Updated Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 27, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—The Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference (MBLGTACC) will hold its 17th annual conference Feb. 13-15, 2009 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. http://www.mblgtacc.org
Bloomington, home of the world-renowned Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, was recently ranked by The Advocate as the nation’s No. 1 gay-friendly small town vacation destination. Indiana University was included in The Advocate’s top 20 list of schools for LGBT students nationwide.
MBLGTACC keynote speakers are ESPN columnist LZ Granderson, ISU Professor Kand McQueen, and The L Word Writer/Director/Producer Rose Troche.
LZ Granderson is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com, as well as a regular contributor for ESPN’s Sports Center, Outside the Lines and First Take. Perhaps the most visible openly gay sports journalist in the nation, Granderson broke the Sheryl Swoopes coming out story in 2005 and has been at the forefront of discussion surrounding gays in sports for much of his 13-year career, ruffling the feathers of liberals and conservatives alike with his matter-of-fact approach.
Kand McQueen holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University and currently teaches at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. McQueen’s research interests include assessing attitudes toward the atypically gendered and deconstructing the two gender paradigm.
Rose Troche is an award winning writer, director, producer of both film and television. Troche’s first feature, Go Fish was released to wide acclaim and has become a seminal film in the history of queer cinema. The Safety of Objects received stellar reviews and went on to open the San Sebastian International Film Festival, and win best feature and best actress (Patricia Clarkson) at the Deuville Film Festival. In 2004 Troche completed the pilot for Showtime’s The L Word and went on to direct, write and produce for the show’s six seasons. Troche also directed the pilot for the popular teen series, “South of Nowhere” and has gone on to direct several episodes. Most recently Troche completed an episode of the award winning series, Ugly Betty.
Featured conference entertainment will be provided by OUTmedia’s Queer Riot! featuring comedians Julie Goldman, Marga Gomez, Vidur Kapur, & Jason Stuart and dragapella beautyshop quartet The Kinsey Sicks.
Be prepared to belly laugh ’til it hurts, and celebrate our diverse community with some of the very top queer US comedy acts. Catch a riotous Latina, South Asian, and two Jews as they launch a major national tour, destined for international venues in late 2009! The show features an all-star diverse and absolutely no-holds-barred riotous cast. They’re a little bit comedy, a little bit rock and roll—they’re Queer Riot!
The Kinsey Sicks have incorporated award winning a cappella singing, sharp satire, and over-the-top drag for over a decade. The group has been profiled numerous times on national television, including on 20/20 and CBS Early Show with Bryant Gumbel, and were the subjects of a lengthy cover feature in the arts section of the New York Times. They have a couple of DVDs as well as six CDs: Dragapella, Boyz 2 Girlz, Sicks in the City, I Wanna Be a Republican, Oy Vey in a Manger: Christmas Carols and Other Jewish Music, and Sicks! Sicks! Sicks!.
MBLGTACC hosts workshops led by students, faculty, and professionals to educate and motivate students to action. Participants will attend five sessions from a list of over 90 workshops concerning topics such as safe sex, activism basics, creating change on your campus, and ally community building. Featured workshop presenters are Hiding in Hip Hop author Terrance Dean, GLAAD President Neil Giuliano, and filmmaker Beverly Seckinger.
Terrance Dean is an author, speaker, educator, and hip hop head. Dean has worked in the entertainment industry for over 10 years with companies such as B.E.T., Savoy Television, Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers Pictures, Buena Vista Television, Sony Pictures, and most recently MTV Networks. Dean’s memoir Hiding in Hip Hop: On The Down Low in the Entertainment Industry—from Music to Hollywood was released last year.
Neil Giuliano currently acts as president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Giuliano has appeared on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, ABC World News Tonight, Showbiz Tonight, and Access Hollywood, and has been quoted by the Associated Press, and in the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsweek, and USA Today, and numerous state and regional media outlets discussing LGBT images in the media and issues. Giuliano is considered among the nation’s most visible and effective leaders of the movement for LGBT equality. Prior to working with GLAAD, Giuliano served for ten years as the mayor of Tempe, Arizona and also had a 25-year career as a senior administrator at Arizona State University. Additionally, Giuliano served as lead organizer and co-chair for the final 2004 Presidential Debate held at ASU, which was viewed by over 57 million people nationwide and around the world.
Beverly Seckinger is an independent producer based in Tucson, Arizona. Seckinger, Professor and Interim Director of the School of Media Arts at the University of Arizona, teaches courses in media production, documentary studies, and LGBT Studies. Seckinger’s work has been screened at international festivals in the US, Europe, Canada, Australia and Latin America. Some of Seckinger’s titles include Mommie Queerest, Laramie Inside Out, and Bottoms Up.
Additional MBLGTACC events and activities include: dance party with local band The Ladyquakes!, live DJ, & drag performances, Queer Shabbat, tours of The Kinsey Institute and IU Art Museum, Lilly Library exhibit on Gay and Lesbian literature, Wandering Turtle Art Gallery GLBT exhibit and reception, screenings of Kinsey and No Dumb Questions, and productions of The Vagina Monologues and Stop Kiss. Meet featured presenters Dean, Giuliano, & Seckinger, network with schools and organizations, purchase treats and queer comics, and much, much more at the resource fair.
Complete conference registration is $60 for all and can be completed online until FRIDAY, FEB. 6. Onsite registration will be available for $75. Tickets for entertainment and keynote speakers only can be purchased at Ticketmaster and the IU Box Office starting Friday Jan. 30. $35 for Fri.-Sun. pass, $25 for Fri.-Sat. pass, and $15 for Sun. only pass.
This conference will be wheelchair accessible and will have ASL interpreters at main events.
Learn more about the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference at http://www.mblgtacc.org. Contact: Solomon Hursey or Julia Napolitano, MBLGTACC Executive Co-Chairs, at mblgta09@indiana.edu or call 812-855-4252.
Print off posters here: http://www.indiana.edu/~mblgta09/images/mblgtacc_miniposter_bw.pdf