Calendar

Come watch the documentary, Dark Girls, with us and have an awesome discussion afterwards! Reception with light refreshments to follow.

Remembering the sights, sounds, and activities of an old-fashioned country fair, this fun filled day will include; Storytelling, cake walks, pumpkin decorating, and of course trick-or-treat! We encourage all to wear their best costumes and bring your sacks for all the goodies! Recommended for ages 2 through 9. Admission fee is $5.00 per person.

Bring your family, bring your friends, bring anyone you know, and take action for equality with others in your community!

Together with Capital City Alliance, Baton Rouge Pride Fest, MCC Baton Rouge, PFLAG Baton Rouge and Spectrum, Equality Louisiana (EQLA), the statewide coalition of LGBT and allied advocacy groups, will host a free workshop open to everyone in the Greater Baton Rouge area.

**The event will take place in the large meeting room on the second floor for the Barnes and Noble at LSU.

EQLA’s Community Connects are a great opportunity to learn about state-level LGBT-related legislation coming up in the 2015 legislative session that will begin April 13. We will discuss the big issues faced by our community and the different ways we can all advocate for LGBT people, no matter how hectic our schedules are.

We want everyone to leave ready to make your voice heard.

EQLA will be traveling all over the state in the coming weeks, so look for a Community Connect event near you if you are not in the Baton Rouge area.

Come and join us for a evening of photography and community in Napoleon’s Itch Green Room.

We will be presenting two internationally award winning photographers speaking about their LGBTQ+ campaigns.
This event is FREE and open to the public of all ages. Come out and network with your community.

Copies of the books will be available for purchase and signing after the presentation is complete.

Photographers will be on hand to take your photos for possible use in a future project and for your personal use.

Please only click going if you will be attending this event and RSVP by clicking “TICKETS AVAILABLE” link.

The two campaigns presented are:

“First Comes Love: Portraits of Enduring LGBTQ Relationships (Soleil Press) 2014

FIRST COMES LOVE is a celebration of enduring relationships in the LGBTQ community. Through a series of moving black-and-white portraits and accompanying stories in a 148 page, hardbound book, B. Proud, a Philadelphia based photography and university professor, illuminates the real lives of over 60 couples who have been together from between 10 to 59 years. Begun at time when same-sex marriage was in its infancy in the United States and the Defense of Marriage Act was the law of the land, these portraits show the deep-seated love between couples who have long considered themselves committed. Gathered here is a diverse collection of LGBTQ couples, including the California Proposition 8 Plaintiffs, Edie Windsor, the first couple married in the nation’s capital, the Mayor of Houston, Bishop Gene Robinson, gay pioneers Barbara Gittings, Kay Lahusen, and Lilli Vincenz, and many more. Breaking down the stereotypes of a community typically characterized by rainbow flags and gay pride parades, these portraits ask us to look beyond the surface and beyond the labels and see the true nature of these people who are deeply in love. Endorsed by the presidents of both the Human Rights Campaign and Freedom to Marry and with a foreword by Edie Windsor herself, “First Comes Love” is a must-have for every LGBTQ coffee table and library.

AND

Speaking OUT: Queer Youth in Focus is a photographic essay that explores the spectrum of experiences told from the perspective of a diverse group of youth ages 14-24, identifying as queer (i.e. lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning). Portraits are presented without judgment or stereotype by eliminating environmental influence with a stark white backdrop. This backdrop acts as a blank canvas to be filled with each subject’s point of view, handwritten onto the final darkroom print. Because this project spans over ten years, we are able to see a shift in the themes discussed by the LGBTQ youth during the fight for equality.

Rachelle Lee Smith is an award winning, nationally, and
internationally shown and published photographer. Her ongoing photographic essay Speaking OUT: Queer Youth in Focus is a body of work that has been published in magazines
such as The Advocate, School Library Journal, Warszawski Festiwal
Fotografii Artystycznej, HRC’s Equality and showcased by World Pride, the Equality Forum, the Human Rights Campaign, National Public Radio, Public
Television and the U.S. Department of Education. This work was published this year by PM Press in the book Speaking Out: Queer Youth in Focus with a foreword and afterword by Candace Gingrich and Graeme Taylor.

Spectrum and Equality Louisiana are proud to present the 2015 Louisiana Queer Conference, the largest student-run LGBTQ conference in the South, with the support of Louisiana Trans Advocates, Capital City Alliance, Qroma, the LSU Office of Multicultural Affairs, and LSU Student Government!

All students and community members are welcome to join us on March 14 for workshops, caucus sessions, an update on the state of the LGBTQ movement in Louisiana, a fantastic keynote address, and a panel of queer student leaders from across the state.

Throughout the conference, we will reflect on this year’s theme, “Bold Not Broken: Queer Resilience in the South,” which centers the work of queer Southern activists that have lived, worked, and built lives here for decades in the face of a growing national narrative–that the South has been an “impossible” place to organize and is now the new frontier for LGBTQ activism.

Online registration is open now at http://www.laqueerconference.org/register.

The cost is free with your LSU ID, $5 with a non-LSU college ID, and $10 for all other attendees.

The Louisiana Queer Conference provides leadership development, networking opportunities, and social support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) college students and their allies in Louisiana. The conference provides an annual venue for individuals to discuss ideas and collaborate on projects, while building a statewide network to advance the LGBTQ movement.

The conference will be followed by Queer Prom.

Schedule of Events

Workshops

Session 1 (10:20 – 11:10)

Paul R. Baier – Same-Gender Marriage in the Courts
Joe Melcher – What PFLAG Can Do for You
Liam Lair – Making Spaces Sae and Affirming for Trans*/GNC Folks!
Sara Pic – Exploring and Preserving Our Disappearing Histories
Destiny Billiot – (A)sex Ed
Jacqueline Wilson – Addressing the Needs of LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care
Elizabeth Jenkins – Trans 101

Session 2 (1:30 – 2:20)

Dr. Elena Castro – Queering Academia: Legacies, Conversations, and Movements
Tucker Barry – Making the Grade: a Toolkit for LGBTQ Students to Create Change on Campus
Megan Gilliam – Meet Me at the Intersection
Clyde Jones Jr. – HIV 101
Brandon McWilliams – Running on Empty
Joshua Mesman – Queer Jesus
BreakOUT! – Get Yr Rights (Part 1)

Session 3 (2:30 – 3:20)

Eric Evans – HIV Criminalization and PrEP School Because You Can Never Be Too Safe!
Andrea Rubin – Legal Updates and Discussion
Dr. Donald Hoppe – Our Place at the Table: LGBTQ Spirituality
Courtney Murr – Breaking BInaries
Peter Jenkins – Campus Organizing Tactics
Montgomery Mewers – Campus Trans*formation
BreakOUT! – Get Yr Rights (Part 2)

Come Out For Life!
Join the Louisiana Equality Foundation at our 2015 Coming Out Party, April 10, 2015, and learn more about our “Together, We’re Holding On To Hope” Suicide Prevention campaign. We’ll present information about local suicide prevention resources and let you know how you can help save lives in the LGBT community. The Coming Out Party is a FREE event, open to the public from 7:00 – 9:00P.M. at The New Orleans Healing Center located at 2372 St. Claude Ave New Orleans, La 70117. Come Out For Life with the Louisiana Equality Foundation!
Please R.S.V.P. at this link – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/come-out-for-life-tickets-15770317444