In no more than a very short period of time, like about maybe three minutes tops, two or three minutes, can you each tell me how would you answer the question that is inherent in the title of this event? What is the state of the LGBTQ movement? What would you focus on? What would you highlight? What is the state of it? And I'll just start immediately to my left with Katie. Thanks, Roger. Nice to see everybody here. I'm a native San Franciscan, so I'm always happy to do events here and come back home. With outright action international being focused on global LGBTQ human rights, I'll be answering most of my questions with that lens, of course, and I guess the three words that come to mind for me about the last year are burgeoning, backlash, and balance, or shall I say lack of balance. Let me give you a couple of examples to explain what I mean by that. In terms of burgeoning, we see unprecedented growth and really thriving of new organizations, emerging organizations, and activists all over the world, and we see a lot of progress on a number of fronts, things like, even though there are still 68 countries where being LGBTIQ is criminalized, we saw three or four countries decriminalize being LGBTIQ during this past year. We also saw three new countries approve marriage equality over the past year. We saw the World Health Organization depathologize being transgender and remove being transgender and remove being transgender from their international classification of disease for the first time, and we also saw pride celebrations growing bigger and bigger in places like Ukraine and many other places all over the world, so that's the burgeoning. Unfortunately, we also have the backlash, which of course we're facing here, and here are some of the ways that looks around the world. Despite the fact that three new countries decriminalized being LGBTIQ, unfortunately Kenya, whose High Court was considering a decriminalization case, declined to decriminalize being LGBTIQ. There are only four countries in the world that ban conversion therapy, something we're doing a major campaign to try to address. We've seen a reintroduction of the idea of a kill the gays law in Uganda, which some of you may have heard about in the past couple of months, and a number of roundups in Uganda arresting more than 100 activists. We see places like Indonesia and Egypt that have pending legislation to criminalize same sex relations, and we see we've lost activists, we've lost important leaders and activists in Russia, in Haiti, and in other places. Balance, what I wanted to say there is that in a report that Outright did last year, we found that there are 30 countries in the world out of 183 where we cannot find any LGBTIQ organizations. Any activity that's happening is completely underground, whereas of course in other places there's a very vibrant sector in our movement. So we need to address that imbalance, the urgency that people feel and face in places where they're facing extreme persecution, discrimination, violence. I don't think it's something that can, is sustainable. So I see more burgeoning and more backlash coming ahead. Thank you, Chris. Good evening. So I think this is maybe my third time on this panel or something like that. So I will say that that feels kind of unique in that I feel like we're in an ongoing conversation, even though it's been a year. So I'll just start with that. Though some of what I'm about to say, I believe I probably have said the last couple of years, because they are just sadly still true and still the reality. And so, I mean, I'll just purpose by saying we're in this moment and have been in for some time, where trans people, we are more visible in popular culture than ever before. However, we also know that the majority of trans people in this country are still facing intense discrimination, harassment and violence, particularly black and brown trans folks, particularly black and brown trans women. With four times the poverty rate, we did a study in the South that showed that nearly 60% of trans women have faced violence by strangers. To date this year, there have been 24 murders of transgender people in this country, of which all but two are black trans women. So this is all the reality and has been for some time. And then we have been under the Trump administration for the last couple of years, and what we have experienced is a strategic ongoing and relentless attempt to roll back the few rights and protections that our communities have to decrease and deny services, and ultimately to eliminate the very existence and deny our humanity. And I'm going to get later into some of the more specifics of the types of federal and state policies that have happened and that we anticipate, but just wanted to start with that frame of this moment of intense attack that our communities are facing along with so many other communities in this country, from migrants to communities of color, to Muslims, to people with disabilities, to women. This is just a moment in which so many vulnerable communities are under immense attack. And for the trans community, it's happening in a climate and context and history in which our movements have been historically and to date incredibly under resourced, right? So the statistic is 0.03%, 0.03, right? So we're not even talking like 1% of foundation funding goes to trans led organizations. That said, though, when I think about the state of the movement and I think about trans and denunciformi folks, I believe that the trans movement, that we are actually stronger and more organized and coordinated than we have ever been before. With hundreds of trans organizations all across the country, many of them led by black and brown trans women, leading beautiful, brilliant, and inspiring strategies and work that even in this moment of attack, in fact, in the face of escalating attack on our lives and our communities, that the trans movement is stronger and more organized than ever before. And I'm not only supposed to keep this a two to three minutes, I'm just going to give two examples of that. So one is right here in the Bay Area, right? We have incredible, powerful, trans led, black trans women led organizations, many who are moving work nationally as well as here in the Bay Area, from the Transgender Intersex Justice Project, working particularly with black trans women, many who are formerly incarcerated, Ella, Charity Latina out of the mission, API Quality More than California, that's leading incredible API trans led work to the Compton's Cultural District, to St. James Infirmary. Like here in the Bay Area, they're incredibly strong trans led organizations, many led by black trans women. And then I'll just close by saying that what we've also seen is that trans leaders and trans organizations are organizing nationally and coordinating and coming together and generating strategy and vision in a way that we just haven't seen in the past. And so some of that work is that the Transgender Law Center, we've been working with about 25 to 30 trans leaders from all across the country, the majority of whom are trans women of color. We've been working together for over a year at this point to vision what it looks like if we were to create our own agenda, right? What it looks like if we were to create our own vision for the world and the movement that we want to see with the concrete solutions that are needed for our communities to thrive. So in early 2020, you're getting a little preview. We will be publicly rolling out a national trans agenda that has concrete policy solutions, community-based strategies, and analysis that is led by and grounded in trans communities. And we'll be able to get back to some of that as well. So, Casey? Yeah, well, so thanks Roger and the whole Horizons team for the opportunity to be here. It's a real honor and to you all for coming out in the rain, although I guess that's normal for San Francisco, so maybe it's not a big deal. So, you know, I would say, I mean, look, we're under siege. We've heard this twice now already, and in the 20 years that I've been doing this work, I mean, we've definitely had ups and downs. We have worked under some hard administrations, but this is really, really intense what we're going through right now. And, you know, part of this moment that we're in, I think, is that we've, as a community, on a number of policy issues have made a lot of really incredible gains that I think many people thought they wouldn't see in their lifetimes. And the familiarity work that we've done with our country around who we are as LGBTQ people, and particularly for the transgender community, has not kept pace with the policy gains we've made. And so the backlash is particularly intense. And I mean, people who would otherwise be predisposed to support us are really vulnerable to a lot of the tactics that our opposition is using to try to roll back support for us, and I'll talk a little bit more about that later. All of that said, I, you know, maybe I'll be like the Pollyannish optimistic person tonight, I don't know, but I think there's a lot of cause for optimism in this moment, you know, for a couple of reasons. One, because part of what we're suffering from right now in, you know, states across the country, and obviously under the federal administration, is that the hard core opposition to our community are in power right now. And so they are running the ball forward as fast and as furious as they can. I think in part because they know that their time is running out. This isn't like 20 or 30 years ago when the majority of the country was with them. The majority of the country is not with them. The majority of the country is with us, but is vulnerable to some of the kinds of attacks that our opponents are cleverly using to try to roll back support. Also, I think there's cause for optimism because, you know, the reality is even though it's hard to see because it's hard to keep up with in this news environment and it's hard to feel like it's on the scale that we need given the attacks that we're under, we are really winning in a lot of contexts. It doesn't always break through, but we are. We're winning in the courts. We're winning at the ballot box. We're winning in state legislatures, even in defensive fights where we're successful in stopping bad things. That is a win in this climate. And a lot of times those wins are pretty significant because of the kinds of people that we've been able to get to come forward to stop those attacks against us. Unusual allies for our community, like the business community, conservatives, etc., which I'll talk a little bit more later. So I will just conclude by saying that, you know, we're heading into what is in my mind in 2020 a really pivotal year for us as a community. So we have been working for at least 50 years since Stonewall to try to pass nationwide non-discrimination protections. And that's I will talk a lot through that lens tonight because that's what I work on. But I think in some ways the fight for these protections isn't just about the policy. It's pretty symbolic too. It's a pretty basic fight for dignity and respect. And next year, the Supreme Court, Roger mentioned this, the Supreme Court will have the opportunity to weigh in on three non-discrimination cases.  