From: NGLTF@aol.com Date: Thu, 26 Oct 1995 19:28:00 -0400 Subject: CREATING CHANGE 95 ************************************************* National Gay and Lesbian Task Force MEDIA ALERT Contact: Beth Barrett (202) 332-6483 ext. 3215 bbarrett@ngltf.org 2320 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20009 ************************************************* GAY MOVEMENT AT A CROSSROADS: MAJOR NATIONAL GATHERING AT TIME OF DECISIVE BATTLES Creating Change Conference in Detroit to Focus on Elections, Radical Right Attacks, Supreme Court Colorado Case, Marriage and Other Issues Washington, D.C. -- October 27, 1995 --. More than a thousand gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activists will gather in Detroit, Michigan, for perhaps the largest ever national gay strategizing conference. The 1995 Creating Change Conference occurs at a critical juncture in the gay and lesbian movement when many battles and far-reaching decisions are coming together at once: The U.S. Supreme Court's pending ruling on the Colorado Amendment 2 case, the prominence of gay, lesbian and bisexual issues in the 1996 Presidential Elections, Right Wing anti-gay ballot initiatives in Maine and other states, workplace discrimination, and same-gender marriages, among other controversial issues. The Creating Change Conference, sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute (NGLTF), will be held Nov. 10-12, at the downtown Detroit Westin Hotel, Renaissance Center, on Renaissance Drive. An opening kickoff press conference will be held on Friday, November 10, 10:15 a.m., immediately following a provocative conference plenary on "The State of The Gay Movement." The press conference will feature national and Great Lakes region leaders. The conference will present some 180 workshops, plenaries, brown-bag sessions, and cultural events. Plenary speakers include Urvashi Vaid, nationally known activist and author of "Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation;" Second-term Wisconsin State Rep. Tammy Baldwin; Elias Farajaje-Jones, author, teacher, theologian, bisexual activist recently featured in Newsweek; and Harry Britt, pioneer gay politician and former member, San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Numerous other gay movement luminaries are scheduled to attend, including Dee Mosbacher, Deb Price, Elizabeth Birch, Sean Strub, Debra Chasnoff, Scot Nakagawa, Dale McCormick, Phill Wilson, Derek Hodel, Tim McFeeley, Amber Hollibaugh, Paula Ettelbrick, Mab Segrest, Robert Bray, Rev. Cecil Prescod, Suzanne Pharr, Suzanne Goldberg, and activists from almost every state. For advance press credentials contact NGLTF's Beth Barrett,(202)332-6483, ext. 3215. Reporters should fax Barrett requests for credentials on media letterhead at (202)332-0207; or show up with identification at the media check-in room of the conference. After November 7 call the hotel directly at (313)568-8000 and ask for the NGLTF Creating Change Media Office. The conference is open to the working press. Workshops are open with permission from facilitators. The People of Color Organizing Institute is for people of color only. Call Now for Advance Press Credentials