Subject: Creating Change 95 - Largest Ever
From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 28 Nov 1995 09:47:09 -0500

LARGEST GATHERING OF GAY AND LESBIAN ACTIVISTS HELD IN DETROIT

Biggest Ever Creating Change Brings Thousands Together at Time of Critical
Battles on Gay Rights

 Washington, D.C., Nov. 16, 1995...2,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender activists and supporters gathered in Detroit, Mich., to grapple
with critical challenges, savor recent civil rights victories, and prepare
for new attacks on gay and lesbian equality.

 The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's (NGLTF) 8th Annual "Creating
Change Conference" was the largest ever gathering of gay activists in the
country.  This year's event, held Nov. 8-12,  attracted some 2,000 activists
from 48 states and the District of Columbia. 

 "Creating Change 1995 occurred at a critical juncture for the g/l/b/t
community," said Sue Hyde, conference organizer.  "Activists came to Detroit
on the eve of profound decisions and campaigns that will influence gay rights
battles well into the future. "  Hyde pointed out the U.S. Supreme Court's
pending ruling on the Colorado Amendment 2 measure, the controversial
same-gender marriage issue, the vote to defeat Maine's anti-gay ballot
referenda, and the 1996 presidential elections as events that portend
dramatic implications for the gay movement.  These and other issues took
center stage at Creating Change 1995.

 The conference featured a rich diversity of attendees.  At least 250 of the
attendees were under 24 years of age, representing a strong presence of youth
leadership.  Some 20 percent were people of color. The transgender and
bisexual communities enjoyed high visibility in workshops and throughout the
conference, with BiNet USA and the International Conference on Transgender
Law and Employment Policy/Transexual Menace tables anchoring the conference
exhibitors section.  A veritable army of about 275 Detroit-area volunteers
staffed the conference.   CNN featured an extensive "Headline News" report on
this year's gathering.

 More than 160 workshops and plenaries were offered, including "Cracking the
Corporate Closet," "Media Activist Clinics," "The Elections are Coming!,"
 "Deconstructing Right Wing Defamation," "Rural Organizing," "Homophobia and
Black Churches," "Hawaii Marriage Case," "Legal Services for AIDS and HIV,"
 "High School Curriculum," "Where to Go for Foundation Money," "Lobbying
State Legislators," "Inside the Athletic Closet," "Passing Local Civil Rights
Laws," "G/L/B/T Families,"  "The Threat of Queer Sex," "Fat Dykes," and
dozens more.

 Once again the ever popular Digital Queers computer activism track trained
activists in accessing and using the Internet and other sources for
organizing work.

 A mini-video/film conference festival screened numerous selections,
including the controversial PBS series, "A Question of Equality."  Brown bag
sessions focused on strategizing for the upcoming presidential elections,
report back from the Beijing International Women's Conference, and domestic
violence in the gay community.  Numerous workshops comprised a track for gay
and questioning youth.  One crowded workshop sponsored by members of the Safe
Sex Sluts featured a multi-gender, pan-sexual orientation demonstration of
the latest safe sex erotic techniques.

 A selection of pre-conference institutes focused on key constituencies and
issues in the gay movement, including "the People of Color Organizing
Institute;" "Race is the Issue;" "Finding Common Ground:  Allies Across Race,
Class and Gender;" the "Youth Organizing Institute;" and "Community Centers."

 "Creating Change is designed to empower and strengthen our local gay
community and our national political movement at this critical time," said
Melinda Paras, NGLTF executive director.

 Activists from Maine were on hand to brief attendees on the recent battle to
defeat the anti-gay Measure One.  On Nov. 7 voters in that state defeated the
measure by a margin of 53 to 47 percent. 

 "The Measure One victory is particularly significant because the referendum
was what we call a dangerous 'new and improved' version of Colorado's
Amendment 2," said NGLTF Campaign Consultant Susan Hibbard.  "It used stealth
language in an attempt to confuse voters.  Maine is the first state east of
the Mississippi to vote on such a measure.  Michigan almost had one last
year.  Which state will be next?" That question could be heard throughout the
numerous workshops that tackled effective strategies for fighting the Radical
Right.

