HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan addresses the Creating Change audience.

First up, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced a new HUD policy to fight discrimination against LGBT people in federally supported housing programs. The new rules, to be published next week, will help LGBT people and their families across the country stay in their homes, get the loans they need to buy homes, and access life-saving federal assistance programs to help get low-income people and families back on their feet. You can read more about the new policy and Donovan’s full remarks here.

Update: You can watch video of Secretary Donovan’s remarks here:

Donovan is the first sitting Cabinet secretary in history to speak at the National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, the country’s largest annual gathering of LGBT rights advocates.

The plenary ended with an extraordinary panel focusing on international issues. Cary Alan Johnson, executive director of the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission, moderated the discussion featuring LGBT organizers from around the world, including Nisha Ayub, programme manager of the Transgender Programme of the Pink Triangle Foundation of Malaysia; Joel Simpson, founder and co-chairperson of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) in Guyana; and Val Kalende, a noted Ugandan LGBT activist and co-founder of Freedom and Roam Uganda.

Mira Patel, special advisor on LGBT and women’s rights at the U.S. State Department, joined the discussion to reiterate the Obama administration’s support of international LGBT human rights. This follows a Presidential Memorandum from President Obama and a historic speech from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supporting LGBT human rights earlier this year.

Each of the organizers told stories of discrimination in their home countries, including appallingly discriminatory laws against homosexuality and transgender people. Yet, all of the organizers expressed hope for positive change and are building political power within their countries to enact that change.

At the end of the panel, there was a call to take action to promote international LGBT human rights. You can join the action by visiting iglhrc.org/action to send letters to the U.S. ambassadors to Guyana, Malaysia and Uganda to promote and support LGBT human rights.

International panel with IGLHRC at Creating Change.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announces the new rule.

Today, while addressing nearly 3,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced a new HUD policy to fight discrimination against LGBT people in federally supported housing programs.

The new rules, to be published next week, will help LGBT people and their families across the country stay in their homes, get the loans they need to buy homes, and access life-saving federal assistance programs to help get low-income people and families back on their feet.

Donovan is the first sitting Cabinet secretary in history to speak at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, the country’s largest annual gathering of LGBT rights advocates. They have been meeting this week in Baltimore to strategize and mobilize in this critical election year.

“I’m here this afternoon because our president and his administration believe the LGBT community deserves a place at the table — and also a place to call home. Each of us here knows that rights most folks take for granted are routinely violated against LGBT people,” Donovan said. “That’s why I’m proud to stand before you this afternoon and say HUD has been a leader in the fight — your fight and my fight — for equality. Over the last three years, we have worked to ensure that our housing programs are open. Not to some. Not to most. But open to all.”

Donovan spotlighted steps HUD has already taken to help protect LGBT people from housing-related discrimination. This work includes protecting LGBT people from discrimination under the Fair Housing Act and collecting data to better understand how same-sex couples suffer housing discrimination.

Donovan then unveiled the latest step.

“Today, I am proud to announce a new Equal Access to Housing Rule that says clearly and unequivocally that LGBT individuals and couples have the right to live where they choose. This is an idea whose time has come,” he said.

Donovan outlined the scope of the new rule.

“First and foremost, this rule includes a new equal access provision that prohibits owners and operators of HUD-funded housing, or housing whose financing we insure, from inquiring about an applicant’s sexual orientation or gender identity or denying housing on that basis. If you are denying HUD housing to people on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity — actual or perceived — you’re discriminating, you’re breaking the law — and you will be held accountable. That’s what equal access means, and that’s what this rule is going to do.”

He continued, “Secondly, this rule makes clear that LGBT families … are eligible for HUD’s public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs that collectively serve 5.5 million people. Third, the rule also makes clear that sexual orientation and gender identity should not and cannot be part of any lending decision when it comes to getting a mortgage insured by the FHA — part of HUD.”

This announcement marks another victory for the New Beginning Initiative, a coalition of more than two dozen organizations convened by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, working to change how the federal government treats LGBT people and their families. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force applauds the work of its coalition partners to secure this win for LGBT people and their families.

“Thanks to your leadership in convening the New Beginning Initiative, together we have made extraordinary progress, creating changes throughout the administration that have improved the day-to-day lives of LGBT people across the country,” Donovan said.

Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, praised today’s announcement and spoke of its vital importance to the lives of LGBT people.

“This policy announced today by Secretary Donovan will literally save lives. LGBT people and their families all across the country depend on HUD programs to have a roof over their head. Unfortunately, there are landlords out there who would choose to discriminate, putting families in peril,” Carey said. “These housing protections will reduce homelessness and increase economic security for LGBT people, which helps break the cycle of poverty that many families experience due to discrimination.”

She added, “This announcement could not have been made to a more appropriate crowd — the thousands of LGBT activists working on the ground in all of the states across the country who see the impacts of housing discrimination every day. We thank President Obama and Secretary Donovan for their recognition of the importance of housing security and their continued commitment to ending discrimination against LGBT people.”

Read Secretary Shaun Donovan’s full remarks at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change here:

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/press/speeches_remarks_statements/2012/Speech_01282012

Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey delivered the ‘State of the LGBT Movement’ address at the 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change on Friday, Jan. 27. You can read the full text of the speech here.

Obama administration officials take questions from the LGBT community at Creating Change.

At the end of the plenary, Michael Adams, executive director of Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), gave the SAGE Advocacy Award for Excellence in Leadership in Aging Issues to Kathy Greenlee, assistant secretary of Aging at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As a federal appointee by President Obama, she played a leading role in the Administration on Aging’s decision to fund the creation of the country’s first and only National Resource Center on LGBT Aging.

