Date: Mon, 23 Aug 99 18:23:09 -0400 From: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Subject: [NGLTF PRESS] California Here We Come! ********************************************* NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE MEDIA ADVISORY Contact: David Elliot, Communications Director 202-332-6483 ext. 3303 800-757-6476 pager delliot@ngltf.org http://www.ngltf.org 1700 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC ********************************************* CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME! NGLTF LAUNCHES CREATING CHANGE '99 Knight Initiative, religious issues and local and state organizing efforts will highlight nation's largest GLBT conference Aug. 23, 1999-More than 2,000 activists will converge upon Oakland Nov. 10-14 for the 12th annual Creating Change conference, the largest annual conference of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered movement. Creating Change takes place amid historic shifts in the way GLBT people are viewed socially, culturally and politically. This year's conference, to take place at the Marriott City Center Hotel and Oakland Convention Center, is unique both because of its timing and its location. "What will the GLBT movement's greatest achievements be in the 21st Century?" asked Kerry Lobel, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "Will we be welcome in churches, synagogues and mosques? Will we be fully accepted in public schools, Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and the military? Will our families be safe and our civil rights secure? We want Creating Change to be the road that takes us from the way things are to the way things ought to be." Lobel noted that just months after Creating Change, California voters will decide the fate of the Knight Initiative, which would ban same-sex marriage. That referendum will take place on the same day Californians cast ballots for the Democratic and Republican nominees for president - meaning more media attention and heightened awareness and debate over GLBT issues. "We hope that Creating Change will bring additional energy to the local organizing efforts to defeat hate, discrimination and anti-GLBT bigotry," Lobel said. Creating Change will feature a special training entitled, "Defeat Knight: Door Knock in Your Community," which will teach the electoral skill and human art of door-to-door voter identification and persuasion. Other areas of emphasis at this year's Creating Change will include the role of religion as an agent for positive social change; the GLBT movement in the 21st century and the necessity of building stronger state and local GLBT organizations with the shift of political power from Washington, D.C. to the states. Creating Change has evolved into the political hothouse of GLBT politics. It will feature plenary sessions on contemporary issues, 150 workshops and training sessions, and social and cultural events that bring out-of-town visitors in contact with Oakland residents. Creating Change has been the launching pad of many significant new projects and initiatives, including the launch of Boycott Colorado in 1992; the upsurge of the modern youth movement in 1993; the founding of the Federation of LGBT Statewide Political Groups in 1996; and the kickoff of Equality Begins at Home in 1998. Equality Begins at Home was a campaign that witnessed 350 rallies and other events in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico during a one-week period in March 1999. "This is the most exciting time to focus on Creating Change," Lobel said. "If you're doing the work in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender movement, Creating Change is for you." To register or learn how to get involved with Creating Change, please call 202-332-6483, ext. 3329 or visit www.creatingchange.org. For media credentials, please fax a written request on your news outlet's letterhead to David Elliot at 202-332-0207. _____________________________________________________________________ Founded in 1973, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force works to eliminate prejudice, violence and injustice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people at the local, state and national level. As part of a broader social justice movement for freedom, justice and equality, NGLTF is creating a world that respects and celebrates the diversity of human expression and identity where all people may fully participate in society. _________________________________________ This message was issued by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Media Department. If you have a question regarding this post, please direct it to the contact at the top of this message. If you wish to UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, please send an email with "UNSUBSCRIBE PRESSLIST" in the subject and body of your email message to . You may also unsubscribe by visiting http://www.ngltf.org.