And they'll have the opportunity to say whether or not it's legal under federal law to fire LGBTQ people just because of who we are. And I think in that moment where we know that a lot of Americans don't support that, we know that a lot of Americans though also think we're already protected and aren't so sure that discrimination actually happens, that case, Win or Lose, is going to really call this question for our country. And it's going to be very nationalized. It will be in the media everywhere. And we'll actually have a real opportunity to have a national dialogue as a country about where people stand on LGBTQ people and what they're willing to do to help advance this cause with us. And, you know, there's a number of things that I can talk about tonight that we're doing to get ready for that. But I think one of the points that I want to get across in the opening is, you know, we went through a big ballot fight in Massachusetts last year. It was the first statewide vote on transgender rights in our country's history. It was specifically on the most controversial aspects of non-discrimination protections for transgender people. We won that vote by 68 to 32%. And I know it's Massachusetts and everybody thought it was very easy. It was not. But I share that as part of this conversation, mostly to say, we weren't so sure that people would show up for that fight. And they did. And they showed up vigorously. We had people who had never participated in election before in their lives get off the couch. And Canvas on this issue in 2018, when there were lots of other things to fight for as well. And that to me is a sign that as this issue becomes more live next year, and it really gets on people's radars, and people have to take a stand. I think that we will see at least symbolically a shift and a willingness to really push back against these marginal interests that just happen to be in power right now and really pushing back on us. So I feel like there is is cause for optimism in this moment, despite how chaotic things are. No clapping for me. I'll do better next time. So my name is Vicki Galbeca. I'm just I'm guessing that a lot of people maybe aren't as familiar with the Southern Border Communities Coalition, because we sort of view our lens in the world is really about border communities. So just a real quick background about who we are. We're actually a coalition of about of networks. I guess we're a network of networks from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas, were more than 60 organizations. We came together in 2011 and actually myself and my colleague, now my boss, Andrea Guerrero founded this coalition when we were both working at the ACLU. I was an ACLU of New Mexico, and she was in the ACLU of San Diego. And you know, the rebels that we were, we decided that we were going to found this coalition because we're tired of the border communities being thrown under the bus. And we really brought all of these organizations together to focus on, you know, fair and accountable border enforcement policies, ensuring that people who live in border communities are treated with dignity and people who travel through border communities are treated with dignity. And also we wanted to preserve human life at the border.  And none of those agents have been held accountable to this state. So when we talk about state of the movement, and you live in a border community, it's really hard to be optimistic about what's happening. Now, we have seen for the last two and a half decades, this, and even longer, but particularly in the last two and a half decades, we've seen this increased militarization of our borders and the erosion of our civil and human rights as a consequence of this militarization. But in the last, what was it, three years, it seems like these problems have become exponentially worse under this administration. And we see it on both sides of the border. We see individuals being held in inhumane conditions of confinement. We see families and children being held in horrific conditions that you would think are wouldn't do not represent the values of this country. We see miles and miles of border wall that have been built by the way for a long time, but now they're just getting taller and worse. And they have concertina wire and that we've seen active duty troops. We see National Guard. We see roving patrols and interior checkpoints that are far from the actual border of 200 air miles in that pull people over. And we all know that racial profiling happens at those border patrol checkpoints. We also have seen just in the last year we're going to have six child deaths because of the the failure to provide adequate and timely medical attention to children who were experiencing flu or something like that. And including Jacqueline Cal, who the anniversary of her death is coming up, and Felipe Alonso Gomez, who also died on the day after Christmas last year, and we're preparing some actions around that. So what we've seen is really a dehumanization and criminalization of migration, much in the same way our LGBT communities have been criminalized and dehumanized for for decades in this country. We've also seen in Mexico this this backlogging of people who are coming here to seek asylum and traditional groups who are eligible for asylum like LGBT communities who can and should be able to apply for asylum while they're waiting in the United States are being returned to Mexico where they're being exposed to violence and very few of the kind of community support that we have in the United States for the LGBT community. We see individuals held in in long term detention facilities. I mean really it's just a it really is a nightmare that we're experiencing along the border and it's very intersectional that we're seeing. It affects not just immigrants, but border residents, the LGBT community. And it's getting to the point where we're just like wondering, you know, in my mind, I kind of think that what's happening in the Oval House, I don't know if this is actually happening in the White House Oval Room, but I see them kind of kind of going like this, going like, okay, let's do this. Oh, all right, let's let's do an asylum ban. Well, let's do a, we're not going to let people apply for asylum unless they apply for asylum for in the first country they travel through. And it doesn't matter if that country is like known for violence or crime or whatever, right? So we're just seeing like this hyper militarization, but also a hyper cruelty in our border region. Okay, I've said all of that. But at the end of all, I actually am optimistic that we could turn this around. There's a saying in Spanish that says, no, I might get por bien no venga. And it's kind of like saying, you know, there's also another saying. But the first one is that there's no good from which, there's no evil from which good can't come from. And the second saying is, you know, no plesca y remassegada piso, which is you can't fall further than the ground. But the trick is, where is that ground, right? Because every day they seem to define it even lower and lower. So our optimism actually is in finding that alternative vision and I'll talk a little bit more about that later on but I just wanted to give a quick nutshell of what our work is in the Board of Communities. So thank you thank you all for for those those insights and and both the this is really where we're at and this is how low the floor is and how much I may be sinking as well as some of the the notes of optimism in the openings that are there as well. So I want to turn to each of you to pose a question and I'm going to ask with love in my heart for you to try to keep your responses to two three minutes because we really are committed to having conversation about a number of topics and also leaving ample time for Q&A and we just can't do that otherwise. So I want to actually start with with with you Vicki that we have seen at least I have seen and a lot of openness and welcome in the resistance around immigration and the work being done around immigration to LGBTQ folks and movements I think about the undocuqueer movement and a bunch of others and I'm wondering have you been seeing that the other way around how from if you if you put on you know kind of more than the the the immigrants rights hat are you seeing participation and activism by LGBTQ movement and organizations. So that's a really interesting question because I do think that there was a time when when you worked in the immigrant rights and so just as a background I actually started my activism in the LGBTQ rights movement I worked on the prop 102 and 107 in Arizona plus along and getting domestic partner benefits with university or state employees in Arizona but I think that one of the most interesting things that I felt when I started working in immigrant rights was a lot of them were groups of faith that I wasn't sure was open were open to the LGBT community but I found much to my surprise welcoming surprise that they were very welcoming to the LGBT community and they picked up that banner very readily so I've worked very closely with United We Dream, Undocuqueer, Undocu Black and they're all opening and creating space for the LGBT community. Where I've seen the LGBT community respond to the immigrant rights movement has been in the community response to a lot of the asylum seekers in the border region so as many of you may or may not know they release a lot of the asylum seekers ice and border patrol into the communities in Tucson and El Paso all along the border and a lot of groups have just come forward and created this very welcoming space for them to help them get home and a lot of the people who participate in that are the LGBT community but what I don't see is a real energy by the part of some of the core LGBTQ groups and actually supporting immigrant rights in the same way that I see vice versa and I don't understand why that is and I'd be curious to hear other people what they think about why that is. I don't know if it's a question of what's that, sorry I'm forgetting the word, the unconscious bias towards people of color or what's going on but I would certainly encourage more of that in the immigrant rights community. Thank you. Can I add to that? You can cut time from my question. Is that okay? I'm already cutting time from the opening but go ahead. Yeah, I mean I appreciate that and I did just want to add a slightly different perspective so for the transgender law center we've been moving work specifically around trans immigrants and trans migrants for probably five to six years at this point and I will say it was really has been a push for both the larger immigrant rights movement and the larger LGBT movement to raise up the conditions that trans immigrants in particular are facing and that we had made some progress I would say over the last five to six years in having particularly the conditions trans migrants face being much more visible. I will say that in this moment of attack what I feel like we're seeing is a little bit of a retraction of that. So I feel like we are continuing to struggle to raise up the conditions that trans migrants are facing within the broader immigrant rights movement and within the broader LGBT movement and that there's been incredible organizing that's been led specifically by trans migrants specifically by black LGBT migrants that has arisen over the last couple of years in the face of these attacks. Organizing