AT CREATING CHANGE, COMMUNITY IS BUILT ONE PERSON AT A TIME

By Ryan Vigenau

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the National LGBTQ Task Force. Options was on the ground in San Fransisco for the Task Force’s Creating Change, the week-long LGBTQ conference that has been held nearly every year since 1988, and interviewed conferencegoers on their experience and what Creating Change means to them.

The Task Force started in 1973, originally named the National Gay Task Force, changed to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in 1985, and now advocates for the entirety of the LGBTQIA+ community. The Task Force is the oldest national LGBTQ advocacy group with a history that includes getting the first meeting between the White House and LGBTQ activists in 1977.

Creating Change is meant to bring LGBTQIA+ activists from around the country together, educate and train them, share resources between them, and then organize in their own communities. The confer- ence started in 1988 after activists around the country were asking for training and resources after the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights where as the Task Force describes it “the message of the 1987 March was clear: go home and get to work.”

This history of connecting and organizing still reverberates in the conference decades later. During my time at the conference, I had the pleasure of connecting with many of these activists and learning about the work that was being done to support Queer people nationally, and wanted to share their experiences alongside mine.

On Day One of the conference, I attended the Unión=Fuerza Latinx Institute, an all-day workshop centering LGBTQIA+ Latinx people, their experiences, and ways to reduce stigmas through our activism. Right from the beginning there was an emphasis on language justice, and anyone who was not bilingual in English and Spanish was given an earpiece to get translation services.

Throughout the day there was a series of panel discussions about Latinx activism, the experience of LGBTQIA+ Latinx people in the South, and stigmas surrounding sex work and how it related directly to LGBTQIA+ people. One of the highlight activities we did was we broke o into groups and each group either drew or wrote out their feelings on what Latinx Liberation meant. There was a lot of discussion around having freedom from conservative gender norms and breaking free from oppression (our group had hands breaking free of chains), to challenging assimilation and not losing important pieces of culture to “fit in” with the rest of society.

Day Two had another day-long workshop, this one focused on LGBTQIA+ Economic Justice. This institute guided us to understand ourselves and our connections with wealth and assets (like housing, jobs, etc). Given that our economic system is driven by people, they started with an exercise of sharing our personal stories with a small group. The experience helped me see how everyone goes through a series of “ups and downs” under capitalism, and that everyone in the group was uplifting each other throughout each story. Knowing that other activists nationwide experienced similar struggles that I face in my work was reassuring and gave fuel for future work.

Devan McDaniels from Detroit, MI, a business agent and organizer for United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union Local 876 said a highlight for them “was just recognizing what an amazing and diverse community we all belong to and to see the multitude of backgrounds, where everyone was at in life, was amazing.” McDaniel elaborated, saying

“it was so empowering to be in a space of my peers, where I didn’t have to mask; where I could be my authentic self and be loved and accepted for it.”

McDaniels is pushing to establish an OUTreach chapter for their local union, a constituency group of their union that helps elevate Queer membership and advocate for LGBTQIA+ voices. Another UCFW employee Chris Knight from Philadelphia, PA, and the field services coordinator for his Local 1776 told Options: “I’ve been able to take a look at our contracts that we have coming up to renegotiate and see if we have the best and most inclusive language to defend workers from discrimination. Additionally, we are taking a look at our health care funds to ensure that they provide Trans inclusive health benefits.” Knight also sits on the executive board of his Local’s OUTreach chapter.

A main theme of the conference overall was centering voices that are all too often not heard or ignored in our community – Trans voices, voices of color, low-income voices, and the voices of women and non-binary people – and truly understanding the connections between race, gender, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status.

Walking away from the conference, Angeline Peterson from Reno, NV who is the secretary of the board for Our Center discussed the importance of lifting up people of color (POC) and said she is taking home, “the importance of highlighting and centering POC in my work.” She continued: “Trying to make my Center a more inclusive space for POC is a huge initiative for me, as we have traditionally had a hard time bringing POC in to feel safe. There is a lot of fracturing in the Reno LGBTQ+ community so all groups are kept pretty separated. It’s sad and frustrating.”

I also attended a workshop related to intersectionality in the Queer community called Decentering Cis-ness: Supporting the T as LGB Activists, a workshop by TransFamily Support Services. There were a lot of educational pieces about Trans identities and the highlight for me was the history lesson about how colonizers created very binary gender roles to oppress indigenous people. Cultural practices like men wearing skirts/dresses or having their hair long and women being hunters were deemed by colonizers as going against “natural gender rules.”

The conference wasn’t all work and learning, however. On the second night, there was an “Opening Cruise,” a sex-positive networking event to meet new friends or even sexual partners. This writer felt the event itself was a little awkward and too structured of an event with preset questions. However, the conversations and connections that came out of the cruise were a highlight.

Some of the people I met included Ezra Terman, they are a San Francisco, CA resident, and volunteer administrator for an LGBT Community Center. Asher

Skeen who uses both he and they pronouns and is from Henderson, NC. They are a funder and capacity-building coach at the Queer Mobilization Fund and he is a singer-songwriter who recently released his second album called “Man-Made Man.” a lot to say and shared that “the best part both years has been the people.” They added: “I have made friends, some just for the conference and some for years to come. I have made connections with funders, potential grantees, and partners. I have had conversations with people who share my experiences almost exactly, and people that have next to zero intersection with the story I have to share.”

Both were energized by their experiences at the conference.

Socializing wasn’t only at the Opening Cruise. There were other social events like a game room, an exhibition hall, and a Ball where attendees could compete. I also ran into a lot of people in and around the hotel. “I got a CLEAR REMINDER of why I do this work and though it can become tiresome ... as well why it’s so IMPORTANT TO CONTINUE!”

“The highlight for me of the conference this year was connecting with people from all over the country who have shared values and goals and learning about the incredible things being done in every corner of our country to advance the wellbeing of Queer folks,” shared Terman. Skeen had

Rio Antone told Options. Antone uses she, he, and they pronouns. They are from Las Vegas, NV, and she is an entertainer and cultural competencies trainer, and a board member of Gender Justice.

Marquis Mapp, who uses he and they pronouns, is from Richmond, VA and Co-Executive Director of Side by Side. They told

Options: “We recently (within the past year) began a journey to commit to a shared leadership model with a focus on deconstructing white supremacist practices that tend to pervade organization settings. There were several other organizations and sessions that were insightful and inspiring and many of the strategies they used I was extremely excited to try here at home.”

Landing back in Rhode Island was both disheartening and relieving. Sad to have left all the energy and drive the people there, but happy to be back in the Ocean State. Options found multiple Rhode Islanders had went to Creating Change 2023. Ken Barber from Riverside, RI, and former executive director of the RI Queer PAC said he took home this message: “We have to reach out beyond our little state and see what is working in other states, cities, and even countries. These are the working models for change and we need to harness that and bring it home.” The conference gave this writer a closer connection to our community. It created a newfound spark to continue to support Queer people in the Ocean State and make sure we have a voice at the table and push leaders to make bold moves to protect us.

Jay Watts told Options: “The attack we see spreading across the country on Trans rights is a well-funded and coordinated at- tack. At this scope and depth, it is unprecedented. Unprecedented situations require unprecedented solutions. Watts is from Providence, RI, and he is the Trans health program director at Thundermist Health Center.

The board president of Tides for Reproductive Freedom and legislative a airs director with RI Queer PAC, Kimika Ross, summarized their experience: “I am bringing home a need to be an accomplice. To not sit around and show support but to be more active and direct in my support and relationship building. The conference was a big wake-up call that we – as a community – are not alright and there is more I can be doing to support my community.”