by Jeff B. White
Last month in San Diego at the annual gathering of Pride and LGBTQ+ serving organizations from across the western United States of America and Mexico, NEAT Founder and Executive Director Brian Silva spoke about the clear bridge between Pride and advocacy:
“Pride is a protest. But Pride is also joy. We cannot have that joy without protesting for our rights. But we cannot protest for our rights without having that joy in our hearts.”
Brian gave the closing address to the CAPI conference at the invitation of the host San Diego Pride and spoke about NEAT's approach to collaborative action for LGBTQ+ Justice and how Pride organizations can use NEAT to deliver year-round programming. He discussed how, in the current landscape, collaboration can be a powerful tool for Pride groups to engage year round.
"San Diego Pride is an organization that proudly utilizes our staff, resources, and grassroots models of organizing to engage in education and advocacy work all year round. It is a model of Pride we are hoping to instill in Pride organizations around the world. NEAT's ability to make that work accessible to organizations of every size meant we knew that having Brian Silva speak at our closing plenary was going to be a perfect fit," said Fernando Lopez, San Diego Pride Executive Director.
Last month in San Diego at the annual gathering of Pride and LGBTQ+ serving organizations from across the western United States of America and Mexico, NEAT Founder and Executive Director Brian Silva spoke about the clear bridge between Pride and advocacy:
“Pride is a protest. But Pride is also joy. We cannot have that joy without protesting for our rights. But we cannot protest for our rights without having that joy in our hearts.”
Brian gave the closing address to the CAPI conference at the invitation of the host San Diego Pride and spoke about NEAT's approach to collaborative action for LGBTQ+ Justice and how Pride organizations can use NEAT to deliver year-round programming. He discussed how, in the current landscape, collaboration can be a powerful tool for Pride groups to engage year round.
"San Diego Pride is an organization that proudly utilizes our staff, resources, and grassroots models of organizing to engage in education and advocacy work all year round. It is a model of Pride we are hoping to instill in Pride organizations around the world. NEAT's ability to make that work accessible to organizations of every size meant we knew that having Brian Silva speak at our closing plenary was going to be a perfect fit," said Fernando Lopez, San Diego Pride Executive Director.
Brian gave an overview of our current community state including the three Title VII employment cases before the Supreme Court and anti-trans legislation that would impose fines and even jail time for parents and doctors who provide medically appropriate care for transgender kids - something the Alabama Senate just did. In other states, laws are being proposed that would ban trans athletes from playing sports on same gendered teams. He brought up that with 26 transgender and gender nonconforming people being murdered last year, fatal violence against transgender people, especially against trans people of color, has been on the rise.
"I was extremely grateful when I was asked to speak to my fellow advocates about how we can engage and work together towards a common goal of equality and justice for all Americans," said Brian.
During his talk, Brian pointed out that the model created by NEAT facilitates the ability for a year round push for education, advocacy, and outreach, instead of only in the month of June. As well, he says that NEAT’s proven tactics and simple training makes it possible for Prides and LGBTQ+ organizations nationwide to utilize our model, instead of rebuilding what we know already works.
"I was extremely grateful when I was asked to speak to my fellow advocates about how we can engage and work together towards a common goal of equality and justice for all Americans," said Brian.
During his talk, Brian pointed out that the model created by NEAT facilitates the ability for a year round push for education, advocacy, and outreach, instead of only in the month of June. As well, he says that NEAT’s proven tactics and simple training makes it possible for Prides and LGBTQ+ organizations nationwide to utilize our model, instead of rebuilding what we know already works.
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