The International LGBT Leadership Conference kicks off in Long Beach today through December 2, bringing together openly LGBT elected and appointed officials—as well as their allies—in order to, well, develop leadership skills.
Though one can smirk at the redundancy of its title and purpose (no hiding there) and one can even more easily raise an eyebrow that the umbrella term of “leader” is only applying to elected and appointed officials (where is Beth Ditto when you need her to discuss at this forum the term “boner dyke” as a form of leadership?), the conference’s purpose is easily explained given its sponsorship by the Victory Institute, whose specific purpose is to increase the number of LGBT people in public office.
And I am not being snarky—the jokes about Grindr usage in combination with hotel room numbers write themselves.
After all, I myself happily plan on attending the conference because, when it comes down to whether one questions the role of politicians, whether one finds conferences to be gatherings of power to do nothing more than pat themselves banally on the back, one cannot question the fact that having LGBT people in office is key to our growth in civil and social rights.
This past election brought forth the most historic night in political history for our community. Passages in marriage equality in Maine and Maryland were done so through voters alone (instead of through judicial or legislative processes), while Minnesota rejected a proposal to define marriage in terms of heterosexuality alone.
Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin’s win in the Senate is one truly for the history books: she is not only the state’s first female senator, but the first openly gay person in the Senate—ever.
And you have a chance to face her with a question, since she’ll be speaking and engaging with attendees at the conference tomorrow.
For beyond the one-too-many, sometimes shameless, sometimes banal campaign and/or rhetorical workshops (“Telling Your Story Using Mail and Paid Media” is my particular favorite), there is a far more larger purpose than to hone one’s political bravado: you can engage with LGBT elected leaders in a way that oftentimes one can’t. Think of your behavior when you represent your job in front of a group of those who don’t necessarily identify with you—think a San Franciscan going to Texas to talk about the importance of tofu—versus your behavior when you are surrounded by people with the same energy, ideas, and hopes—think nothing short of a gay bar gone D.C.
This opportunity is here in Long Beach, in a fashion that would otherwise be definitively difficult to access. As a signifier that our city is not only representative and supportive of the LGBT community, but that outsiders view us as a place to congregate, one should eschew pessimistic views about change and ultimately participate.
In fact, the more pessimistic or downright critical you are, the more I encourage you to go—for that’s who these leaders need to face in the first place. Of course, it comes with a price tag–which leads me to point out, Mr. and Mrs. and Gender-Non-Conforming Victory Institute, perhaps think about not having a $350 ticket fee? I assure you, RuPaul would sashay-away the fact that those with little monetary resources are being excluded from conversing with their leaders. Community access ticket next time? Shantay-you-stay.
For tickets and more information, click here.