During March 18-20 more than 650 activists and organizers from across 26 states and D.C. gathered in Asheville, North Carolina for the 3rd annual 2016 LGBT* in the South conference.
A big thank you the conference advisory committee and the CSE team.
And a huge thank you to our conference photographer Keenon Walker.
Volunteers run the check-in table, kicking off the conference.
Advisory Committee member, Miguel Carpizo aka The Selfie King snags a shot with a group of folks from Alabama on Friday.
Conference swag at the check-in table. We made more than a 1,000 buttons for the conference by hand!
Attendees connecting in the First-Timers Orientation on Friday afternoon. Even though we’ve only had three conferences, this year’s was the biggest yet, so there were a lot of first time attendees!
Conference-goers enjoying the beautiful weather during lunch on Friday.
Our amazing keynote panel on LGBT* Rights and Criminal Justice – (L-R) moderator Craig White, Nayely Pérez-Huerta, Shaena Johnson, and Urvashi Vaid with Spanish and ASL interpreters to the right.
The weekend couldn’t have gone as smoothly as it did without our amazing volunteers! Here’s CSE staff member Lindsey with one of our lead volunteers, Darlene.
We were able to offer 10 hours of CLE credit for NC attorneys, as well as CEUs for social workers and healthcare professionals!
Roberto and Salem from SONG led a packed house for their workshop “¿Qué Dijeron?/What Did They Say?: Queer Liberation Will Not Be in English”, providing information about language justice. This workshop was great example of a multilingual space, as the English-speaking ASL interpreters had to have the dialogue interpreted themselves before relaying it to the ASL speakers in the audience!
(L-R) Brad Pritchett, Katie Belanger, Caroline Duble, and Ian Palmquist prepare for their workshop “Local Matters: Winning Municipal Non-Discrimination Campaigns.” This is such an important topic for all of us right now as states and municipalities fight for the right to protect their citizens.
Sarah Hogg leads her workshop “Queering Reproductive Rights: Abortion and Beyond” on Friday afternoon. Workshops covered a number of topic areas, ranging from religious refusal laws and criminal justice to youth advocacy and culturally competent health care.
The golf cart shuttles were much needed throughout the weekend, helping folks get from one building to the next. For the staff who drove them, the golf carts might’ve been the highlight of the weekend!
The Direct Services Pop Up Clinic on Friday and Saturday was a huge success, serving over 200 people with peer counseling, surgical and legal consults, HIV testing and so much more! We’re so grateful for the people who volunteered their time and services to make it happen! (Photo cred: @mandolynmakes on Instagram)
We had FIFTY amazing sponsors for this year’s conference who helped make the whole thing possible with their support. Here’s some of our awesome sponsors from the ACLU of North Carolina and Mississippi and EROC (End Rape on Campus).
Swag from some of our conference sponsors, ACLU and Helpmate, a local domestic violence resource in Western NC. (We’re not sure where the first sticker came from, but we love it!) There are so many issues that affect our community, and we were glad to have a range of organizations represented. (Photo cred: @mxheatdisco on Instagram)
The youth-focused event on Saturday night at Firestorm was a hit! It’s so important for youth to have affirming social and educational spaces, and we committed to making the conference more youth-friendly this year.
Did you get a chance to visit the photo booth over the weekend? Check out a few of the shots here!
We hope you all had as great of a time as we did that weekend! Thank you for coming out, giving your time, sharing your knowledge, and building community with us and with each other. We have a lot of work ahead, and we look forward to continuing to build the LGBT South together.
Keep up with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; follow the hashtag #LGBTsouth for updates year-round; and subscribe to our weekly email newsletter, The LGBT South for the latest and greatest (and sometimes not-so-great) news from across the region and the nation!
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