New Video: Queering the Census at Creating Change

Task Force Policy Institute Director Jaime Grant discusses Queer the Census at the 22nd National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change. Learn how you can Queer the Census here!

New Video: Youth Leaders Speak: Out and Loud and Proud

Seven LGBT youth leaders from Texas, New York and Massachusetts spoke poignantly and powerfully about the issues that affect their communities during the youth panel plenary Saturday, Feb. 5 at Creating Change. Check out the full panel, moderated by noted social critic and political commentator Kai Wright, below:

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New Video: Thomas Saenz talks comprehensive immigration reform

Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), addressed the Creating Change crowd during the opening plenary on Feb. 4, where he called for comprehensive immigration reform.

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Part 2

Part 3

New Video: Rea Carey’s State of the Movement address at Creating Change

You can now watch Rea Carey’s State of the Movement speech on YouTube! You can also read the full text here.

Part 1

New Video: Vogue Evolution at Creating Change

Meg and Mel from “Be the Change” go behind the scenes at Creating Change 2010 and give us a look at Vogue Evolution’s voguing workshop and plenary performance.  

Mark Your Calendars: Feb. 2-6, 2011

We had an amazing week in Dallas, and cannot wait to see y’all at next year’s Creating Change in Minneapolis! Mark your calendars: February 2-6, 2011.

‘Dallas Is Burning’

During Sunday’s closing plenary, the Task Force’s Russell Roybal declared “This morning, Dallas is burning!” Vogue Evolution members brought their all to the stage, teaching ballroom history, talking about their HIV prevention outreach work and of course, voguing.

LGBT Youth Leaders the Focus of Saturday’s Plenary

Aiden Aizumi is awarded with the Paul A. Anderson Award for Youth Leadership. Aizumi, 21, is a transman activist currently studying to become a firefighter/paramedic. Aizumi is an active member of PFLAG and is currently a member of the Pasadena PFLAG executive board and participates in informational panels with PFLAG to educate local high schools and colleges about the LGBT community. Aizumi serves on the Youth Advisory Council of The Trevor Project and has a leadership role in the youth leadership of the organization. Aizumi is photographed here with this proud mom, Marsha.

Rock-In for Equality: Ending Social Security Discrimination, One Rocking Chair at a Time

Same-sex couples in the U.S. have lost more than $2 billion in Social Security benefits in the past decade alone – benefits that would have been afforded to them had they been heterosexual couples.

At this afternoon’s plenary session, Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey and L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lorri Jean announced the launch of a project intended to put an end to this discrimination, Rock for Equality.

Rock for Equality will call attention to and end the severe economic discrimination that is embedded in Social Security Administration policies and to secure equal recognition of same-sex relationships. Check out upcoming Rock for Equality events:

• April 11: Washington, D.C.
• April 18: Los Angeles

We will start by demonstrating outside the local Social Security offices. Then we will march to the Federal Building in West L.A. In D.C., we’re heading to the Capitol! In both cities we will stage a new kind of civil rights event. Some will sit in the street in rocking chairs, thousands more will rally behind them.

The Susan J. Hyde Award and a Queer Pop Quiz

Grace Sterling Stowell received the Susan J. Hyde Activism Award for Longevity in the Movement. Stowell is a transgender woman who has been an activist and leader in the social justice and LGBT communities for more than 35 years. She was the first executive director of Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth (BAGLY). Accepting her award, she remembered how far we've come, when she said, "In the '60s I was called a 'sissy,' in the '70s 'faggot,' in the '80s 'drag queen,' in the '90s transgender, in the past decade I was called a 'woman' and now I'm just Grace." Photo by Inga Sarda-Sorensen.

"Queer pop quiz: How many LGBT people are there? Answer: We don't know." That's how Jaime Grant, Task Force Policy Institute director, reminded the Creating Change audience that the U.S. Census Bureau wants an accurate count of everyone in the country – but there's no question in the survey that asks if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. It's past time to Queer the Census! Sign the petition at www.QueertheCensus.org to demand that the census ask the question and count everyone! Photo by Inga Sarda-Sorensen.