Assistant Secretary of Aging at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Kathy Greenlee accepts the SAGE Award.

Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey Delivers the "State of the LGBT Movement" at Creating Change.

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey presented the annual “State of the LGBT Movement” address today at the 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, in Baltimore, Md., where nearly 3,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates have gathered to strategize and mobilize to advance LGBT equality and social justice in this critical election year.

Read the full text of Carey’s speech after the jump:

This has already been an awesome conference and we’re just getting warmed up!

How about Ben Jealous’ speech last night! We will stand with Ben Jealous and the NAACP.

And Joan Biren’s reminder of the power of images, of art in social change.

Welcome to Creating Change 2012! A special welcome to my family and friends from D.C. who are here today.

As I was preparing for Creating Change this year, my daughter and I were singing along to the brilliant musical, Wicked — specifically, the song, Defying Gravity, and it gave me some inspiration — not my singing, but the song.

Yes, I know, a particularly gay move on my part; a Broadway show as inspiration for my remarks… thus revealing my gender queerness as a gay man.

And, yes, we do have a conference session for that.

We also have one for Newt Gingrich and his open marriage, (score one on your Kate Clinton bingo card). But I digress.

As the song Defying Gravity starts in the musical, the people of Oz shout that Elphaba — known eventually as the Wicked Witch — is evil, wicked, to be feared and driven away.

In her questioning the status quo, what those in Oz hold to be true, in standing up for others, Elphaba gives voice to challenging limitations, to not playing the game, to doing something extraordinary… and she flies.

The feeling of defying gravity is one that I suspect is, in some ways, familiar to many of us here.

To work against the forces that drag us down as human beings, that pull us down and limit us as a movement, that portray us as something that we are not.

Yes, LGBT people have been called a repulsion, a harm to society. We have been called wicked.

The fact that we have made it this far, surviving childhood taunts, the neglect of churches and schools, the laws and policies of a country that have treated us as criminals… This is already a testament to our ability to defy gravity.

Individually — and more often together — we’ve worked for and achieved what many couldn’t even envision.

We have done what some thought impossible, but we know is inevitable.

So, here we are together again at Creating Change, sharing strategies on overcoming the challenges that face us, learning from each other how to defy gravity.

I know you sacrificed to be here.

You had to save up, take a bus, or squeeze a bunch of people into a van to get here.

It says everything that during one of our nation’s most challenging economic times, we have our biggest Creating Change conference ever.

Thank you for doing what you had to do to get here.

Creating Change would not be the same — and would not be possible — without you.

Some days it feels like we aren’t making progress, but we have come a long way since the Stonewall Rebellion in 1969. In fact, the pace of our progress and our pursuit of justice has accelerated in the last few years.

And not just because the last of my high school crushes, Kristy McNichol finally came out after being with her partner for 20 years.

I’m just waiting for Velma of Scooby-Doo to come out and my list will be complete.

2012 will be an important year because of us and of what we will achieve together…
Because we in this room and those who can’t be with us but share our vision, will work for a transformed society in which no one feels they must hide who they are or who they love, not for 20 years, not for even one day.

In this past year alone, with our work together…

• We passed statewide, transgender nondiscrimination laws in Connecticut, Nevada, Hawaii and Massachusetts.

• We passed birth certificate laws eliminating surgical standards for transgender people in California and Vermont.

• We defeated the anti-trans bill in Maine that would have allowed discrimination against transgender people in sex-segregated spaces.

• Bullying-prevention policies that specifically protect LGBT youth are now in some unexpected places, including Dallas, Texas; Jackson, Miss.; Oklahoma City; and the entire state of Arkansas.

• We finally brought an end to DADT.

And remarkably, despite the right-wing heebie jeebies about having gay, lesbian and bisexual people serve in the military, when Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta gave her partner a much-publicized kiss, it didn’t sink her ship or the marriages of the crew!

And remember, her ship docked in Virginia!

This year:

• Our Task Force organizers helped raise seed money and taught activists how to build a bigger team for an LGBT nondiscrimination law that will be on the ballot this spring in Anchorage, Alaska.

• We trained activists and mobilized voters to fend off a threat to Traverse City, Michigan’s existing LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination law.

• Here in Maryland, a gender identity anti-discrimination bill was introduced, and this Monday Governor Martin O’Malley formally introduced the Civil Marriage Protection Act, which would extend marriage to same-sex couples.

• And, just 24 hours ago, after two years of public education, field organizing, signature-gathering, and just plain old knocking on more than one hundred thousand doors, Equality Maine; Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders; and the Why Marriage Matters Maine Coalition delivered over 105,000 signatures to the statehouse, announcing that they will make Maine the first state to go to the ballot box with a proactive measure to pursue marriage equality.

And then, they hopped on planes to get here for Creating Change!

We at the Task Force are honored to have helped in many of these efforts and to have worked with our colleagues in the statewide equality organizations.

And, speaking of relationships, Hawaii, Illinois, Rhode Island and Delaware now have civil unions in place and, it is now legal to get married in the state of New York!

Congratulations to the activists in all these states and others that made gains this year.

We also made progress in many states where Task Force staff engaged in the broad range of issues affecting LGBT people and their families:

• In Mississippi, we joined our women’s health and reproductive justice allies to defeat the anti-choice personhood measure.

• In California, we partnered with the ACLU of Southern California to gather signatures for a future campaign to abolish the state’s death penalty, disproportionately affecting people of color.