 A hot topic at this year's conference was the upcoming presidential
election.  Workshops and plenary speakers strategized around increasing
g/l/b/t visibility in the race. "The 1996 Presidential elections have
dramatic implications for us," stated Paras.  "The previous elections in 1992
marked the most attention paid to gay and lesbian issues ever, for good or
for bad.

 "Since then the political landscape has changed radically, bringing us to
this moment in Detroit," Paras added.  "A new Republican majority has created
the most anti-gay Congress in the history of our community.  Attacks on
affirmative action, welfare, immigration, and the framing of civil rights as
'special rights' has polarized and divided communities.  The record of the
Clinton Administration has been mixed.   The Republican presidential
candidates range from hostile to very hostile and the shocking growth of the
Radical Right threatens to tip the balance of American politics."

 "This is an auspicious time for us," continued Paras.  "The gay and lesbian
movement is at a crossroads.  We gathered in Detroit to state our agenda:  To
end discrimination and violence against us.  To create a more compassionate
society, one that respects the worth and dignity of all its citizens.  To
create real and lasting change."

 Creating Change attracts a veritable "who's who" of the movement.  Plenary
speakers included Urvashi Vaid, nationally known activist and author of
"Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation," who
called for a true progressive-based social change movement and not just a
focus on "gay rights;"  second-term Wisconsin State Rep. Tammy Baldwin, who
articulated a Midwest, grassroots-based vision for gay liberation;  Elias
Farajaje-Jones, author, teacher, theologian, bisexual activist recently
featured in Newsweek, who spoke of "queers in intersection," or individuals
who find themselves straddling labels around gender, sexual orientation,
class, color and identity; and Harry Britt, pioneer gay politician and former
member, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, who articulated the historical
lessons the gay community can learn from the suffragist pioneers.

 Numerous other gay movement luminaries attended, including Dee Mosbacher,
Deb Price, Sean Strub, Debra Chasnoff, Scot Nakagawa, Dale McCormick, Phill
Wilson, Derek Hodel, Tim McFeeley, Amber Hollibaugh, Paula Ettelbrick, Mab
Segrest, Keith Boykin, Lani Ka'ahumanu, Robert Bray, Rev. Cecil Prescod,
 Suzanne Goldberg, and others.

 The 1995 NGLTF Community Services Awards were presented to individuals and
organizations who have provided outstanding support to their communities.
 This year's recipients were:  Trikone and the South Asian Lesbian and Gay
Association; Phyllis Randolph Frye and the transgender community; Montana
Pride;  Barbara Smith; Ivy Young; Jan Stevenson; the National Education
Association; Alan Hergott.

 Two new activist kits were released at Creating Change to organizers hungry
for resources to take home -- "To Have and To Hold: Organizing for Our Right
to Marry," a manual that contains useful tips, background information,
references, talking points, organizing tactics and more; and "Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender Campus Organizing," the definitive, massive guide to
student, faculty, staff and alumni group organizing.

 During the conference NGLTF's board of directors voted to support the
workers involved in the ongoing strike at the Detroit Free Press and Detroit
News, which has garnered national headlines.  The NGLTF Statement said in
part, "We support the right of workers in their struggle for fair and
equitable treatment in the workplace, in particular at the Detroit Free Press
and Detroit News.  We call for respectful negotiations and dialogue that will
result in a resolution as soon as possible to restore to the Detroit area a
quality press that serves the community."  In solidarity with the strikers,
NGLTF did not and will not provocatively solicit coverage of Creating Change
or other NGLTF activities from the two papers until the strike is settled.

 To prove that all is not serious work at Creating Change, the stars came out
for conference attendees at an electrifying gala concert featuring Tony Award
winner Nell Carter, comediennes Lea Delaria and Karen Williams, and the a
cappella group, the Fabulous Flirtations.  Carter, whom many in the audience
swore "came out" during her performance, closed the gala with a
heart-breaking song dedicated to her brother, who died recently of AIDS.

 Next year's conference will be held Veteran's Day Weekend in Alexandria,
Va., in the Washington, D.C./Capital area immediately following the 1996
presidential elections.  For more information on Creating Change, call Sue
Hyde at (617)492-6393.

Note:  for program books contact Beth Barrett, (202)332-6483, ext. 3215.

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