LGBT Blogger Summit - Initial Reflections

This past weekend I attended the LGBT Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative in Washington, D.C., and the only way to describe the experience is that it was AMAZING!! We had approximately 83 attendees and/or presenters and in addition to being very informative and educational, the event provided an amazing opportunity to meet other bloggers in person, build connections and friendships and hopefully set the stage for increased collaboration to move forward the struggle for full LGBT equality under the law. A partial blog roll can be found here and Pam Spaulding has several posts on the event at Pam's House Blend which give an overview of the sessions, and posts can also be found at Gay Agenda, Joe My God (which includes a photo of yours truly with the boyfriend and Adele, a blogger from Richmond), Andres Duque, and Father Tony (of Billerico Project).

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Another unexpected surprise was that we were able to attend a special showing of the move "Milk" which was followed by remarks by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and a panel question and answer discussion which included Milk contemporary Clive Jones, screen writer Dustin Lance Black, and producer Bruce Cohen. The movie is very moving and for those who are too young to remember the time period it will bring to life an era that has parallels to what is happening currently with the Christianist/Mormon jihad against equality for LGBT citizens.

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I will be posting further reflections and why I believe the summit - and hopefully future summits - was important over the next few days . The energy and intellect assembled in the group was truly amazing. I am most grateful to Mike Rogers for organizing the event and Jonathan Lewis, Microsoft, Bolthouse Farms, and others who helped make the event possible.