• And in Maine, we helped beat back one of the many recent attacks on the very right to vote in this country. If we had lost that vote, we wouldn’t be seeing marriage or other progressive advances anytime soon in Maine.

And federal progress has been made as well. Despite a Congress that has proven resistant to any LGBT-specific legislation, our work to build alliances, our strategic thinking and our mobilization has led to progress.

Like getting LGBT people explicitly included in the Health Equity and Accountability Act; in the HOME bill — Housing Opportunities Made Equal — and in the Violence Against Women Act.

These are all bills that are not LGBT-specific but with our hard work are becoming LGBT inclusive and have the potential to affect the economic security and quality of life for hundreds of thousands of LGBT people and their families.

I know 300 of you participated in our first-ever Creating Change Lobby Day yesterday and I thank you for sharing your lives to change minds in Congress. You were amazing!

And we are not stopping with inclusion in bills. We are after concrete changes that make our lives better.

The Task Force’s New Beginning Initiative, a coalition of 26 organizations, has been working diligently to improve the lives of LGBT people and our families in tangible, meaningful ways by changing federal policies.

And together, as a community, with the Obama administration, we have improved lives.

When the executive branch issues guidelines to assist LGBT refugees and asylum seekers and the Department of Justice states for the first time, “We consider LGBT families to be families” — we made life better.

When the Department of Veterans Affairs issues a national directive to all of its health facilities regarding the appropriate and respectful care of transgender veterans, we made life better.

When LGBT families can no longer be turned away from public housing or a home loan, we made life better.

When we get to say who our families are so we can be by each others’ side when we are sick or hurt in a hospital, we made life better.

And this past year, because of your advocacy and the Obama administration’s actions, that became the case in over 90 percent of hospitals, like Rolling Hills Hospital in Tennessee, and Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Md.

In both these hospitals, when they turned away partners at the door, and they were reminded of the federal rules, they had to apologize to the families and train their staff. This rule has teeth and hospitals are being held accountable.

When we hear these words from a White House cabinet member:

“Gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights.”

“To LGBT men and women worldwide: Wherever you live and whatever your circumstances…please know that you are not alone.”

We most definitely made life better.

Thank you, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama for the presidential memorandum that went with it.

The truth is — we can both appreciate our progress yet feel frustrated by the incomplete and sometimes slow pace of change. There is still much work ahead.

We know the truth in the old adage that when the people lead, the leaders will follow. Creating Change family, we will be called upon to lead in this coming year.

We will have to play both offense and defense this year with marriage in play here in Maryland and in Washington, New Jersey, Maine, Minnesota and North Carolina… and we will be called to lead.

In states across the country, we must press forward on securing protections for people who experience discrimination because of their gender identity, including Michigan, New York and right here in Maryland. And we will be called to lead.

In some states, like Oregon, hard but strategic and disciplined decisions have been made, to not push for marriage until the time is right to use our movement’s resources well — and to win. They have expressed leadership in doing so.

Many of you will be called to lead in your communities on immigration reform, making schools safe, fighting anti-affirmative action measures, and on economic justice and transgender rights.

But what’s important to remember is that leading doesn’t have to mean winning. I know we won’t win in all of these places but what I do know is that we are strong and determined and that with perseverance like ours, we cannot be denied for long.

We cannot stop until the abuses of transgender immigrant detainees stop.

We cannot stop until our brothers and sisters who can now openly serve in the military can share their benefits with their spouses and until transgender people can choose to serve.

We can’t be fully free if after 30 years of AIDS, we know more about prevention and treatment than ever before but infection rates for gay and bisexual men — especially for men of color — are actually rising while funding and services are decreasing.

Progress for some is not progress for all and we will not stop until we are all fully free.

There are some challenges in our pursuit of freedom that are just beginning for us — challenges other movements before us have seen.

One challenge is that we’ve already won! Oh, you didn’t get the memo?

Ninety percent of voters already believe we have federal employment protections — and this includes LGBT people who end up surprised when they are fired from their jobs and they have no recourse.

Over the last 20 years, we have been so successful at winning employment protections in cities and states — that now over 52 percent of people live in a jurisdiction with sexual orientation discrimination protections, and 44 percent with gender identity protections. And many more have protections through labor contracts or corporate employment policies. But what about LGBT people who live in the states without employment protections or work for companies that don’t include us in their policies?

Ninety percent of voters think there is already a federal employment protections law, which makes it a bit of a challenge to mobilize them to fight for one.

And why would they, when we already have a law?

Except we don’t!

In order to defy gravity, to not stall out, we must make clear to decision-makers, our friends and family, that many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people go to work each day, terrified that someone will find out who they are or who they love.

And we need a federal law to protect them.

And our second challenge… well, marriage.

Marriage puts us between the rock of limited, hard won and celebrated successes — and the hard place of positive yet almost singular media attention.

Specifically, now that we’ve overturned “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” many now believe that our movement is about one thing and one thing only — marriage.

So let’s talk about marriage.

The richness of our families and how we create them — whether we choose to get married or not — when our families are ignored or denied, the very institution of marriage is weakened, not strengthened.

And we won’t stop fighting until the choice to get married is the law of the land everywhere, for everyone who wants it.

But that’s not all we’re fighting for. The LGBT movement is not a movement for marriage only. It is a movement for the full dignity of our lives, for a transformed society.

The challenge is, when the LGBT movement is framed by the media and seen by others as a single-issue, marriage-only movement, it limits what we can achieve.

The spotlight on wins, losses and steps toward marriage creates a lot of excitement and energy and directs much-needed funding toward our movement for our work on marriage.

Marriage has motivated our allies and captured the attention of people who weren’t paying attention before.