has always been happening but in much more visible ways. So I just also want to speak into the room on this topic of the conditions of migrants Roxanna Hernandez who is a trans woman who died in ICE detention over a year ago, Joanna Medina who died this year while in ICE custody and Nibani Nureka who is a Cameroonian migrant who died also this year in ICE detention, right? So these are the types of conditions and realities that our communities are facing and I would say that by the broader movements it continues to be a struggle to raise up and center those issues and the leadership of some of the communities most impacted. Thank you. And actually I'm going to move right over to you Chris so we don't lose track of our time allocations. I'll keep it super short. And I'm going to ask you a ridiculously unfair question and just a brief time. But the nature of this is to ask ridiculous questions because they're all big questions. We all know something about the attacks and you spoke about them that are happening at the federal level and what's having to be done there. There are also things that are happening at state levels as well and I think we'll talk a little about this with Casey in a bit as well. Can you give folks a sense of the state of play so to speak at the state level and what kinds of things you are seeing that are coming up as either positive developments or threats? Yeah, absolutely. So I will answer that question but I am going to start by, I do just want and I know Casey spoke to this but I do really want to raise up the importance of the cases that are before the Supreme Court, right? That are really about, and I'm going to speak specifically to the trans case which is really about are trans people protected from discrimination and employment, right? But really it's about are trans people, like are we part of this society, right? And it's ultimately about overall attack on beyond trans folks, right? It's really about gender. It's really about all of our relation to gender and gender expression. So I just really want to like raise up the importance of those cases. Like I was there outside the Supreme Court as the case was being heard and you know there's rally press conference, it was super powerful and I did have this moment where I just took this second to say, oh, I realize the Supreme Court of the United States is basically deciding whether or not I am a person in this society, right? That is the tight level of attack that we are talking about. It's really about all of our humanity. So to the state level attacks. I mean we're going to see like more anti-trans legislation. We are going to see more religious refusal bills for sure. We're starting to see these newer attacks that are about transition trans healthcare for young people. Folks may have seen some of this that was happening in South Carolina. Like those are some of the things we're going to see at the state level which a lot of it we have already been seeing. One thing that I will say at the state level is that both the types of legislative attacks that we will continue to see and the federal attacks mean that at the state and local level that folks are experiencing a ongoing increase in violence and hostility and discrimination. Just cross the board, right? Regardless of if legislation passes, regardless of if things move or don't move at the federal level the overall climate of hate means that people in community are experiencing an increased level of violence, fear and harassment. And that that's part of what we need to hold when we're thinking about this overall context of both federal and state. Thank you. And while we're talking about states, I want to turn to you Casey and you alluded to what happened in Massachusetts and I know you had a significant role in that. Congratulations. That was an epic victory. And thinking about the states, some of the states always seem a little more movable on things and some are already, you know, they're solid blue and things are on at least a legal basis are relatively strong. And then there's states where it looks like it's a really, really long way to go. And to get there we would have to win over some folks who are not, say, our most natural allies. How is it that you and the freedom for all Americans and others look for the kind of allies that we would need to bring over if we're going to move the proverbial needle in some of those redder states? Yeah, I mean, it's this is a tough environment, right? So particularly in the nondiscrimination space, but obviously this impacts everything that we're working on in the states and at the federal level, here's the landscape that we're operating in. There are 30 states in this country where there is no statute. There is no express protection from discrimination for LGBTQ people and employment, housing, public places, et cetera. 30 of the 50 states. In those 30 states, they are either partially or completely controlled by conservatives. That is the state of play at the state level. There are, you know, there are these Supreme Court cases that are for the LGBTQ community, the most important cases that we've seen reach the court since the marriage equality cases in 2015. And that court is now clearly controlled by conservatives. And then we have a piece of federal legislation that has finally passed the U.S. House. It's a comprehensive bill. It's the most comprehensive piece of legislation we've ever passed at the federal level. It passed on a bipartisan basis in the House. But it is stuck in the Senate because the Senate is controlled by pretty right-wing conservatives. And of course, we have a conservative president. So, you know, we have parallel tracks that we need to pursue as a community. You know, there was a time not that long ago when our challenge with Democrats was as difficult as our current challenge with conservatives. And we sort of have to pursue parallel tracks right now where, of course, we want to work hard to ensure that our natural allies are in power. But we also can't give up on the work of building a larger circle of natural allies, right? Like, I think we can't let conservatives off the hook. And I think we also have to give them a chance. I've been on the ground in many of these fights. And when people get to know us personally, they do move, conservative or not. So, you know, here's a couple of things to think about, the good news in this area, right? So, if the question is, can we move conservatives? The answer is we already know that we can because we already are. And here are some examples. So, in New Hampshire in 2018, at the time it was Republican-controlled in the state legislature at a Republican governor, we moved.  We passed a comprehensive transgender non-discrimination law and it was signed by the governor. First time our community has ever passed a non-discrimination law in a Republican-controlled state. So, we know we can do it. And I know it's New Hampshire and I know we think that it's the Northeast. But New Hampshire's pretty out there if you've been there, right? I mean, these are like libertarian conservatives. They're tough to wrangle. You know, I mentioned before, but we won at the ballot in Massachusetts again on specifically just the question of whether or not transgender people should be able to access public spaces. This is the whole bathroom fight. We won that with 68% of the vote. The same time, six months before that, in April in Anchorage, Alaska, we won a very similar defensive ballot measure around transgender people. Anchorage is a much more conservative environment than Massachusetts. And we won there, too. And we won there before we won in Massachusetts. We have won defensive fights around bathroom bills and transgender people participating in sports. And I just want to say, like, I know we're talking a lot about transgender people, but make no mistake, this is about LGBTQ people. It's not about transgender people. The only reason they're coming after us is because we've done less education with Americans about who we are and so we're more vulnerable. But everything that they're talking about, bathroom bills, whether or not we should be able to participate in sports, it's all message tested. It's all designed to take that 80%, 70, 80% support that we have and erode it down to below 50%. And we know from our own testing that it's effective. It's designed to drive a wedge between transgender people, LGBTQ people, and women to drive a wedge between LGBTQ people and people of faith. So, like, I'm talking a lot about transgender people, but it's not about transgender people. It is about us. They are after us, all of us. So these defensive bills that we've been able to defeat, we've seen hundreds of these anti-transgender attacks, in particular, plus the religious exemptions bills that Chris was mentioning. Texas, you know, North Carolina, South Dakota, Indiana, Tennessee, you've seen these all in the news. We have beat those bills because we've been able to convince conservatives to kill them. We meet with conservatives. They meet actual living, breathing, transgender people, and they change their minds. So we can move them, even in these contexts. People who have been the champions of those bills in those contexts have been unseated in the last cycle. We continue to see that. We're seeing lots of LGBTQ people elected to office. And on Friday, and this has come out publicly in the news, and it will trickle out more in the next couple of days, on Friday, at the federal level, we will see a coalition of conservative, political, and religious groups introduce a piece of federal legislation to try to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination. Ivan read the bill. I don't know if it's a good bill, but what I do know is that is a really big historic deal for our community to have conservative evangelicals and conservative politicians come forward not only admit that we face discrimination, which they've not admitted before, acknowledge that we need protections, which they've never acknowledged before, but actually get in the fight and introduce their own piece of legislation to try to get that done. So we are making gains here. And while we continue the work of trying to put more natural allies in office, we're doing the work of building more natural allies. And I'll say one more thing, and I know my time is up. And I will just wrap by saying the way it's happening is not rocket science. It's the same thing that we've been doing all of our time on this earth as LGBTQ people, right? It's telling our stories. It's building a big tent of support, whether it's businesses, conservatives, unions, whoever it is.  We're doing the same thing. It's still the same coalition building that we've always been doing. So the answer to the question is not only can we build the support, but we are building the support. And even though this climate is very difficult and it's hard to work in a bipartisan manner in the environment that we're working on, I think it's not only how we'll advance these issues, but I actually think it's part of the way we're going to heal the country as well. Great. