Some 350 Black and Latino quee) activists from as far away as England and

Ghan) attended the Black Gay and lesbian Leadership Forum gathering at the Los

 Angeles Airport Hilton over the Feb 17-19 weekend.

This year's conference was quite different from the previous seven, especially

in format. About a  month before the event the Leadership Firum announced that

in light of the resurgence of conservatives after the 1994 U.S. congressional

and statewide elections the 8th annual conference would be changed to a Black

Gay and Lesbian Leadership Summit titled "Our Families, Our Communities, Our Lives."

Phill Wilson, the founder of the Leadership Forum, explained the change from a

conference to a summit. 

[TAPE]

The format change was apparently a resounding success. Because of it, all the

participants were able to focus on one clear topic: grassroots political

organizing. One whole day was devoted to analyzing the impact of the Republican

"Contract with America" on communities of color, especially in the area of 

AIDS services. By the end of the summit, a joint communique titled "A Call for

Sustained Action: An open letter to Progressive Black Communities" was drafted

in order to 'spark a dialogue on launching a national progressive Black lesbian/

bisexual/ transgendered/ gay movement'


One of the notable Black lesbian activists who attended this year's Summit was

Mandy Carter of the Human Rights Campaign Fund, who leads BGLLF's campaign to 

counter the influence of the radical right in Black communities. I asked her 

about this year's event.

MANDY QUOTES:

"I've been to a lot of these leadership summits .... other piece we need for
 
 our movement..."

"This year's summit was a step in the right direction..."

That was Mandy Carter, speaking about this year's Black Gay and Lesbian

Leadership Summit.  For THIS WAY OUT (in Los Angeles), I'm Ron Buckmire.