But someday, someday when we succeed in nationwide recognition of our marriages, and even along the way, we will likely see that the engagement in our movement will drop off. Severely.

Where we have achieved marriage already, there has been a significant drop in donations, attention and engagement for our movement’s organizations. Some have had to lay off staff even while struggling to get attention for other very pressing issues.

We have learned that with a win, we usually have to turn right around and defend that win.

We also know that people who aren’t included in that win remain vulnerable to discrimination.

We’ve seen this dynamic before in other movements.

Consider the women’s movement and Roe v. Wade.

Almost 40 years after the Supreme Court decision declaring a woman’s reproductive decisions are hers to make, women and men still must fight everyday to stop the erosion of reproductive health services for women.

The lesson here is that we must continue to build public support for our gains, whether court decisions or legislative victories.

The Roe decision did something else, too. It added to the women’s movement being seen as a single-issue movement — abortion.

So, over the last 40 years, it has been a challenge to get equal pay for equal work; to create appropriate and affordable childcare in this country; to get full equality for women.

Think about it.

If we could all choose to get married anywhere if we wanted to, without limitation, if a marriage in one state was recognized as a marriage in all states — would all our aspirations be fulfilled?

Would society be transformed such that all of us, every one of us, live in dignity and with full respect, from cradle to grave?

Of course not.

At the Task Force, we say we’re more. At the Task Force, we say we want more than marriage — there is no singular solution to the many ways we experience discrimination, violence and bigotry.

At the Task Force we insist that immigration, and housing, and health care and fair wages and Social Security and ending systemic racism and sexism are all LGBT issues.

Now don’t hear me wrong. I will fight like hell for marriage equality. And I am proud to be married to Margaret.

And, within the existing structure of how benefits are provided in this country, if we don’t overturn the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” and secure marriage across the country, we will hit a brick wall in the changes we seek for LGBT people and our families in immigration policies, in Social Security benefits, in the very economic underpinnings that give us security.

So, in this political moment, while our movement is experiencing intensely focused attention because of marriage, we must take advantage of this moment by pushing to make visible the fullest scope of the social change we seek.

We in the LGBT movement must defy the gravitational pull that frames ours as a single-issue movement.

I know we can overcome these challenges, with work, we’ve done it before.

We’ve been at this a long time at the Task Force, and we know from experience that a win remains a win only if we sustain it and build on it and stay fully engaged.

And 2012 will require a lot of political engagement. The sheer number of pieces of state legislation and ballot measures that will affect the lives of LGBT people this year are staggering. And our collective work on all of those will be important.

But there is one issue that we all must pay attention to this year.

Our opposition — those who do not believe in our full humanity or equality are on the attack. But, mobilizing the right-wing base to come out and vote on marriage isn’t actually their trump card anymore — it’s much deeper than that.

It’s the very ability to cast a vote.

They could derail our progress for years by focusing on something that our movement could easily mistake as not “our” issue. Believe me, it is our issue when we or our allies find ourselves without easy access to the polls.

2012 promises to be a harder playing field than 2011 because the political playing field itself is under threat.

There is a systematic effort in states across the country to take the vote away from people of color, students, the working poor and unemployed, people who’ve lost their homes, young voters, people with disabilities and the elderly.

A plan to cut out the base of progressive voters from the process. This massive voter suppression effort is also having a devastating effect on the ability of transgender people to vote.

We’re talking about executive orders in 14 states and 20 new laws that make it harder for 5 million people to vote this year. Ben shared stories last night.

It’s one of the last desperate ploys by those who can no longer compete with the power of their ideas.

Voter suppression laws — some taken right out of the Jim Crow playbook — are part of a series of strategies to take away the voting rights of millions and keep this nation’s decision-making power in the hands of a few.

Having lost ground on LGBT and racial justice and equality over the last 40 years, and not having enough respect for our democracy to accept it, the right is now doing all it can to complicate the rules to register, get a ballot, vote early — you name it, they’ll do it, if it disenfranchises certain types of voters.

And so we are called to lead and to protect access to voting. This is in our self-interest and in the interest of our allies! We are people of color, we are students, we are transgender.

And if that weren’t enough, let’s look at where these voter-suppression laws are being put to a vote.

Of course, many of these laws have been implemented or are on the ballot in the South. Don’t get me started.

And, over two dozen bills or ballot measures will be in play in the next two years, including in Michigan, New Jersey, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina…ring a bell?

Michigan, New Jersey, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina.

If we do not protect the right to vote, we will not win on immigration, we will not win on nondiscrimination, we will not protect affirmative action and we will not win on marriage.

We must register the voters the right doesn’t want registered. We must get the voters to the polls the right is trying to keep from the polls.

In this coming election, we stand for ourselves by also standing for and with others. We stand for ourselves by occupying the voting booth.

Yes, we have come to this again — to vote is an act of resistance. But it is also an act of insistence. We insist that all potential voters have a voice.

As people who know more than our share about mistreatment, inequality and unfairness, this is our fight.

So in this room full of the best grassroots activists I know, I say, occupy the vote! Vote. Take others to the polls if you can’t vote yet. Speak out against voter suppression.

And if you get to the ballot box and you are turned away for any reason, I want you cast a provisional ballot, to document your story, post it on Facebook, tweet it, and contact the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, let people know this is happening.

And to help you in this act of insistence, we have set up a voter registration table in the exhibit hall. And, you can text “Vote2012″ to 69866 to pledge to vote and to get more information about voter registration.

Next year, the Task Force will turn 40.

Since 1973, the Task Force has been building power, taking action and creating change. We have been defying gravity. We were the first national LGBT advocacy organization and turning 40 makes you think.

