Monday, March 17, 2014

What Is The True Color’s Conference

Besides being wonderful. The CT Education Association (CEA) says the conference is,
The conference which is the largest in the country, targets lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) and ally youth, as well as those responsible for their health and well-being, including parents and caregivers; educators, clinicians, social workers, behavioral and physical health care providers and clergy. The mission of the conference is to improve the quality of life for LGBTQ youth at home, in school, and in the community at large by providing them and those who care for them, with the skills to act as advocates and allies. Participants are offered their choice of more than 200 workshops from introductory to advanced levels.
So the conference is probably the largest LGBT Youth conference in the world! It is a two day conference at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, that is open to everyone, not just LGBT youth or professionals, but it is open to anyone who wants to learn anything about LGBT people of any age and their culture. It is a two day conference with a two day attendance of around 3000 people and the conference has several different “tracks”; youth, college, professionals, and general workshops.

There are schools and people who come from all over the US; one year I met people from South Carolina, Maine, and Wisconsin. The Wisconsin group was a high school GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) who raised money for the trip.

My first time at the conference was when it was at the University of Hartford back in 2002 when it was called Children from the Shadows. I fell in love with it on the spot; there were so many smiling faces. For many it was the first time in their life were they could be themselves and not have to worry about what others think.

I went to help out at the Connecticut Outreach Society’s table and in 2011 I interned at True Colors and helped organize the vendor area at the conference. In 2012 I gave my first workshop there, it was on trans-history, and this year I am giving a workshop on writing a school policy for gender inclusion.

The conference is this Friday and Saturday and you can register here; walk-ins are welcome.

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