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I want to step back and talk about things on a global stage. It ties in a little bit to what we were just talking about with Casey, but on an international level. We see, as you described so well, steps forward, steps back, some really horrifying things that are happening in some places and exciting things in others. And a lot of those, I assume the outright and folks who are fighting for our rights at an international stage, have to find, among other things, unlikely allies. And I was wondering if you could talk about how that plays on an international level, and if there's maybe an instance or two that come to mind about where we've either been successful or where we've been foiled. Absolutely.  Well, people with ridiculously broad and impossible questions. So we will adjust, but I thank you for your continuing attention today. No problem. So yeah, we are working, of course, with the natural allies, folks that are traditional human rights organizations that are not just focused on LGBTIQ human rights, women's rights organizations, sexual health and reproductive health organizations, friendly governments, and grassroots activists all over the world. Where we find, and I should say that some of the activists that we work with really have helped lead the way in terms of finding new allies to work with. For example, a lot of the activists that we work with in island nations, specifically in the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands, they think of themselves as climate justice activists and LGBTIQ activists. They cannot separate those parts of their identity, and I definitely think that that's one area that we can learn from them and do better. Where we've found, kind of at a global level, some unexpected allies have been people of faith, faith communities, faith institutions, and lay people of faith, and I think that this is an area that we haven't done as great a job as we could and we need to do a better job. If we want to make the kind of, do the familiarity work that you were talking about, Casey, and talking about, it's about our humanity work that you were talking about, Chris, I think we need to really embrace that. And even though we know that religious institutions are often the ones who have ostracized us and are perpetrating and exporting transphobia and homophobia all over the world, so I'm not saying that we have to stand up and oppose that, but we need people of faith and leaders of faith to help us do that. The other place is the business sector, and again, this is, you know, you have to tread a little bit carefully here, but I think we have seen some of our business partners start to speak out and speak up in new ways beyond kind of the traditional corporate partnerships around visibility and events, trying to actually get more, they'll call us and ask for advice on how they can be a part of advocacy efforts that are on the ground around the world. There's a new coalition, the Partnership for Global LGBTQ Equality that outright is a part of with a number of multinational corporations that are not just thinking about diversity, equity, inclusion, but starting to think about how they can use their collective muscle for actual advocacy efforts to try to change, in some cases, laws on the ground. A couple of examples of just not unexpected allies, but unexpected progress. I already talked about the decriminalization that's happened over the past year. I don't think that the case that happened in India last fall where the Supreme Court unanimously struck down their anti-homosexuality law was definitely a bit of surprise at how far-reaching and unanimous that was. Angle of Botswana and Bhutan have also decriminalized homosexuality over the past year.  And in the Caribbean, even though most of the majority of the countries there still have buggery, sodomy laws on the books, we actually see an incredibly thriving LGBTIQ community. And particularly the trans community, a number of emerging trans organizations have become legally registered in the Caribbean. There are several countries that are pursuing decriminalization cases right now, pride marches in countries that have not had pride marches before. So the last example that I'll give is a personal one. It's a story of an activist partner of Outrights who is a very long time trans leader in the Southern Africa from Zimbabwe, Ricky Nathanson, who some of you have met before. She's also one of our board members. And she was, after many, many years of work, she was arrested for using a ladies restroom in Zimbabwe. She was arrested, she was harassed, abused. She filed a lawsuit against the government of Zimbabwe and she just found out about two weeks ago that she won her case. And it's a completely historic and landmark case for transgender rights in Zimbabwe. So these are places that you don't necessarily expect to see progress, but it is happening. It is moving forward and with, you know, the sustained efforts of all of us and all of you, we can keep that momentum moving forward. Thank you. Thank you. So we're pushed a little bit on the time front. And as I said, I'm committed to making sure that we have plenty of time for questions and answers. And so I have two questions that I want to pose to all of you and there won't be time for everyone to answer. And I'm going to ask people, and again, I know this is ridiculous given the questions I'm going to ask, but to 60 seconds. Because otherwise we're just not going to give folks who come here chances to ask questions and we're really committed to that. So the first question is, we all know that we're headed into the presidential election. And we know lots about some of the challenges, you know, all of the dust is going to be kicked up around this. It's going to be ugly, et cetera, et cetera. Are there any places where you might see particular opportunities for our communities and for allied movements that we care about? And I'd like to start with you, Vicki, if I could. Yeah, sure. Actually, we have been engaging with a number of the candidates. And I'm really excited to talk about this because, you know, this year we developed this new board of vision and I left some copies in the back. But that basically talks about a different way of looking at border and trying to shift away from that narrative of border security to talking about border governance. That includes, you know, public safety for all. That includes a welcoming system at the borders. And it includes, you know, the protection of human rights at the border. Now, this is based on human rights, international human rights law. And we have no doubt that this kind of border governance model can actually be implemented here. And we've been talking to a number of candidates about trying to shift that vision away from border security to this, to a border governance model that makes more sense and is more in line with our values. But the most interesting thing, too, is that we actually, a colleague of ours at the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California in San Diego actually did some polling of the voters in California and Arizona and in Texas and New Mexico. And even in Arizona and even in Texas, the majority of the voters oppose things like border wall funding and they actually support a more humanitarian, humane approach to receiving asylum seekers at our border. Even in Texas, I want to say that because a lot of people think that Texas isn't that way. So I think that that's kind of what we're focusing our energies on around elections. And I also have copies of this in the back. Thank you. We have time for one other person to offer something around that if you do. I can do it really quick, I promise, Roger. Two really quick points, really, really, really quick. I'm just doing my job. No, you're doing a great job. I'm particularly hard. So there are narrative opportunities, so there's obviously a very big federal election. But there are elections in 48 of the states as well. And so there are narrative opportunities in all of these elections where there's an opportunity to inject our issues and the issues we care about into the race in really sort of tactical and strategic ways that I won't get into. But I will just say generally speaking, the elections are an opportunity to try to get candidates or at least the media talking about either what candidates have said about us or what they haven't said about us. Either way, we can really leverage that. The second point is there are also organizing opportunities in all of these states to engage in these races even in C3 ways that aren't electoral specific where we can organize in these races and build assets so that come 2021 when states ripen into climates where we really can move things in a proactive way. We've built the assets that we need in order to be able to move them. And that is particularly important in a lot of the states where we need to move a lot of these issues because it's not just that the climates are conservative led and they're difficult, but a lot of these states, when you think about the South and the Midwest, I mean it's just a true thing for our community that a lot of them just have not gotten the same kind of resources that some of the coastal states get. And so the education, the asset building, all of those things just have not been done. And so leveraging that as an opportunity to build those assets is definitely something we're looking at. Thank you. I actually want to just go to the next question, but I'm going to give you the first shot at it. How about that? Okay, all right. So same rules and perhaps an even more ridiculous question, but I think one that is extremely important. And that is that racial equity is a pair of words that everybody in this room has heard and certainly been talked about a great deal in the LGBTQ movement and other progressive movements. And from your perspective, to what extent do you see the LGBTQ movement moving to take on a real framework around racial equity rather than a framework that says just counts noses in more of a diversity kind of a framework? Where do you see us at this point in time? Well, I'm going to segue by saying that I think that there's a huge opportunity, especially on a day when we lost a black woman candidate for president, to elect openly LGBTIQ people, women, people of color in this next election and to win state legislatures. So that's my segue into talking about it. Doesn't it work to talk about ways into racial equity perfectly? So, you know, our view, the way that we kind of approach racial equity on a global level, oftentimes discussion is built into the larger framework around decolonization, decolonization in general and decolonization of our movement. Because the truth is that many of the sodomy, buggery and criminalization laws that our communities are facing around the world were imposed by the colonial European powers. And now we have religious zealots who are exporting oftentimes from the global north and west religiously motivated homophobia and transphobia to other parts of the world. So, you know, this is a conversation on how we decolonize our movement, which has been seen as mostly western and white. And when we apply a racial justice lens to the global movement, we can see that the global north and global west organizations, which are majority white organizations in more majority white countries, receive the overwhelming amount of resources for LGBTIQ rights, in spite of the equally, if not greater need in global south and east countries, which are often communities of color. So there's a great need for