2010 Equality Conference Workshops

Love and Laws: A Legal Perspective on Marrying Outside NC

The patchwork of state marriage laws presents new challenges for families in North Carolina. North Carolina attorneys whose practices focus on serving LGBT clients discuss the potential pitfalls and how to protect your family whether or not you choose to marry.

Helping Our Youth Find Their Voice

Time Out Youth's most powerful venue for advocacy efforts is their Speakers Bureau. Their youth are trained to speak to local agencies, schools, civic organizations, houses of worship, and other area organizations about their experiences being LGBTQ in the Charlotte region. By telling their stories firsthand, youth are empowered and begin to see their own ability to affect change by changing attitudes one person at a time. This panel discussion will begin with youth telling their personal stories, followed by a Q&A session.

Intersecting Identities: Considerations Among LGBT People of African Descent

Focused discussion about the gendered life experience of black men and women is needed to understand culturally defined ideas of black womanhood and black manhood. In addition, the intersections of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, class, and other oppressions will be critically examined during this workshop via exercises that demonstrate how the personal becomes political, and the implications for healthy living, activism, and utilization of services.

GLBT Issues in the Classroom: What Educators Can Do to Stop Bullying and Harassment

In classrooms across North Carolina, students and teachers face harassment and bullying based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Educators have the responsibility to teach every child. We also have a responsibility to ensure a safe learning environment for those children we teach. In this session, we will discuss methods of creating "safe spaces" for everyone (students and teachers) and what this means for educators in the classroom. We will also cover current laws requiring educators and administrators to protect students and teachers from harassment, as defined by North Carolina's School Violence Prevention Act. Resources will be provided from the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and the National Education Association (NEA).

Improving Syringe Access for People of Transgender Experience

In this workshop, participants will learn about the history of syringe access in NC and how it relates to the Transgender Community. We will address how current syringe access law leads to increased Hepatitis, HIV, STD, AXIS 3 Disorders and Overdose incidences, financial costs to society and UN-empowered people of transgender experience. This workshop will address what we can do to change the current law and what we can do to help people under the current law.

Shaping Dialogue for Change in Our Community

This interactive workshop will provide an overview of several approaches to addressing conflict, fear, and stereotypes in families, organizations, and communities at large. The workshop will explore approaches to getting people to re-think their opinions through the principles of restorative dialogue and grassroots advocacy techniques. Skills will be demonstrated in role plays, and participants will leave with a handbook.

LGBT Oppression in the Western Tradition

Groups like the Alliance Defense Fund and the Family Research Council have tapped into a long tradition of oppression of the LGBT community. This workshop will examine how those tactics, largely without popular support, have been used to promote a political agenda and how they often--or at least eventually--fail.

Body Politics: Surgery and the Transgender Experience

When people hear that someone is transgender, they often wonder, "Has that person had the surgery?" There are actually a number of different surgeries that transgender people may choose, but surgery doesn't define a person as transgender. This workshop will begin with a brief "Transgender 101" to educate people on what is meant by the word "transition" in the gender community. Additionally, we will discuss why using surgery as a benchmark for transition is problematic for transgender people in many areas, and issues surrounding the "WPATH Standards" (World Professional Association of Transgender Healthcare's Standards of Care) and DSM IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder. The effect on documentation, employment, Social Security, travel, and access to care will be outlined in this workshop, as well as the different surgical options available for transgender people. The impact of state-by-state discrepancies in what surgeries transgender people must have in order to change their gender markers on documents will be discussed and there will be time for questions and discussion at the end of the presentation.

HIV Policy in NC: Successes and Challenges

The North Carolina AIDS Action Network's (NCAAN’s) policy agenda will give detail to participants about key HIV/AIDS policy issues specific to our state. Learn how North Carolina became the state with the longest waiting list for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), and what you can do to ensure such a public health crisis doesn't happen in the future. Handouts of the NCAAN policy agenda will be given along with key tips for talking to legislators and how to be a successful advocate for those living with HIV.

Planning the Perfect LGBT Lobby Day for College Students: It Doesn't Have to be Scary!

This interactive workshop will focus on how to engage in political activism on LGBTQ issues, with a focus on college campus organizing. While examining UNC-CH's student-led lobby day on ENDA and DADT, attendees will brainstorm building effective coalitions, learn successful techniques for training advocates in sharing their stories with policy-makers, and discuss the logistical requirements of getting students together with their legislators, whether on campus, in their districts, in Raleigh or in DC!

A Matter of Opinion

Editorial and op-ed pages, broadcast commentaries and social media often are overlooked opportunities to convey key messages, manage public opinion, or shape a debate. Few vehicles offer such a solid means of taking a stand, defending a position, or promoting a particular point of view. In this workshop, we'll learn a pre-writing strategy to help you write quickly and effectively with sensitivity to your audience and the right details to drive results. If time permits, we'll also begin writing a piece.

When You've Gotta Go, Come Here: An Ally-Building Approach to Creating More Gender Neutral Bathrooms in Your Community

Restrooms are notorious in our transgender communities for being unsafe, but simple changes can make a difference for all kinds of folks and benefit businesses. Members of Durham Unstalled, a grassroots initiative dedicated to making restrooms more accessible and comfortable for everyone, will bring you up to speed, share their group's philosophy, and direct you to resources to help you get started on your own initiative in your hometown!

Understanding and Addressing LGBTQ Health Disparities

Mounting scientific evidence shows that members of LGBTQ communities experience worse health outcomes than their heterosexual counterparts across a variety of health topics. These health disparities are compounded by and coexist alongside gender, race, and class lines. Organized by queer graduate students from the UNC Gillings School of Public Health, this workshop will present an intersectional analysis of LGBTQ health disparities, with a particular emphasis on those faced by LGBTQ people of color. Health topics will include HIV/AIDS, alcohol abuse, tobacco and illicit drug use, cancer, intimate partner and other types of violence, and mental health. Participants will come away with a deeper understanding of some of the reasons why LGBTQ health disparities exist, and will participate in an exercise to devise strategies to address them.

Communities in the Classroom: Empowering Individuals to Provide Anti-Bullying Training for Educators

With the recent teen suicides after endless bullying, the climate in our schools has become of paramount concern. Research shows that there is a direct correlation between student safety, school attendance, and safe schools laws (GLSEN, 2007). It is time that our community help ensure that ALL young people are safe in schools. Currently there is not a system in place to make sure that school districts, administrators, and teachers are adhering to the law and making sure bullying is addressed. This includes lack of training and continuing education for faculty and staff regarding the needs of, and issues facing the LGBT community.

Out to Win: LGBT Elected Officials Share their Stories

Public officials from across North Carolina will discuss running for, winning, and serving in office as out LGBT candidates and elected officials. Hear their success stories--and challenges along the way--and maybe even be inspired to run for office, yourself!