The 2022 NYS LGBTQI Advocacy Day is your chance to connect with 300+ LGBTQI individuals and allies from around the state and collectively advocate for policies that will lead to a more equitable state for all LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, and Intersex) New Yorkers.
What We Are Fighting For:
This advocacy day will include panels, workshops, elected official visits, and coalition building. As we build on the historic wins that occurred over the last few months, we will strategically move our equality platform ahead and discuss strategies to continue to improve the lives of LGBTQI New Yorkers. This year we will prioritize the following legislation:
The Student Suicide Prevention Act
Sponsors: Hoylman/O'Donnell
Legislative/Bill Number: S82A/A7762
Enacts the student suicide prevention act, requiring local educational agencies to produce policies, procedures, and guidelines which direct teachers and other school employees on how to respond to students who have demonstrated suicidal thoughts or intentions. This includes specific inclusion of LGBTQ+ mental health funding and competency training.
Comprehensive Sex Ed In Schools
Sponsors: Brouk/Nolan
Legislative/Bill Number: S2484/A6616
Requires age appropriate, medically accurate, LGBTQ-inclusive sex ed in K-12 public and charter schools. It helps students understand sexual orientation and gender identity, destigmatizes discussions of sexuality and gender, and promotes respect, understanding, and inclusion.
Gender Identity Respect, Dignity, and Safety Act
Sponsors: Rozic/Salazar
Legislative/Bill Number: S6677/A7001B
This bill provides that TGNCNBI people who are incarcerated in New York State have a right to housing consistent with their gender identity, unless they choose otherwise. It also provides greater protections in relation to searches, medical care, and use of involuntary solitary confinement. Finally, it also includes provisions on training and reporting.
What to Expect:
Advocacy Day is an exciting time to meet LGBTQI activists from around the state to advocate for policies that will lead to a more equitable New York for all LGBTQI New Yorkers. This one-day advocacy day, along with its pre-programming, will include panels, workshops, elected official visits, and coalition building.
Language Access in English and Spanish
This year, we will be providing simultaneous interpretation in English/Spanish for all Advocacy Day panels, both those prior and those on the day.
Acceso lingüístico en inglés y español
Este año, ofreceremos interpretación simultánea en inglés/español para todos los paneles del Día de la Abogacía, tanto los previos como los del día.
Logistics:
This year’s advocacy day will be held in a hybrid format.
In-person participation will be based on first come, first serve. We have the capacity to accommodate 75 people in Albany, NY. However, all programming will be streamed virtually. Programming online will be done through zoom and links will be available prior to the day.
Agenda:
Participants will have access to a full day of programming. Whether you join in-person or online, both panels and elected officials will be available for everyone. Programming is produced in collaboration with a steering committee and 80+ organizational partners to ensure we are providing the most relevant content.
9:00AM-9:45AM
Breakfast
In-person participants will network and enjoy coffee/tea and bagels in the Legislative Office Building (LOB).
10:00AM-10:45AM
Opening Remarks & Special Guests
Moderator: Amanda Babine (She/Her) Equality New York
Join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85622819176
11:00AM-11:45AM
Investing in TGNC Wellness and Equity
"The Lorena Borjas Trans Wellness and Equity Fund uproots the unequal distribution of funding that's allocated for trans-specific, affirming, and competent services. Panelists will discuss the urgency for a multi-million dollar statewide investment in trans and gender expansive communities that will be utilized to provide tailored services, expand organizational capacities, and resource tangible initiatives geared towards empowering TGNC New Yorkers and improving their health and wellness outcomes.
Moderator: Elisa Crespo (she/her) & Shéár Avory (they/them)
Panelists: Kiara St. James, Kendry Martinez (she/her), Tabytha Gonzalez (she/her)
Join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81651279796
12:00PM-12:45PM
Elected Official Visits
Join a group of 5-8 other activists who will be assigned to an elected official. Each group will be tasked with sharing the policy priorities to elected officials and ask for their support/co-sponsorship of priorities. If in person, meetings will take place in Albany LOB and virtual will be scheduled over zoom.
Must Pre-Register (Deadline: Friday, April 23, 2021)
1:00PM-1:45PM
Lunch Break
In-person participants will network and enjoy lunch in the Legislative Office Building (LOB).
2:00PM-2:45PM
Press Conference
Join elected officials and activists on the Million Dollar Staircase in Albany to strategically move our equality platform ahead and continue to improve the lives of LGBTQI New Yorkers.
