LGBTQ Institute

We are thrilled to bring a powerful diplomatic conversation curated and moderated by our very own chair -Evangelo Nasser at our upcoming IGNYTE 2025 Symposium hosted at The National Center for Civil and Human Rights. We will be joined by 5 Consulate members who will share their global perspectives on LGBTQ rights, legislation, cross-cultural community building and advancing policies in our interconnected world of solidarity.

Join us next Friday October 10 by registering at www.lgbtqinstitute.org/ignyte-2025

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Tell friends in education, particularly K-12 education in the U.S. South, to join me for a powerful, FREE webinar:

"Under the Radar Strategies for Support: Supporting LGBTQ+ Students in Anti-LGBTQ+ School Settings" is happening on October 16 from 4-6 PM. If you're an LGBTQ+ or allied educator struggling to create affirming spaces in a non-affirming school, this workshop is for you. Learn subtle yet powerful ways to support LGBTQ+ students when visible signs of inclusion aren't possible.

Let's work together to give our students the education and care they deserve.



Register Today: https://lnkd.in/eU5GdPhg

Powerful story worth sharing today.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8Zev37OPAy/?igsh=bGZueTIyaHFsNmZj

In honor of Juneteenth….. thank you @alimiballard @rbreich for sharing this story about your protector Micheal Schwerner . He was also one of my heros along with James Chaney and Andrew Goodman, who turned out to be kinfolk of one of my co- workers from @citykids_nyc at the time Sara Goodman, heir to the Begrdorf Goodman fashion business. It was their story the film “Mississippi Burning” was based on. In the summer of 1989 when I was 21 years old , I was part of a group that celebrated the 25th anniversary of #TheFreedomRides and we traveled from NYC to Mississippi by Greyhound buses to retrace the steps of the Civil Rights workers who put their lives on the line to ensure that the desegregation laws impacting public transport were indeed being followed. We also visited many historical sites like 16th St Baptist Church in Birmingham , that was fire bombed by white supremacists killing four little black girls —14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and 11-year-old Cynthia Wesley. When we got to Neshoba County Mississippi, we were taunted by local Klan folks who didn’t want us there as “outside agitators”. I went on the trip because as a child born in 1967 , it was hard to imagine that just 3 years before I was born, young people who were my age at the time were willing to die for the “freedoms” we enjoy today like VOTING. I wanted to emotionally and spiritually connect to that part of American history as I saw myself as a continuation of their fight for human justice especially being born at a time of so much social change in this country. I continue to do this work in social/ human justice in education , community and real estate development not as a hobby or trend but as my life’s mission. When you hear the term “Make America Great Again” taken directly from Hitler’s pledge to “Make Germany Great Again” it’s no secret the playbook that is being used here. When I think of those who say they won’t vote or even worse are planning to vote for a convicted felon when convicted felons can’t even vote , it speaks volumes around how little we understand the precarious nature of the times we are living in .