Calendar

A night of carnival featuring stunning performances, prize give-a-aways and more!

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.

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)

Red Stick Roller Derby is back in action!
Join us on March 28th as we kick off our 7th season in Baton Rouge. The All Stars will face off against the Tragic City Rollers and the Capital Defenders will battle it out with the Cenla Derby Dames.

When:
Doors open at 5:00 PM. The All Stars bout begins at 6:00 PM. The Capital Defenders bout will immediately follow.

Where:
Leo’s Rollerland LLC, 1717 N. Airway Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70815

Tickets:
$12 General Admission, $10 with a valid student ID. Kids 11 years of age and under get in FREE with a general admission ticket holder (limit one child per ticket holder).
Tickets can be purchased at the door or online through Brown Paper Tickets.

Charity: TBA

Afterparty: Spanish Moon, 1109 Highland Rd, Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Don’t forget to join us after the bout at our after party! Be sure to stop in and buy a drink for your favorite derby girl, zebra, or volunteer!

Where we take women, put them in drag, and they compete to become Miss Dragzilla 2015.

Categories include Talent, Question & Answer, & Evening Gown

Join Capital City Alliance, Equality Louisiana and Louisiana Trans Advocates for the Fourth Annual Louisiana Equality March on Saturday, June 13 at 6 p.m.!

We will march from Baton Rouge Pride Fest at the River Center to our state Capitol for a rally on the steps.

RSVP on Facebook

While building community, changing hearts and minds daily, and working closely with our allies is vital, it is not enough to win fully legal and lived equality in our state. Bringing together a large and diverse community to call for swift and sweeping political change is critical.

With a monumental victory in our fight for the freedom to marry right around the corner, now more than ever, we must chart a path forward for securing all of the remaining rights and freedoms we deserve. A march to our State Capitol is an effective way to do just that. Not to mention, it is important to be surrounded by others shoulder to shoulder in solidarity so that you don’t feel alone in this struggle. We are many and we are in this together.

Your business or nonprofit organization can sign on as a benefactor or cosponsor of the march here. Or checks can be made payable to Equality Louisiana and mailed to 650 N. 6th Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802.

We encourage all Benefactors to bring any signs, banners or promotional materials, as well as, wear any company/organization attire.

Join Capital City Alliance on Sunday, April 17th for its first ever Big Gay Movie Night! Splash Nightclub will open their doors (and bar) at 6pm and the movie will start at 7pm. CCA will have snacks available for purchase. Chairs will be provided.

Our featured movie will be To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar! To Wong Foo features Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo as three drag queens that travel cross-country until their car breaks down, leaving them stranded in a small town.

Admission is FREE (but CCA will be accepting donations at the door)!