funders, governments and organizations, frankly, like outright and other organizations in the global north and the global west to support prioritize solidarity with global south and east movements and activists, which means more funding for those groups and activists, stepping back and ceding power to them and letting them have their own agenda and priorities. For us, that looks like hiring people of color from countries and regions where we're trying to do programs for established leaders from the community and using the platform that we have in places like the UN not to present our own agenda, but to kick the door open for activists so that they can share their own experiences and demands. I see this starting to happen amongst the funders of this movement and the conversation certainly is happening amongst activists within the movement, but it needs to be accelerated and amplified, not just here, but all over the world. Thank you. Chris? Yeah, I have a couple ways to answer this and I'll try to do it in 60 seconds. So I think in terms of the broader LGBT movement, there's absolutely a lot more work that needs to be done and I can give a very concrete example. So this year was the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. There were celebrations all across the country and what TLC and Familiar Trans-Collaboration Movement and the Black LGBTQIA Migrant Project, which is a new organization in its national, totally looked them up to doing incredible work, one of the first of its kind. The message that we put out is Stonewall is now. Raising up that in this moment and has been true for decades, black and brown trans women are still being murdered, are still facing police violence, that trans migrants are facing horrible violence discrimination and harassment and being murdered in ICE detention. So while there was celebration, our message as black and brown communities was Stonewall is now. So I think that's just a really concrete example of the work that our movement still has to do. That said, there are incredible trans, LGBT people of color, led organizations all across the country that have existed forever. And I would say are stronger than ever before and leading incredibly powerful work. And I think that if our kind of broader movements can really center in and raise up the leadership of some of the communities who are most vulnerable in this, particularly in this moment of escalated attacks, that if we're talking about racial equity and moving the dial in our movement on racial equity, that that will go an incredibly long way. And that what is at stake, particularly in this moment, is literally like we are losing people and we will continue to lose people and what is at stake is how much we're able to lessen that. Thank you. Thank you very much. I now want to, as promised, open it up and we're going to have the allocated time that I had mentioned and then we're going to have just very, very brief closings here so we'll shave some time from that. So what I'd like to do is to take two or three questions as a batch and then give chance for a couple of folks to speak to them and then move to another batch. So questions, please. There's a roving microphone right there, I believe. I'm sorry? Two mics. Oh, two mics, not just two mics. Okay, I see one hand there, one hand down here. Yes, please. I'll ask a quick one. You won't ask for money, so I'll ask for money for you, which is to encourage people to donate to your organizations, but I'd also like to ask you to give us a recommendation from an organization that we might not know about that would benefit from the support of us at a small or large or dollar level. So where would you direct our money besides to you guys? Yeah. Thank you very much for that question. I know we're all eager to talk about that one. But I saw another question down here, please. Hi. Actually, it wasn't a question. It was a statement that while you folks talk about global and national and state things, I think if we hit the county level and the local level, we are having now the census 2020. It's terribly important that the LGBT community to partake of that. The county had a survey for elder citizens. Nobody talked about elder citizens, but elder citizens and they had something for LGBT families. We need more of that. And I think as the momentum builds in 2020, we have an opportunity because we need to say something. We need to get that census 2020 done because LGBT people are included in it. The other thing was that for terms of hope, for the first time I've ever seen in the East Bay and Alameda County, the various cities and county buildings had LGBT pride rainbow flags flying from the city halls. This was a watershed time. I have never seen that before. We need to be proud of that. We need to push for it at that level as you go on to your other things. Thank you. Thank you. I see a hand in the back as well, please. And then we'll turn to our panelists. It's just a quick comment. I really am appreciative of people who said that surprising allies are people of faith. And I say that as a person of faith and also as an out gay clergy person in the United Methodist Church. But I feel that the way it was presented is that people of faith in churches and religious groups are not part of the queer community. But in fact, there are queer LGBTQ people of faith. And in my denomination, we just elected an out lesbian bishop a few years back. So we're part of this community. It's also that we are people of faith. And so I hope that organizations that work around the border, I'm also an immigrant and a political asylume. So I have that intersection embodied. There are people of faith who are LGBTQ that you can work with. So when we tell our stories, we would want to be able to help you, our own community. So we're also struggling within our own religious communities for our own freedom within. Like Martin Luther King said that our freedom as oppressed is also tied to the freedom of our oppressor. And so we're working from within and at the same time wanting to partner with our queer siblings who are working generally.  That's the only way to live here. And they're not religious.  I said, no, we're already in church. And so thank you so much for that input insight from you. Thank you. So I mean, I know if there are things that that folks want to mention regarding the question about counties or the faith question, but also I want to zero back in on the original question that Alex asked about. Is there an organization that, in addition to each of your organizations, that you think people may not know about that? I know you mentioned several earlier on, Chris. But maybe Vicki starting with you. Yeah, sure. So we actually have been getting a lot of requests. So that prompted us to create a website on our website that lists all of the organizations that actually welcome. They're implementing welcoming centers all along the border. And all of these people are volunteers and could welcome any kind of donation. And I'm thinking of like Gasalitas in Tucson, which there's also Casa Baribosa, which is a transgender hospitality for asylum seekers who are of the trans community. They provide hospitality rooms for them and help them provide the company meant to them. There's all of these organizations along the border that do this. And that's a story that doesn't get out there, right? All these hundreds of people that volunteer their time and energy to help individuals who once released by Border Patrol and ICE and help them find their way home. Great. Thanks. Just going down the line. Yeah. I mean, just quickly, I'll just say, you know, I think Chris already hit on this point. But in general, I think trans organizations across the country are tremendously under resourced. And I would say in this moment, what's on my mind as a trans person, as some of the most kind of frontline and important work is the direct services work, right? We're all talking about policy and policy organizations are flashing, blingy, and resources come to us. It's not magic, but they come to us. But there are just a number of organizations that are really working on the front lines around just really ensuring that transgender people can, you know, access name change documents and, you know, social security name changes, ensuring that, you know, transgender people can receive training on, you know, vocational training in order to be able to get jobs. These are actually really like life and death issues for our community. You know, if you're not a transgender person, the significance of changing your gender identity documents probably is not accessible. I know this as someone who was not a transgender person for a long time in my life. But it is truly transformative. And as someone who does this work for a living, when I moved from Massachusetts to California, I cannot tell you how much hassle they gave me. I had a license with the correct name and the correct pronoun from Massachusetts. I cannot tell you what I went through in California to be able to get it changed into a California license. And I know what I'm doing. So I was like, I don't understand how people who don't do this for a living know how to do this. So the organizations that come to mind for me around those kinds of issues are the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, which is based out of New York. And I've been following TransCanWork, which I believe is based out of Los Angeles, right? Which is really sort of the nitty-gritty, like working with transgender people to help them get jobs, to get the training that they need to get jobs, get the resumes together, get out there, interview and get jobs. Just really basic services that transgender people really need to survive. Yeah, so there is an organization called the Trans Justice Funding Project. I would really recommend that folks go to their website and check it out, because basically Gabriel Foster, who's their executive director and some other folks with that organization, they have mapped out the trans organizations all across the country. So we're talking about like super small orgs who have like no budgets, no staff, to groups that are maybe a little bigger. Like they literally have mapped it out. Cross issues, like service groups, advocacy groups, like just go to their site, and there's tons of groups that could use support. And then also just to raise up some border groups as well. So there's also Casa Acreiris, which is one of the LGBT shelters that's housed LGBT folks at the border. And then there's a group called the Haitian Bridge Alliance that's specifically been providing support to black migrants at the border, including LGBT folks. And both of those organizations are able to receive U.S. donations. And the money goes a very, very long way at the border. Katie? Thank you for that question, especially on Giving Tuesday. I don't know if anyone heard about that. Just kidding. I would just invite you, if there's any particular country who might be interested or region of the world to come talk to me, because we have, you know, thousands of activists that we work with in every country in the world that we can recommend. The one that I just want to lift up is TransWave Jamaica, which is the first trans organization in Jamaica, and is an incredible organization doing work, not only in Jamaica, but really a leading organization