Just as when we opened our doors, we must be fearless and driven by innovation and the power to envision what some think impossible.

That’s what Creating Change has always been all about: learning, innovation, developing strategies to win, the next big ideas, bringing people together to push the boundaries of what is possible and move us all forward.

What does defying gravity look like?

Defying gravity means creating space or breaking ground for others.

It looks like a gay man volunteering on a pro-choice campaign.

It looks like an immigrant who is HIV-positive, telling his story of detention mistreatment despite risking deportation, because people held in immigration custody deserve dignity, respect and access to medication.

It looks like Girl Scouts in Colorado standing up for a trans girl joining their troop, and launching a national “buycott” of Thin Mints, Samoas, Do-Si-Dos.

It looks like a trans high school student holding her head high as she walks through the hallways with pride and confidence in herself, no matter what others think or say.

Defying gravity means we do something despite fear, criticism or negative consequences. It is digging deep to tap our own strength to resist that which attempts to hold us down.

It looks like the ideas, innovation and passion in this room.

This is our time to defy gravity and to Create Change.

Thank you and enjoy the conference!

NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous delivered the opening keynote speech at the National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change last night.

Good evening.

I am proud to stand here today with my brothers and sisters in the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

As some of you may know, the struggle for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender equality is near and dear to my heart – my brother was a transgender youth who was faced discrimination and bigotry.

I stand before you today as an individual with a deeply vested interest in this movement, but also as the leader of an organization with strong connections to the fight for LGBT rights.

In the past few years this Association has experienced a renaissance. As we have expanded our staff and program areas, we have also sought to more fully embrace the diversity within our own ranks.

In Mississippi, the Jackson State University NAACP elected a 30-year old white man. A chapter in New Jersey chose a Honduran immigrant as their leader. The Worcester NAACP chapter recently reopened after five years of inactivity. They elected as their President a 28-year old gay, black, professor.

Tomorrow’s NAACP leaders will be inspired not only by the words of Dr. King, and by the ongoing fight to end racial profiling, but also by our work to defend the rights of immigrants, champion religious tolerance and help stop the bullying of LGBT youth. The more we honor and embrace the diversity in all our communities the more we will all succeed.

But this striving for inclusion is not new. The NAACP and the LGBT movement have fought together for social justice since Bayard Rustin planned the March on Washington in 1963. He was a black gay hero who wrote the textbook on mobilizing the masses for jobs and freedom.

It was in the spirit of Rustin that we organized the One Nation Working Together coalition – the most inclusive and affirming march for jobs and justice that our nation’s capitol has ever seen.

The coalition was effective not in spite of the diversity of organizations involved, but because of it.

Last year during our annual convention, we held the first-ever NAACP town hall meeting to discuss LGBT rights. We had a challenging but constructive conversation about gay, lesbian and transgender issues in the black community. I look forward to continuing these productive conversations for years to come.

Members of the Task Force and the NAACP are standing shoulder to shoulder here in Baltimore fighting for marriage equality in this state.  Just as they did in California, when the NAACP state conference opposed Proposition 8 and later joined a lawsuit to overturn it. Just as they are standing shoulder to shoulder in North Carolina, where our state conference has passionately fought an amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

Tonight I want to share my own personal story about making the choice at a young age that the best antidote is hatred.

I was born in the village of Carmel, CA.  In that one square mile hamlet, there was one other black boy we knew who was my age.  His name is Jason.  He lived across the street.

His mom was my mom’s best friend. His sister was my sister’s best friend. And from the age of six months on, he has been my best friend. He truly is my brother in every way except by birth and since the age of four “brother” has been the only word we have used to describe our bond.   Part of being brothers has always been our willingness to adopt each other’s fight as our own.

At first, our fight was clearly our fight. When we moved two towns over, the clerk at the five and dime chaperoned us through every aisle of the store as white friends of ours ran in and out at will.

We knew it was because we were black and therefore different and targets for discrimination.

A few years later, Jason’s preference for wigs, dresses, and make-up became an even bigger issue with our peers.  We had confronted racial bullying together.  That was expected, and sometimes our white friends would come to our defense.

But this time, some suggested that I should let their hate be his fight. At that moment, on that playground, I made a choice: if you pick a fight with my brother– whether it is because you say we ain’t like you or he ain’t like us– you have picked a fight with me.

These are the realities that pundits ignore when they seek to stereotype the black community, black leadership, or black clergy on the issue of LBGT equality.

This is why I was proud that the NAACP advocated for the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Protection Act. Before that act, a hate crime was only a hate crime if the victim was engaged in a federally protected activity. But oppression is oppression is oppression. Hatred is hatred. Now, all hate crimes are protected and there are resources to make sure the law is enforced.

And this is the conviction that led me to devote my life to civil rights and social justice. I believe that it is crucial that the LGBT community is fully engaged in fighting against all forms of profiling.

Unfortunately, the national media tends to exaggerate divisions between civil rights and LGBT institutions. This tendency is what caused Bayard Rustin to remain a marginalized figure in the mainstream history of the civil rights movement, since a powerful gay black man just didn’t fit the narrative.

This tendency is what caused the media to blame the African American community for Proposition 8′s success in California. Never mind that the California NAACP State Conference was on the front line. Never mind that when the amendment went to court, the national NAACP signed onto the lawsuit, because we will never let any court be goaded into stripping any group of a right that that court has said is fundamental.

But more damaging than the media’s failure to recognize our common struggles is our own failure to come together on issues of common interest.

