Unity 2009 Request for Proposals Now Open!!

UNITY CONFERENCE 2009 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The Southeastern Regional Unity Conference is an annual gathering of progressive lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer identified people and their allies in the Southeast to discuss the intersections of gender and sexuality with ability, age, class, faith, health, and race/ethnicity; strategies for effective grassroots organizing; and to discuss work that other LGBTIQ activists are doing in the Southeast. In generating this dialogue, the Unity Conference serves to foster a progressive Southeastern LGBTIQ movement that affirms and reflects all aspects of the identities of LGBTIQ people.

This year's conference will take place at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill from Friday, April 3 to Sunday, April 5. The Conference is a project of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender - Straight Alliance, a student group at UNC-Chapel Hill. It is run entirely by students, though is intended for a broader audience of LGBTIQ and allied community members.
The theme of the 2009 Unity Conference is Sweet T: Transgressing, Transforming, and Transcending Gender and Sexuality in the South. We invite proposals that explore the fluidity of sexual and gender identity in the media, politics, health, community organizing, activism, and academia. Presenters can choose to present in academic paper or workshop format. To submit a proposal, please visit our online RFP form. The deadline for proposals is December 1, 2008.

If you have any questions regarding proposal submissions, please email joy.messinger@gmail.com and put "Unity 2009 RFP" in the subject line. Registration information and the conference website will be posted soon.

UNITY 2009 Theme!!!

Howdy! For many of us on the Unity Conference Planning Committee it's an exciting time of the year. We have began meeting to plan the annual Unity Conference scheduled for April 3-5th, 2009. Haley has wrangled in an amazing group of dedicated individuals and we are all excited to plan a cutting edge educational conference. We were able to narrow down a focus for the year and chose to focus our attention back to the south and take a look at gender and sexuality! It’s a broad scope that will include many different workshops that will range from educational, inspirational, to just plain fun as we seek creative ways to discuss sexuality, gender, and their many intersections related to this unique region known as “the south.”

So if I can get a drum roll please the name for the 2009 Unity conference is:

Sweet T: Transgressing, Transforming, and Transcending Gender and Sexuality in the South

That’s right! So I hope y’all hope you will begin making plans to join us as we saddle up our horses and embark on this exciting journey of transgressing society’s binary based gender and sexuality roles to transforming them through education enabling us to transcend beyond labels to connect with other activist as we work to end oppression and demand equality in the south!

Update!

Hey Everyone!
So here's a little update to bring everyone up to speed...

We've had a couple of meetings thus far, and we're super-excited about Unity! We settled on a name for this year's conference:

Sweet T: Transgressing, Transforming, and Transcending Gender and Sexuality in the South

So as you can see, we'll be focusing on gender issues and trans issues this year - we're pumped to swing the spotlight around and generate some active and much-needed discussion!

In the meantime we're starting to get into the nitty-gritty parts of planning, breaking tasks into specific chunks for committee members to take on, brainstorming fundraising ideas and thinking about the big things we'd like to see happen in April. We're really looking to bring the grassroots networking back to Unity, and we want to get some highly participatory workshops for all you fine folks.

Hopefully everyone is having a wonderful October, and we'll keep you posted!!! See you in April!

It begins!

The Southeastern Regional Unity Conference is an annual gathering of progressive lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer identified people and their allies. We have workshops, performances, parties, speakers, meals, and all sorts of safe space. Join us!

We come together to play, network, learn from inspiring leaders in the community, and talk about everything from confronting our own racism to challenging biased laws around the globe. There will be dancing, free food, radical action, community building, and so much collective energy.

Unity 2009 will take place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from April 3 - 5.

This blog will keep folks updated about Unity plans and progress and will be a space to share ideas, thoughts, and excitement.