in the Caribbean. And I just wanted to do a shout out, quickly say thank you for reframing the commentary around religion and people of faith. I appreciate that. And one thing that I was going to mention is that Outright has a UN Religion Fellows program, and part of the idea behind that is really to counter the religiously motivated transphobia and homophobia that we see happening around the world. One of the benefits of that program is bringing in people from around the world who identify as LGBTIQ and people of faith, whether they identify as Muslim or Christian, to walk into the UN system and to say, I am a Christian from Jamaica and a LGBTIQ person, and those things are not contradictory. They are all part of my identity. And so I really appreciate you reframing that and lifting that up again. Other questions? Yes, please, I see you down here, and then one more there. Actually, I'm going to take all four of those, and I'm going to ask you please to try to keep them really concise because we are running short on time. So please go ahead. It's actually two, but I'll make them quick. Thank you. One, all of you, which candidate do you think might be most supportive? And two, I'm sure some of you have heard something about, it's been bothering me for weeks now. There's a separation going on, at least in the public social media, of trans communities and trans victims of violence and trans youth leaders, et cetera, separating from the LGBTIQ movement. And I just saw on Twitter today, somebody I've been following said, I forget who said, there is no LGB without the TIQ. And so it's an argument that's going on with some separation amongst the activists and the youth that we're only lifting up the trans, and we only should lift up the trans because they've been left behind or only trans people of color or some kind of little competition there for limited funds and limited power, if you could address that. Thank you.  So there, there, and then there, but only if you promise to be really quick. And I apologize again. Yes, go ahead. I've never heard of three of your organizations before tonight. I want to know what are we going to do to try to get the word out about the great resources we have around the country? I've created a resource here for the city. We have another one in Los Angeles, but what are we going to do to get the word out about all the great transgender organizations, all the great resources we have for refugees and so forth? Is there somebody trying to create that sort of resource? Okay, great. Thank you. I think in the white there, I think you had a question. Yes, I'm sorry. Okay. And then there's a woman in the white. Okay. I'll be really quick. Thank you. There's a woman to that side. Katie. Yeah. You mentioned that you are making alliances with the business part of the world. And my question for you is what, if anything, are these businesses asking for in return which businesses are apt to do? Okay. And lastly, please. Thank you. There's been a tension in the past between advocacy organizations and grassroots movements. And in the last, in this administration, we've seen a huge increase in grassroots activism around elections, the women's marches, all kinds of electoral activity. And I'm wondering what's the state of the gay and lesbian LGBTQI but grassroots movements? Can we see us coalescing and coming together because we did it around marriage and even God help us, don't ask, don't tell. But now some of the perceived stuff like climate and the government complete bankruptcy morally are not so clearly identified as our issues. Okay. Great. Okay. So I'm going to take each of these and ask one person to volunteer to respond to it. Okay. So the first question with respect, and pardon me if I don't get this right, but around some folks advocating largely for transgender folks or some part of the community to separate, I think was the word that you used. So does anybody here have any? I'm... I'll just say quick, I mean, I'm not aware of that. I mean, I'm not aware of specifically what you're seeing, although I think there's always this ongoing conversation in our community about how it all fits together. So I can't speak to what that's about, but I will say this, which is that is an opposition tactic. And we do know that our opposition is working actively to divide our community right now. They are trying to gin up trans versus LGBTQ discussion. They're using women knowingly and unknowingly for some of the women who are speaking out in this way to sort of divide and fracture the community. And I think there is much like a lot of what we need to be doing in this moment where it is the divide and conquer is the central tactic of this federal administration. We just can't fall for it. We just can't fall for it. We just... There is just no way we can survive in this moment if we let them fracture us like that. Yeah. The question about is there a way of getting the word out and all that, I will just say that to my knowledge, there is no such thing at least on a national basis, unless anybody... Which is unfortunate, but it's the case. Unless anybody has anything additional that I don't know about to respond to that, I just want to move on to the next, not to ignore it, but just... I think the answer is unfortunately there's not. I will just say that in addition to contacting outright if you're interested in a particular country, the best resource that I know of for finding who's doing what around the world is an organization called ILGA, ILGA, and it's basically a membership association for like every, you know, any kind of remotely established LGBTIQ organization in the world. That's where I often go. Okay. And a question about what are businesses asking for in return? And I think that was actually posed to you, Katie, so I'm going to turn that one to you. Yes. You mean it's not all just altruistic? Darn. I mean, the visibility piece certainly hasn't changed and we have to look at... I mean, Roger knows we as a board and as an organization have very clear values about, you know, who we are willing to partner with because we don't want to be just an excuse for a company to pinkwash their treatment of our community or frankly on any, you know, other communities that are part of our community and important to us. But recently we've been seeing also requests for other things like, you know, for example, training. We have a lot of companies that have asked us to come and do internal trainings, presentations to their employee resource groups or trainings to within their diversity, equity, inclusion departments and efforts. Also, I think I mentioned this just in passing, but there are a number of companies that have approached us asking for advice. Like, for example, when, for example, if a boycott is called for in Brunei or Jamaica or, you know, from time to time you see calls for boycotts. We have a lot of companies that want... They don't know how to respond. They don't know who to call. They don't know what's happening on the ground. They really want to understand so that they can do the right thing. So it's not just visibility. I think that's a big part of it, but there's also some new things that we've heard. Great. Thank you. So I want to just make sure that we have somebody to be able to offer something with respect to the question that came up around the grassroots kind of, what's going on with the grassroots? We have heard a number of things. A lot of things, Vicki, that you shared and Chris and others. But I don't know if somebody wants to volunteer to just offer a... Sure. Well, I mean, I think this speaks a lot to what Casey was saying earlier on about, you know, not allowing... So in order for grassroots to truly be effective under this administration, it really is about showing up. And it's showing up not just for the issue that you care the most about, but it's about showing up for all the issues because that's exactly what the tactic is. Divide, attack people to fragment them. But if we were to stand up and show up when any one of our brothers and sisters are being attacked, then that creates a stronger front. It creates unity. So I would encourage that to have more grassroots, more unity, to show up on all causes to the best of your ability. I know there are a lot, but I think whenever you can, that is really crucial, particularly in this moment in time. I do actually think that we're headed for a crazy dictatorship, kind of like the one I grew up in in Latin America, right? The ones that we witnessed before we came to this country. It's all of a sudden like the United States is becoming one, right? And I think it's time that we need to say, this can't happen here. This doesn't fit our values, even though we know that historically we have done terrible things to different groups. That's not what our aspirational values are. So we need to stand in unity. And then lastly, I do want to say something about the corporate stuff. I do believe that there's a crisis that we've lost our moral compass in this country. And I hate to sound like a socialist, but honestly, it's because of our economic business model that we have in this country, where we can only create jobs through a law enforcement only model, where we're all we're doing is imprisoning people of color, where we're arresting people of color. That has become a business model for this country, building a border wall. Think of all the corporations that are benefiting from that alone. So we need to shift that business model towards something that we really want, like renewable resources. And so when we talk to corporations, my challenge to them is come up with something better, something more creative that will create the jobs for this economy that doesn't fall into the trap of where the only place we can make money is by building these oppressive systems, not just in the border, but throughout this country. So I want to actually pick up to kind of bring us back home, we've been down for hours. There's more than enough to talk about. But I want to ask, as you brought up the specter of creeping dictatorship, that I actually would like to turn that around a little bit and just ask each of you, and I really mean like 60 seconds. I'm going to touch the table like that, okay, with apologies. But what is one thing about our movement that you are hopeful about today that a year ago you would not have been hopeful about? This is really specific. It's okay. I mentioned in my opening that there are only four countries that ban conversion therapy globally. And there are 18 states, California being the first, that ban conversion therapy here in the US. You may have heard this week the news that Utah is likely to become the 19th state actually do in part to support from the Mormon church. Kind of amazing to say that. But, and of course the work of our community on the ground organizing primarily. But the point I'm making is I think the issue of conversion therapy is one where I see, gives me hope because I see the progress that has been made in a very short amount of time in this country. And I think that there is a huge opportunity to take that campaign to the rest of the world and work with partners on the ground all over the world to try to get conversion therapy banned. And also probably even equally or if not more importantly to do the familiarity work that Casey was talking about to try