For 103 years, the NAACP and our diverse allies have run with the baton first set in motion by the American Revolution. America moves closer to being America when we do three things:

• Expand access to quality education for all
• Expand access to financial opportunity for all
• And expand access to the ballot box and to offices of political power for all.

As we expand each of these, our nation is closer to its own ideals. As we allow any of these to be attacked and degraded, we permit the very essence of our nation is attacked and degraded.

As Fredrick Douglas observed in his speech “Our Composite Nationality”: every nation has a destiny, a destiny which is defined by character, and a character which is usually defined by its geography.  Our nation, bordered by two nations and situated between two oceans is called to be the perfect example of human unity the world has ever seen.

Our work, the work of the civil and human rights movement is to empower America to be America … to be the most perfect example of human unity the world has ever seen.

That is why whether a child is bullied by a student because of her sexual orientation or gender identity or mistreated by a teacher or principal because of his race, the NAACP and the Task Force must stand up together. Because no child– who is mistreated at school because of what they are –has fair access to a high quality education.

That is why whether it is fighting to end discrimination against LBGT people at work or black people at the bank, the NAACP and the Task Force must stand strong together.  Because when you or your community is the target of any “ism” in the marketplace, ending discrimination is as important as job creation.  And ending the virus of hatred anywhere requires ending it everywhere.

And that is why, in this moment when our nation is in the midst of the greatest wave of voter suppression legislation since before the creation of the NAACP, we must rise up together to beat it back and get America moving toward the future again.

In 2011 alone, more than 30 states legislatures introduced legislation that would suppress the vote.

This suppression comes in the form of photo ID bills, limits on voter registration, limits on early voting, and ex-felon disenfranchisement. And it consistently targets the heart of the progressive electorate. People of color, students, blue collar workers, women, the elderly, and disabled Americans.

People don’t realize that many of these voter suppression bills do not simply require identification to vote-they require that a copy of your driver’s license be on file at the elections office in order for you to register.

I don’t know how many of you have worked on a registration drive before. If you have, you know it can be hard work. Imagine now that your task included dragging a photocopier behind you as you knocked on doors or stood in front of the Safeway. It’s virtually impossible.

Other states are imposing fines on groups or organizations who don’t return voter registration forms to the state within 48 hours. Already major organizations have decided that they simply cannot conduct voter registration drives in restrictive states like Florida. In swing states like Florida.

The moneyed interests behind these laws would have you believe that they are a rational response to voter fraud. (The fact is that more people have claimed to see a UFO than to have witnessed a case of voter fraud.)

This attack may not be a rational response to voter fraud, but it is fueled by very rational interest.

Supporters of voter suppression responding to the growing diversity in this country, and the political power of this new population. They are afraid of the more inclusive America that the future holds.

And they know that coming after your right to vote is the first step to coming after so many of your other rights. That includes the right of workers to organize; the right of a woman to make decisions about her body; the right to walk down the street without fear of being harassed for papers; the right to stand alongside your loved one in his hospital room; the right to be yourself at work.

Jim Crow started with voter suppression. This is why the “Southern Strategy” started with voter suppression. And this is why in this moment; when so many of our rights are under attack in so many places all at once, anti-civil rights, anti-human rights extremists are seeking to suppress our vote so that they can suppress our other rights.

We have had one major victory already. The Department of Justice rejected South Carolina’s proposed photo ID bill because it would have disproportionately disenfranchised African American voters. Last week Attorney General Eric Holder joined me in South Carolina and promised to protect the vote against overt and subtle forms of discrimination.

We are focused on protecting the vote but also on continuing GOTV and voter registration efforts. The heart of the civil rights movement has always been empowering future generations to move beyond the petty divisions of the past.

Dr. King said that “Voting is the foundation stone for political action.” We will do all we can to protect the right to vote so that we can protect our other rights. Not only for ourselves, but for our brothers and sisters in the LGBT community as well.

And we must do this with vigor and urgency or we risk losing all that we have gained and all that we stand gain.

Because as I stand here today those of us who stand for freedom, justice and equality are in the midst of an epic battle against those who wish to redefine the moral center of our county.

We are in a battle with those who seem more inspired by our nations dim past that its inspired future.

And although these forces are equipped with limitless resources, the ability to influence our elections with no transparency, unedited mass media echo chambers, and even lies-lies created to hurl fear and hate-often where there is despair and uncertainty.

We can never allow ourselves to be discouraged, distracted or divided.

Because history has taught us that we can never win the battle for justice, equality, and freedom when we our soldiers are defined and limited by our individual silos.   But that we can only emerge victorious when we unite for the common good of all.   We emerge victorious, when we build large diverse coalitions who dare to dream bold dreams and win big victories.

So let us move forward in unity and with the collective vision and determination to build the America that we dream for all of her children.

An America where everyone can get a good job,

And where everyone can obtain a quality education.

An America where everyone has access to health care and communities with clean air and water.

An America in which opportunities are afforded to all.

And most importantly, an America in which no a person’s race, creed, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity— she or he can live in a country free of discrimination—where her or his basic human rights and dignity are respected.

As I close and take my seat, let us all recall the words of the late great Harvey Milk-who said “It takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no survey to remove repressions.”

Let us remember those words and carry them forward in our fight to justice, equality, and freedom.

Thank you and God Bless

Citizen lobbyists hard at work.

For many activists it was not only their first time lobbying, but also their first time in our nation’s capital. The day was energizing and the presence of hundreds of LGBT people and allies meeting with their elected officials on Capitol Hill demonstrated our movement’s political power. In addition to their lobby meetings, participants heard from Hill staffers and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) about the importance of sharing their stories to change hearts and minds to ultimately pass legislation that will benefit LGBT people.