Moderator: Cathy Marino-Thomas
Special Guests:
Senator Brad Hoylman
Senator Julia Salazar
Assembly Member Jessica Gonzalez Rojas
Assembly Member Catalina Cruz
Join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89081473974
3:00PM-3:45PM
The Criminalization of Sexuality: From Banned Books to Prison Walls
This panel would explore the linkage from repressive/no sexual health education (banned books/banned teachings) to criminalization of people for gender expression and sexual acts (ie prostitution). The continuum of stigmatization and marginalization across these divergent - but connected - issues is central to understand the continued backlash queer and trans folks receive when there are cultural and legal shifts. Silencing, shaming, stigmatizing, and ultimately criminalizing people for who they are or what they do with their bodies is a continuum that must be examined and fought.
Moderator: Melissa Broudo (She/Her)
Panelists: Allie Bohm (She/Her), Jared Trujillo (he/Him), Grace Detrevarah (She/Her), Mohamed Q. Amin, Shani Wilson
Join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89286439581
4:00PM-4:45PM
Strength Across Generations: An Intergenerational Dialogue on LGBTQI Organizing
Deep-rooted solidarity between LGBTQI youth and elders is an often untapped resource in advocacy. Ageism impacts both young and old LGBTQI New Yorkers as they fight to challenge barriers to financial stability, bodily autonomy, access to LGBTQI-competent care, and more. However, there tend to be limited opportunities for collaboration between these demographics and intergenerational perspectives are often a missing component of legislative organizing. This panel would offer cross-generational ties between LGBTQI youth and elders in New York, dive deeper into the issues both demographics face, and discuss how breaking down barriers between ages can build our collective power.
Moderator: Don Kao (he/him)
Panelists: Shéár Avory (they/them), Gracie Scholler (she/they), Melissa Sklarz (she/her), Lujira Cooper (she/her)
Join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85349720794
5:00PM-5:30PM
Closing Remarks & Special Guests
Moderator: Amanda Babine (She/Her) Equality New York
Pre-Programming:
Pre-programming will allow participants to feel prepared for the day of advocacy day. It will focus on learning how to tell your story when meeting with elected officials. We will also host a happy hour for participants who will be joining us in person. See details below.
Thursday, April 22, 2022 at 6:00PM
Storytelling 101 & How to use Social Media for Action
Moderator: Christina Romeo (She/Her & They/Them)
GLSEN Upstate NY
Your lived experience is your expertise. In this one hour workshop, you will learn how to succinctly tell your story to legislators and share your story effectively using social media, as well as the basics of digital advocacy.
Monday, April 25, 2022 from 6:00PM-8:00PM
Pre-Advocacy Day Happy Hour
Waterworks Pub
76 Central Ave, Albany, NY 12206
Join elected officials and activists for an evening of networking and connecting before advocacy day. Mix and mingle with link minded people and make life long connections.
Sponsors:
Revolutionary Level
Advocate Level
Coalition Partners:
Association of Legal Aid Attorneys
Brooklyn Legal Services
Beyond Bold And Brave/Black Lesbian Conferences
Blur Communications
Brooklyn Community Pride Center
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center
CK LIFE (COMMUNITY KINSHIP LIFE)
Dutchess County Pride Center
Equality New York
Gays Against Guns
Gender Equality New York
GLSEN Upstate NY
GLSEN Hudson Valley
Hetrick-Martin Institute
Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center
Independent Democrats of Brooklyn
Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn
Latino Commission on AIDS
Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens
LGBTQ+ Caucus New York Capital Region
Make the Road NY
MORE caucus in the United Federation of Teachers (UFT)
New York Civil Liberties Union
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
NYSUT
Pride Center of Staten Island
Princess Janae Place
Queeramisu
Queerocracy
SAGE
Stonewall Democrats of NY
Stonewall Democratic Club of Western New York
Translatinx Network
The Ackerman Institute for the Family, Gender & Family Project
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
The LOFT
The NEW Pride Agenda
The Pride Center of the Capital Region
The Trevor Project
Trans Educator Network
VOCAL - NY
Principles that Guide our Work Together:
We acknowledge the LGBTQI communities of New York are diverse in many ways and there is no single agenda that can entirely represent all LGBTQI New Yorkers;
We aim to have a thoughtfully diverse, equitable and inclusionary coalition that works to implement mechanisms by which those who choose to be involved can gain access and inform our decisions and priorities;
Achieving full protections for our trans communities is a high priority in a state where most other legal protections are provided;
The challenges of the LGBTQI community are at the intersection of multiple identities: racism, classism, sexism, economic issues and many more are central to supporting LGBTQI people;
We support each others organizations and efforts, recognizing partnerships are valuable, as we work towards building a powerful voice for LGBTQI people and organizations throughout the state;
New York is a large state with different lived experiences in different areas of the state. An LGBTQI state coalition must represent all of these areas, being intentional not to over-represent the New York City region.