to change the conditions that lead to abusive and torturous practices like conversion therapy in the first place. So that's one place I see for hope. Great, thank you. Whoever next, Chris? I also really wanted to answer the question around policy litigation and like grassroots so I'm gonna do it with this as well. So I just think there are actually really incredible beautiful inspired and powerful examples of the ways that coalitions of groups are coming together exactly to use litigation, to use policy to lose movement building and grassroots organizing issue like one very concrete example we're part of a migrant justice coalition along with a number of other organizations and we're bringing the litigation like other groups are bringing the grassroots organizing other groups are bringing the policy work other groups are bringing the leadership development but all together we're organizing this larger national migrant justice campaign and I feel like I'm actually seeing more and more examples of that in this moment of escalated attack where groups are coming together and saying like we just need to move this intervention we need to do this one thing because literally people's lives are gonna depend on it so we're all just gonna bring our stuff to the table and figure it out because this is the one goal this isn't about like lining our pockets or our budgets, this is about actually like moving the dial on an injustice that is about our community's survival. Thank you. Casey? Yeah, so this one's a little bit personal, a little bit professional so you know growing up as like a young trans person trying to figure out how I was gonna live the life I was born to lead my sort of wish was just to be left alone you know and be safe. I never really imagined that people who weren't having the experience I was having would take up my cause as their own and as we got close to winning marriage equality I think a lot of us in the movement were worrying that the movement at large would think we were done and there's a lot of work to do for all LGBTQ people but we knew especially there was gonna be a lot of work left to do for trans people in large part because in a lot of places we'd been asked to wait on that work in order to make this whole sale case for marriage equality and so we were worried that people would not show up that the enthusiasm would not be there and so to have ballot fights of all the fights we could possibly have right after winning marriage equality I mean this was like kind of the worst of the worst and so for me I'm cheating a little because it didn't just happen this happened in the last year and gives me hope now but I think you know being on the ground in those ballot fights in Anchorage and Massachusetts and seeing people choose that issue to send their counter narrative to what they're seeing in this country right now and show up in that way not just the people who've been around all these years fighting on marriage equality and other issues but seeing new people come into the fight you know the parents of these young people who are do not get in their way like these are the best allies that we could have as a large LGBTQ community has been really inspiring and is really what you know and a lot of them conservative as well right and has been really inspiring and is what made me think that you know to your point like I you know we have a lot of work to do not just to win on these issues but really to heal our country and and this is one of the ways that organizing that we're doing right now and the way we're keeping people together and building building bridges and that people are showing up is is going to advance LGBTQ rights but I really do think it's going to help culturally with our community as well kind of help bring people back together. Thank you. Last word Vicki. Sure so I keep the you know some philosopher one of those Greek ones came up came up with this idea that you know we needed evil in the world because with evil we now know what good looks like because you know that's a counterpoint so and I'm seeing a lot of groups around the country on various social justice issues coming together to develop a vision that's different from the one that currently exists and so that's what gives me hope and this the poll that we just recently well we didn't do it but the University of Southern California did really for me gave me hope because it basically said that the four that the voters the vast majority of U.S. citizen voters in the southwestern states actually opposed Trump's policies at the border and I don't know if that doesn't give you hope I don't know what does right so that's definitely something that I got very hopeful about. All right thank you. Thank you. So I want to to try to wrap us up by remembering something that Chris that you said and that was heard a lot around Stonewall 50 and and after that and that is the Stonewall is now that it didn't stop 50 other or didn't stop when we got marriage equality or anything else that it's very much now and that was specifically with respect to trans and POC issues but it's true in many other areas including ones named here and going back to what I started with with the idea of the movement hurtling forward if we're going to continue to hurdle forward and move forward then one of the things that we need absolutely is going to be power and it's going to be leadership and we have been fortunate and I am very very grateful that we have these four folks here not only being with us tonight but doing all of the work that you are doing day in and day out day in and day out for the movement on so many different levels so thank you all and the other thing that we need in order to be able to move forward and to be able to to continue to hurdle forward and community and community is everybody in this room and that means the people who contribute on every level grassroots, policy work, advocacy level by the giving that you do by the work that you do by where you show up and by remembering that as Chris reminded us that Stonewall is now and so I want to thank all of you for everything that you do for every gift that you give and for being with us here tonight thank you very very much


9 Stunning Cities in Spain for Teaching English Abroad It's not hard to see why Spain is one of the most attractive countries in Europe for teaching English as a foreign language. Most teachers head straight to Madrid or Barcelona but there are many more stunning cities in Spain for teaching English abroad. Tips for Teaching English in Spain While it's true that it can be a little difficult for non-EU citizens to secure a work permit in Spain, there is a legal way to still be able to live and teach in this European paradise. Check out our detailed guide on how to legally teach English in Spain to find out how to go about it. Here are 9 Stunning Cities in Spain for Teaching English Abroad Teaching English in Barcelona The capital of Spain's Catalonia region, Barcelona is among the top destinations for English teachers in Spain. The city is known for the arts and architecture, including the world-famous Sagrada Familia church in modern buildings designed by Antoni Gaudí that make up the cityscape. Be sure to check out Muzu Picasso and Fundacio Joan Miro to see some of the finest modern masterpieces in history. Besides its many modern attractions, Barcelona also boasts several archaeological sites from Roman times. Get started by taking an in-class deafal certification course in Barcelona and learn more about living and teaching in Spain in our country guide. Teaching English in Jehon The largest coastal city in Spain's north, Jehon, is known for its unique maritime heritage. Visit the Old Fisherman's Quarter at Simitiva and you'll be following in the footsteps of Jehons past. Head up to Santa Catalina Hill and you'll have a wonderful view of the cliffs and the local sculpture park. To find out more about the city's history, check out the 16th-century clock tower and the museum inside it. Teaching English in Granada Granada is one of Spain's most popular tourist destinations. The city is located in the Andalusia region in southern Spain in the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Granada's medieval architecture dates back to the region's Moorish occupation. This is especially evident in the Alhambra, a medieval Moorish palace complex. Teaching English in Madrid Of course, the beautiful capital of Spain cannot be missed from this list. Madrid is well known for its rich collections of European art, especially at the Prado Museum displaying pieces from Goya, Velazquez and other Spanish masters. Plaza Mayor marks the center of the city and the nearby Royal Palace and Armory bear witness to Spain's monarchial history. Teaching English in San Sebastian If you are looking for beach and sunshine, San Sebastian is a great choice. The resort town is located on the Bay of Biscay in the mountainous Basque country. Head down to the two main beaches of Playa de la Concha and Playa de Andarta and stroll down the bayfront promenades lined with amazing restaurants and shops. The old town of San Sebastian has beautiful cobblestone streets and old churches and is definitely worth checking out. Teaching English in Santander Another popular coastal city in the north of Spain is Santander. It's the capital of the Canterbury region and home to the Palacio de la Magdalena, a royal summer residence. The heart of the city features the stunning cated roll to Santander with an octagonal cupola and gothic cloister. There are also many beaches in and around the city that are breathtaking year-round. Teaching English in Santiago de Compostela Every year, millions of people head to Santiago de Compostela for their journey along the Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage route. The city in Galicia, in the northwest of Spain, is also set to feature the burial site of the biblical Apostle Saint James at the cated Olda San Diego de Compostela. Many pilgrims also hike up Monte Dugoso to see the many religious sculptures and to get a stunning view of the city. Teaching English in Seville Travel to Seville in Andalusia and you'll be standing in the birthplace of flamenco dancing. It is said that the dance style originated in the city's Triana neighborhood. Other famous sites and attractions you can visit in Seville include the Ornate Alcazar Castle that was built during the Moorish occupation, as well as the beautiful Plausina de Ros de Llama's transit bull ring from the 18th century. On top of that, Christopher Columbus's tomb is located in the Gothic Seville Cathedral. Get started by taking an in-class Seville certification course in Seville and learn more about living and teaching in Spain in our country guide. Teaching English in Toledo There is no doubt that Toledo is among the most historically interesting cities in Spain. The city is often referred to as the city of the three cultures due to the cultural influences of Christians, Muslims and Jews reflected in its city history. Because of this multicultural history and its many historic sites of the three cultures, the city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986.  Speak with an ITTT advisor today to put together your personal plan for teaching English abroad. Send us an email or call us tollfree at 1-800-490-0531 to speak with an ITTT advisor today.