Let's hear it for our citizen lobbyists creating change on Capitol Hill!

In addition to Lobby Day, there were more than 12 day-long institutes on a variety of topics ranging from “Building a Queer AAPI Movement” to “LGBTQ Youth Organizing.” And Twitter was full of great tips that came out of the New Media Training Institute through the #cc12 hashtag!

The evening events kicked-off with a reception opened by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who welcomed conference attendees to Baltimore.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake with Dana Beyer, director of Gender Rights Maryland.

After the mayor spoke, Maryland’s First Lady Katie O’Malley addressed the crowd. She highlighted her support for LGBT rights, mentioning the need to win the freedom to marry in the state, combating violence and discrimination against transgender people, and the need to create safe spaces for LGBT youth.

Maryland First Lady Katie O'Malley with Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey.

The last event of the day was the opening plenary, which began with a prayer led by the First Nations Collective.

The First Nations Collective

Task Force Deputy Executive Director of External Affairs Russell Roybal and Creating Change Director Sue Hyde then gave the official welcome to the 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change. Hyde welcomed the crowd of nearly 3,000 LGBT allies “to the most fabulous, fierce, fresh and fun confab of transgender, bisexual, lesbian, gay and straight allies ever.” Meanwhile, Roybal reminded the participants that “we convene again to continue our march toward freedom, justice and equality for all people.”

Hyde and Roybal introduced the mistress of ceremonies, “Lady Ha Ha” Kate Clinton, who joked about the latest occurrences in the LGBT community. Clinton then welcomed the host committee co-chairs Sharon Brackett, the Rev. Mother Meredith Moises, the Rev. Sam Offer and Matthew Thorn, who talked about the work leading up to the conference.

The opening plenary keynote speech was delivered by Benjamin Jealous, president and chief executive officer of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. As an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights and under his leadership, the NAACP launched its LGBT Equality Task Force in 2009, a partnership with the National Black Justice Coalition. Most recently, the Baltimore NAACP chapter joined the steering committee of Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the broad and diverse coalition working to bring civil marriage equality to Maryland.

Jealous gave a rousing speech in which he talked about how the “LGBT struggle is a cause dear to my heart,” and how me must fight to end racial, economic, sexual and gender discrimination because “oppression is oppression is oppression.” He also talked about the importance of continuing to fight united until all people “can live in a country free of discrimination, hatred or violence.” Jealous delivered one of the most applauded lines of his speech when he said that any “child who is being bullied in school doesn’t have access to a fair education.”

Watch a clip of Jealous’s speech:

Closing the plenary, Hyde handed the Susan J. Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement to “our good friend Joan E. Biren, known around the world by her photographic byline, JEB.” Biren is a prolific photographer whose photographs became the book, Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians, the first collection of photographs of lesbians by a lesbian ever published. She also expanded her documentary palette by making films and founding Moonforce Media. Highlighting the scope of her work, Hyde poignantly said, “for four decades, Joan E. Biren has given us the most simple and profound gift: permanent and cherished images of ourselves.”

Joan E. Biren accepting the Susan J. Hyde Award.

Following the plenary, participants received a special treat — a Creating Change cake by Charm City Cakes.

The Creating Change cake from Charm City Cakes!

Task Force's Sarah Reece celebrating in front of the more than 105,000 signatures gathered to put a marriage equality initiative on the ballot in Maine

The Maine Freedom to Marry Coalition today announced it was moving forward with placing a marriage equality amendment on the November 2012 ballot. At a press conference in the statehouse in Augusta, the coalition said it had gathered more than 105,000 signatures, nearly twice the necessary number required to place the “Act to Allow Marriage Licenses for Same-Sex Couples and Protect Religious Freedom” on the general election ballot in November. If the measure qualifies, it will mark the first time a marriage equality initiative has been voted on at the ballot box.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has deep roots in Maine that stretch back more than a decade with side-by-side work to train leaders and provide staff and financial support for the ultimately successful effort to pass and defend the state’s non-discrimination law and the work to build public opinion to a majority of support for marriage equality for same-sex couples.

Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey said:

Maine is poised to make history, and we are proud to be part of this journey — a long journey filled with nitty-gritty hard work, poignant and personal conversations about our lives and why marriage is so meaningful, occasional setbacks, and a jaw-dropping supply of energy, tenacity and inspiration. Changing hearts and minds may sound like a saggy cliche, but in reality that’s what is happening. A transformation is unfolding thanks to years of effort, all building toward this moment. We are on the brink of marriage equality in Maine. We now have this all-important push toward November 2012. This means more doors to knock on, more conversations to have, and yes, more opportunities to change hearts and minds. We look forward to continuing to support our state partner EqualityMaine and the entire marriage coalition to get this done. Loving, committed Maine same-sex couples and their families deserve nothing less.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund have invested significantly in the work of EqualityMaine to build greater political power for the LGBT community:

In 2009, the Task Force Foundation:

• Gave $82,000 to launch and grow EqualityMaine’s first-ever voter identification project. The grant enabled EqualityMaine to hire its first statewide organizer to recruit and train hundreds of volunteers to talk with voters face to face about marriage equality and identify voters supportive of the issue. As a result, EqualityMaine has built a list of more than 50,000 identified supporters of the freedom to marry, one of the largest such state lists in the country.
• Organized the Maine LGBT Power Summit in late April, which brought together 140 leaders from across the country, including more than 70 Mainers, for training in campaign fundamentals. At the summit, participants walked door to door and spoke with more than 1,100 voters about marriage equality.
• Trained more than 30 additional Maine leaders at Task Force Power Summits in 2004-2005 to support EqualityMaine’s voter identification project.

