This weekend I atended the LGBT Media conference in Philadelphia with 70 other print and internet outlets for a full day of panels on the theme of coalition building. The full list of attendees is available on Bilerico, but some notable national outlets include The Daily Kos, Huffington Post Gay Voices, Buzzfeed and Towleroad.
On Friday night, the group had our first networking opportunity and dinner at the Comcast Center where we were addressed by the cable company’s Vice President and General Manager of Multicultural Video Services Ruben Mendiola. We were shown a video of Comcast/NBC-owned clips from gay-friendly shows like The New Normal, 30 Rock and acquired properties like The Kids Are All Right. The support LGBT employees and viewers of Comcast was made apparent, which was the reason we were dining in their restaurant with a view of the city.
While we were eating, legendary activists Cleve Jones and David Mixner spoke to us and answered questions from audience members which revolved around nominating board members of LGBT organizations, labor conditions in the U.S. and how to engage queer youth. It was too brief for some of the heavy topics, but we still had a full day of processing ahead on Saturday.
Philadelphia Gay Tourism were visibly enthusiastic about our being in the city of brotherly love, and we were staying downtown close to the Gayborhood, which was also where the conference was held. Saturday we convened for eight hours to hear panels on LGBT Issues in the Age of Immigration Reform, Thinking Global: LGBT Action on International Issues, Moving Beyond Trans 101 and LGBT Workers and the Labor Movement with speakers from organizations like Trans-Latina Coalition, The DOMA Project, National Immigration Forum, Outserve-SLDN, National Center for Transgender Equality, Services & Advocacy for GLBT Seniors
