Conference addresses issues of LGBT community

Monday, February 8, 1999

Conference addresses issues of LGBT community

ACTIVISM: Workshop participants focus on politics,
entertainment, education at weekend-long event

By Andy Shah

Daily Bruin Staff

A three-day conference dealing with issues pertinent to the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community ended on Sunday,
attracting 600 people from within the UC system and the
country.

The conference, entitled "Something Queer is Bruin," featured
workshops, speakers and entertainment.

The workshop topics centered on three broad issues – education,
politics and entertainment.

"The conference was really great because we had very diverse
participants who were able to dialogue on a variety of issues,"
said Cristina Gonzalez, co-chair of the conference.

The conference opened on Thursday with a speech by Dorothy
Allison, a finalist for the 1992 National Book Award for her novel,
"Bastard Out of Carolina."

Most conference participants arrived at UCLA on Friday, when
Kevin Jennings, executive director of the Gay Lesbian Straight
Education Network, gave the opening speech. He also screened a film
that his organization made called "Out of the Past," which
highlighted historical gay rights movements.

The bulk of the workshops were held on Saturday, though. The
topics ranged from including transgenders in the LGBT community to
learning how to fund gay rights activism.

One popular workshop was titled "Queer Students of Color: The
need for collective organizing" and grappled with issues minority
members of the LGBT community face.

"People think we’re separatist, but these are the people I’ve
fought to be around all my life," said Ray Fernandez, a fifth-year
women’s studies and Chicano/a studies student.

Many members of the audience said they attended the workshop
because they wanted to start ethnic queer organizations at their
own schools.

"I want to form a queer South Asian organization at Berkeley,
and the workshop gave me the information and tools I need to start
it," said Gana Wettasinghe, a second-year interdisciplinary studies
student at UC Berkeley.

Another workshop taught participants how to organize the LGBT
community on their campuses.

"There are two things that motivate someone to become an
activist: anger and love," said Alexis Sainz, an organizer with the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Sainz introduced participants to a method for forming LGBT
organizations, gaining student interest and developing
leadership.

"With colleges, every year you have a vacuum of leadership
because people graduate," she said. "You have to fill that void by
getting the younger members involved."

The keynote speaker on Saturday was Donna Red Wing, national
field director for the Human Rights Campaign and The Advocate
magazine’s 1992 Woman of the Year.

"In the ’90s, our issues finally became politically important,"
she said. "But the religious right lashed back with a war."

Red Wing said the campaign, which has 250,000 members, gives
members of the LGBT community another voice.

"Our lives are misrepresented in pulpits, courtrooms and PTA
meetings," she said. "Our struggle is not politics as usual."

She went on to describe what motivated her to be an
activist.

"I cannot marry the woman I love, many of you will never be
parents, and we can still lose our jobs just because we’re gay,"
she said.

A talent show organized by UCLA’s Gay and Lesbian Association
was hosted by lesbian comedian Lynn Lavner on Saturday night,
followed by a dance in the Tom Bradley International Hall.

More workshops were held on Sunday, including one on hate crimes
in the LGBT community where speakers emphasized the need to report
hate crimes.

"It’s important to document the underlying motivation of the
crime," said Carla Arranaga, a deputy district attorney for Los
Angeles County. "Hate crimes carry a greater penalty than some
other violent crimes."

The conference also included a speech about the status of LGBT
individuals in the entertainment industry.

"I felt a need to change the lives of people by something that
was accessible, so I focused on art," said Shelly Weiss, who formed
OUTmedia, an organization that works to increase the visibility of
LGBT people in the arts.

Weiss said one reason she formed the organization was because
many LGBT performers were hiding their sexual identities.

"They were not being themselves, so we were focused on changing
mainstream culture," she said.

The conference concluded with a meeting of members of the UC
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Association. Next year’s
conference will be held at UC Davis.

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