Our next presenter is Byron Abraham Daniel, whose three-minute thesis is entitled Ghost Particles, The Puzzles of the Early Universe. Okay. After the Big Bang, the universe began to expand at a rapid rate, but just how fast it expanded. The expansion rate of the Early Universe is tied to the mass of a ghostly particle known as a neutrino. For that reason, it is important for us to know the mass of neutrinos. However, measuring and absorbing neutrinos is not that easy. Allow me to demonstrate. In that second, about 100 billion neutrinos just passed my finger. 100 billion particles passing through my finger in a mere second, and yet my finger is completely unharmed? Sounds crazy, no? Some say that only ghosts can pass so quickly through objects without having an effect. For that reason, neutrinos are known as ghost particles because of their tendency to pass through objects without interacting. To illustrate, on average, a low-energy neutrino can pass through an entire solar system-wide sheet of lead without interacting. But then I pose this question. If neutrinos are ghosts, then how do we measure them? Let alone how do we detect them? In order to detect neutrinos, neutrophyses have to observe them indirectly by studying the trace evidence that they leave behind. We have to take a metaphorical magnifying glass to this trace evidence, and this trace evidence is the small amount of energy that the neutrino steals from the electron in an atomic decay. And to measure this small amount of trace energy, we had to get creative. How creative, you may ask? Creative enough to fill the streets of a German village. The steel monstrosity I have to pick out of the bottom of my slide here is a picture of the catchment detector as we transported it through the lovely village of Karlsruhe, Germany. Yes, I have a picture of us actually running the device, but I thought this picture was much more funny and iconic, so I chose to show this one to you all instead. I personally think it's ironic that we need a device this large to measure an effect this small. So now that you all have heard the lyrics, here comes the music. The goal of my thesis is to understand how systematic effects alter the measured mass of the neutrino in our device. You can think of systematic effects as a sort of trick mirror that you might see at a carnivore affair. What the trick mirror shows you is not what you actually look like. In particular, the trick mirror affecting Catrin is much like a car rear-view mirror. Car rear-view mirrors come with a statement, objects are closer than they appear, and this is something that everyone who drives has to deal with. Drivers have to have to reduce the distance of objects in their mirror in order to drive properly. Catrin comes with a similar statement, neutrinos are larger than they appear, so retroactively after our data analysis we have to increase the mass of the neutrino to account for this effect. But just how much larger is the neutrino than it appears? Because if we knew just how much larger it was than it appears, then we would be able to account for it in our data analysis. The goal of my thesis is to understand how much the systematic effects or metaphorical trick mirror of the catchment detector effect alters the neutrino's mass during our data analysis. Thank you.


Next question is from Lucy ZL3.  Is there any benefit to sitting cross-legged for hip mobility, or should I just do exercises to prevent low back pain? You know, one of the best things you can do if you're sitting all day, and this is like magic, okay? Is to every hour, get up and do five minutes of easy mobility work, that's it. Every single hour for five minutes, get up and do something for mobility for your upper back, or your hips, or your ankle. And just do that every hour with the clients that I've worked with who worked in tech, who did sit for a long hour, a long bouts of time. This was the most effective thing to do. Changing how you sit can definitely help, but here's the thing about sitting. When you're sitting, you're not active. So if I sit cross-legged, now I'm in a static stretch with this cross-legged, is it might improve my range of motion, but it's not gonna necessarily improve my mobility. But standing up and doing an active mobility thing, like a leg swing, or getting on the floor real quick, a 90-90, or combat stretch, or handcuffs with rotation, or do a wall press, that's gonna improve your mobility, and literally just five minutes every hour. If you're working for eight hours, that's 40 minutes of mobility work, that does a pretty good job. I like to sit and basically do a few things. I do cross my leg every now and then when I'm getting tight, and I could feel that, like in my piriformis, it starts to really act up if it's over a certain amount of time when I'm driving and I'm doing certain repetitive patterns, I try to really pay attention to my foot position.  And so to interrupt that pattern, I just try to be more conscious of it, like in how I'm sitting and how my posture is with my sitting, and then what I can somewhat do to counter some of these things. So some of it is an internal rotation for me, I have to constantly be conscious of because of the fact that I'm always, my tendency is always to be externally rotating out, and that's my comfortable position, and this is just what happens over time where I just keep my heel tends to come in, my toes come out, and I'm constantly putting pressure on the pedal back and forth and back and forth, and then I come in, I sit in the studio and I'm sitting, and now I notice my leg is in that certain position. So in terms of it being like a ritual and something that you're cognizant of, I think there's value in that, but what Sal said, like interrupting and doing actual mobility exercises that will unwind you, very valuable. But also like too, just try to know that certain things will create this type of tightness and pain, and to be able to recognize that and how you're sitting and how your posture is is also very beneficial. Now by cross-legged, what do you think she means by that? Do you think she means like literally crossing her legs like the way mine are or Sal is right now, or do you think it means like sitting Indian style? It could be either rider or hip like this. I think I'm sort of wide with my knee here and I'm pushing down pressure on my knee to relieve some tension, but yeah, I don't know. Cause a lot of times, I mean, I'll tell you being just totally honest about, I mean, the reason why I cross, it's like that's not an ideal thing. It's because it's more uncomfortable to have my hips opened up. So I'm actually crutching that issue, right? That's not a good thing. It's not a good thing that I cross my legs. It's not help. It may be giving me- It's not cause you're modest. No, it's giving me temporary relief in my hips and my low back. So that's why I'm curious about why she's alluding to would crossing my legs be a good idea? Crossing your legs may be giving you temporary relief because you're internally rotating even more and to externally rotate feels tight on your hips and pulls on your low back, which means you need to be doing more of that, not the other way around. Yeah, you're resting in that too. You're not like- Yeah, so that's my point. Like so, you know, if someone sits like a normally Indian style, which is normally the opposite of how most of us are, most of us have an issue, unlike Justin, most of us have an issue of being like more internally rotated. And so crossing your legs is a way of like crushing that. It feels comfortable on my hips and my low back to constantly be going back and forth between crossing my two legs. That is not a good habit. I'll be the first to admit that. So if you're asking that as a thing that you should do, that's not helping your low back. It's helping it temporarily because you're sitting down and the hips feel tight, but you're actually crushing the issue. The issue is you probably lack good external rotation in the hips. And so that's why that feels comfortable because it gives you temporary relief. What you need to do is get down every hour and get in some 90-90 positions and work on- And work on your core strength as well. Right.