STATEWIDE LGBT YOUTH CONF. TO BE HELD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
THE 2014 PENNSYLVANIA YAC TO FOCUS ON TRANSGENDER YOUTH JUSTICE
PHILADELPHIA, Pa., — The Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition (PSEC) will convene the 2014 Pennsylvania Youth Action Conference: Igniting a Pennsylvania Youth Movement for Trans* Justice and Freedom, at the University of Pennsylvania, from February 14-16. The event is the first statewide LGBT youth gathering centered on issues affecting the transgender and gender nonconforming community.
The Keynote Speaker of the 2014 conference will be Allyson Robinson, a native of Scranton and the principal of Warrior Poet Strategies. In 2012, she became the first transgender person to be an Executive Director of a national LGBT organization in leading Outserve-SLDN, an agency advocating for LGBT members of the United States military.
Mara Keisling, the Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, and native of Harrisburg, will moderate the Opening Plenary featuring adult advocates on the history of trans* activism in Pennsylvania. Panelists will include Jeanine Ruhsam, the founding President of TransCentralPA, and Che Gossett of the Leeway Foundation. The Closing Plenary will feature a panel of nationally recognized transgender youth leaders discussing the future of the trans* justice movement. The youth panelists include Emmett Patterson, Sarah McBride, and Van Nguyen.
There will be over 20 cutting-edge sessions on gender identity and expression featured at the conference, facilitated by national and state leaders in the LGBT movement. Session facilitators include representatives from the Mazzoni Center, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, the Attic Youth Center, Hollaback Philadelphia, and the Morris Home. Groundbreaking leaders in gender and sexuality education Alfred Vernacchio of Friends’ Central School and Dr. Graciela Slesaransky-Poe of Arcadia University will present workshops.
At the Keystone Banquet during the conference on February 15, PSEC will present several Pennsylvania activists with awards for excellence in social justice advocacy. The recipients are as follows:
The Altoona Award
Bayard Rustin (Accepted by Walter Naegle)
West Chester, PA
The Generations Award
Kathy Padilla – Philadelphia, PA
The Mara Keisling Leadership Award
Issak Wolfe – Red Lion, PA
The Brandon Bitner Memorial Award
Kasey Caron – Jonhstown, PA
The Keystone Award
Gloria Casarez —Philadelphia, PA
The 2014 Pennsylvania Youth Action Conference is sponsored by PSEC; TransCentral PA; and the Mazzoni Center. Organizations at Penn sponsoring the conference include the Greenfield Intercultural Center; the Penn LGBT Center; the Penn Women’s Center; the Lambda Alliance; the United Minorities Coalition; Penn Non-Cis; the Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies Department; the Intercultural Fund; and the Social Planning and Events Committee (SPEC).
Students interested in attending the conference should register as soon as possible at: youthactionconference.com.
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