In 2009, the Task Force Action Fund:

• Sent organizers to work on the ground in Maine in February 2009 to launch EqualityMaine’s marriage equality field program. Following the April Power Summit, several Task Force organizers remained in Maine to provide additional field support in the final days leading up to the Senate vote.
• Provided $20,000 to EqualityMaine in seed money in January 2009 to hire nine field organizers.
• Dedicated a Task Force organizer to work full time for one month in the No on 1 campaign in 2005, which successfully defeated a referendum that would have repealed its statewide nondiscrimination law.
• Contributed $93,000 to the No on 1 campaign.

In 2005, the Task Force Foundation:

• Gave $75,000 in grants to Equality Maine to identify pro-LGBT voters.
• Gave $94,500 in cash contributions to Maine Won’t Discriminate to fight the repeal effort.
• Sent seasoned staff to work on the campaign, some of whom took key roles in volunteer recruitment and the GOTV campaign.
• Led intensive training of more than two dozen Maine activists.
• Operated 19 phone-bank sessions from New York and Washington, D.C., involving 198 volunteers and live contacts with 3,656 pro-LGBT voters in Maine.

NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous.

More than 2,500 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates from across the country will converge in Baltimore, Md., on Jan. 25-29 for the 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change. It is the largest convening of LGBT activists and allies in the country.

Benjamin Jealous, president and chief executive officer of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, will deliver the opening plenary keynote speech on Thursday, Jan. 26. Jealous is an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights.

A major conference draw is the annual “State of the Movement” address, which will be given by National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey on Friday, Jan. 27. She will present a vision for the year ahead in the struggle for LGBT equality, and for social and economic justice.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan will address Creating Change on Saturday, Jan. 28, where he will discuss federal efforts to advance the rights and well-being of LGBT people and their families at HUD and beyond.

Also on Saturday, there will be a plenary panel focusing on international LGBT issues, a topic that is making national and global headlines of late following a Presidential Memorandum from President Obama and a historic speech from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the importance of international LGBT human rights. Cary Alan Johnson, executive director of the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission, will moderate a discussion featuring LGBT organizers from around the world.

Other conference highlights

The conference kicks off with hundreds of LGBT rights supporters converging on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Jan. 26, for Creating Change’s inaugural Lobby Day. They will advocate for passage of critical legislation in the areas of employment nondiscrimination, pay equity, anti-bullying and safe schools. A coalition of LGBT groups, as well as the ACLU, SEIU and the American Association of University Women, will join to support and sponsor the Creating Change Lobby Day.

Faith leaders and laypeople from numerous denominations and spiritual practices will convene for Practice Spirit, Do Justice, held in conjunction with the conference. Religious-based arguments are often used to undermine LGBT equality. Participants will strategize on how to bring more faith allies into the LGBT movement and how best to counter religious-based bigotry.

Actor and singer Wilson Cruz will close out the conference on Sunday, Jan. 29, with Love, Child…, a musical performance. Cruz has earned both critical acclaim and a loyal fan base throughout his career in television, film and stage productions. He won the hearts of audiences with his portrayal of Rickie Vasquez, the first openly gay teen on primetime television, in the ABC series My So-Called Life. Onstage, he took over the role of “Angel” both on Broadway and in the West Coast premiere of Rent.

The National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change also features hundreds of skills-building workshops, more than 15 additional daylong institutes, networking sessions and much more.

There will be sessions on topics such as immigration equality, lessons learned for organizing, racial justice, social media training, online campaigning, and an interactive art space! You can tweet about your experience at the conference, or follow the conversation on twitter by using the #cc12 hashtag.

Every day, judges in courtrooms across the country decide cases that affect our lives. Courts decide issues such as whether under the law, our partners are entitled to health insurance, we can adopt, marry, be fired from our jobs or refused employment because of our gender identity and when, if ever, the law allows us to be treated differently than other Americans.

Federal judges who are deciding the trajectory of these important issues are becoming increasingly more conservative – hand selected by the religious right and extremists focused on reshaping the law. For years, conservatives have put a strong emphasis on who dons the robes in the federal court, understanding that a lifetime appointment can have just as important an impact as expensive legislation that takes years to pass.

Take for example the Affordable Care Act, advocates from across the progressive movement invested years and millions of dollars to get legislation to the President’s desk. Since the legislation has passed, 6 federal district court judges have ruled on its constitutionality and whether or not portions of it can even take effect. 3 of those judges ruled the legislation was unconstitutional and could not be implemented– I will let you guess who selected those jurists for the bench. No matter what the issue: adoption, marriage, equal pay or equality – the courts will continue to play a role in shaping the course of our lives. It is time for the LBGT community to have a say when it comes to who gets a lifetime appointment.

Going to Creating Change? Come hear what you can do to influence the make-up of the federal courts at our panel. Please join us for information on current judicial vacancies that can be filled with LBGTQ friendly judges and how you and your organization can get involved today to help influence the process. Our session will provide you with an overview of how federal judges are selected, where and how you can influence the process and why courts matter for the issues you care about. We will share recent nationwide polling done on the issue as well as talking points to make you a more effective advocate. No matter the issue, the courts will continue to make decisions that affect our lives – it’s time for you to weigh in and Stack the Deck in favor of Creating Change! Join us for “Stacking the Deck: Why Conservatives are starting to win in the courts, and what we can do about it” on Friday, Jan. at 10:45 a.m. in Blake, Level 2.