 29th. My partner Ocean read part of her as-of-yet unpublished novel at Fleeting Pages on the 30th.

Last week was crazy leading up to the Philly Trans Health Conference and I haven't had the chance to update in a while. A couple friends and I performed in a band called Gutter Glitter on June 2nd. So much fun playing for that crowd full of friends! We opened for Kaia Wilson, former lead singer of Team Dresch and The Butchies. She sang a bunch of songs that she wrote 15 years ago and totally charmed the crowd. Here's a pic of our band!

 

So the morning after our performance, Ocean, two friends and I loaded up the car and drove to Philly. We arrived around noon on the second day of the conference. Unfortunately missed Chaz Bono's Q&A. So much fun to pack a convention center with the trans and queer community and allies galore! I attended some okay workshops and some great workshops, and one lame workshop. But each taught me a lot about leading a workshop: the presenter/attendee dynamic, pacing & organization, keeping questions and comments on track, etc. I wish I could have gone to more workshops. It seemed that for every one I attended, I felt like I was missing 2 or 3.

On Saturday 12:45pm I led a workshop called "Bringing Our Whole Selves to Work" for about 25 people. Adorably, the parents of a trans youth introduced themselves to me and said they wanted to know more about what their child could expect in employment. There was a range of folks in attendance--some in the corporate world, some in the non-profit sector, some unemployed, even one outspoken Republican. Bobby was there to give support (thanks!) and one of my friends too. 

First I started off with introductions and describing what the workshop was going to be like. Then I allowed the attendees to introduce themselves to each other, and everyone was enthusiastic. Then they filled out an "Identities Worksheet" with 20 categories like gender expression, class, communication style and I asked a couple people to read their lists out loud. I was trying to get at the idea across that there are lots of identities we each have, some of them may give us a lot of grief in the workplace, others we may never think about. Next I surveyed the group in regards to the parts of themselves they feel like they can and can't bring to work. We picked that apart for a while: What is it about where you work that allows you to be out about being a liberal? What is it about where you work that makes it difficult to come out about your sexuality?

Then we got into categorizing workplace barriers into three groups: POLICY, PHYSICAL and CULTURE. This got tricky because a dress code may fall into all three: the dress code may be part of a policy, it affects the physical environment of the workplace and the workplace culture may affect what is and isn't appropriate to wear.

We ended with sharing strategies for solving problems at work; some people shared success stories too. I hope that people left with a new or modified framework for thinking about their problems at work and how to solve those problems. Additionally, in hearing other peoples' stories of workplace discrimination and difficulties, perhaps we all came away with a greater sense of what our community members are dealing with.

After that, I networked a bit and attended one of the plenary lectures on global transgender issues (really putting things into perspective--check out http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/ for more info) and watched the movie Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria which was AMAZING. All in all a great weekend in Philly.

LGBTQ Org's: "Creating a Successful Internship Program" Workshop and Discussion

Calling all Pittsburgh-area LGBTQ Organizations! 

 

You’re invited!

The Regional Internship Center and the 

Initiative for Transgender Leadership present:

Workshop: “Creating a Successful Internship Program”

-and-

Discussion: Serving the LGBT community through internship programs

Who: Pittsburgh-area organizations that serve the LGBT community

What: “Creating a Successful Internship Program” Workshop and Discussion 
When: Wednesday, June 22^nd from 1:00pm to 4:00pm

Where: Coro Center for Civic Leadership office

33 Terminal Way, Suite 429A

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Cost: $35 (Make checks payable to: Coro Center for Civic Leadership)

Contact: Rayden Sorock by email or phone: (412) 208-0250

RSVP by Monday, June 20^th

<sup>Click HERE to view the Regional Internship Center's employer workshop promo video! 

More about this workshop and discussion</sup> 

Website hasn’t been updated since 1999?
Need to be in 5 places at once?
Planning for that annual fundraiser?
Is your organization stagnating for lack of fresh new ideas?
Is your social media strategy anti-social?
Breaking into a new market?

It sounds like you need an intern!

Come to a workshop “Creating a Successful Internship Program” to learn how to:

• Assess short- medium- and long-term organizational goals
• Sustain an internship program after a key employee leaves
• Pay your intern, with money and/or other valuable concessions
• Improve your bottom line
• Make an existing internship program more effective
• Develop employee leadership skills
• Attract and retain talent
• Write an internship position description to attract the right person
• and more!

After the workshop, join a discussion on attracting and retaining LGBT talent, where we will try to answer these questions:

• What are some unique challenges faced by organizations who serve the LGBT community?
• How do we advertise internship positions to the LGBT community?
• How can a successful internship program help your organization evolve?
• How can a successful internship program provide meaningful career development opportunities for LGBT youth?
• Can we bridge the gaps between our organizations and pave the way for collaboration?

Hope you can make it!