It’s so hard to write on weekends. I don’t have as much of a need to be distracted from life at divinity school…I have plenty of other distractions on the weekend, not to mention I have less material to work with…

This weekend has been a fantastic one. Most fantastic was yesterday, when I went to the Equality North Carolina Conference. I again was able to participate in a collective instability, that-when coming together-becomes stable and powerful. This collective stability that brings hope to the often lonely instability that is my life.

The Equality North Carolina Conference brought together LGBT North Carolinians and allies to share stories and strategize about how to advance civil rights in our state. It was held at Duke Law School, and over 250 people attended.

The conference started with a speech by the director Equality NC, about the state of equality and the future of it. One thing that shocked me was the comparison between Equality NC, and the Family Policy Council, a North Carolina organization with the goal of keeping rights away from LGBT people. The annual budget for this organization, which is a Focus on the Family Affiliate, is $812,000.00 a year, and this is in addition to the 5 other anti-gay organizations in the state. Whereas the budget for Equality NC is $262,000.00. We have less resources, but we will win the fight, because we are right.

We heard a inspiring and fascinating message from Representative Patricia Todd, the first openly gay representative in Alabama.

Ridiculous, huh? And what in the world is a bulldigger. But, despite the opposition, she still won, and holds her seat with dignity, representing her constituents are focusing on the rights of all who are victims of injustice. She recently introduced a bill to raise the minimum wage in Alabama to a living wage.

After the opening session, I went to a panel dicussion called “Keeping the Faith: Working In and With Religious Groups.” It was encouraging to know I am not alone.

In the afternoon, I went to a panel “Still Crossing those Bridges: Facing Ethnic and Racial Barriers”. It was absolutely fantastic, and reminded and encouraged me of the need of justice in this country and this world as a whole.

That night, I got to go to a fancy gala. I got to meet current and (hopefully) future legislators, including Jim Neal, who will hopefully take Elizabeth “do-nothing” Dole’s seat, and eat delicious food and drink free champagne. It was a wonderful time of meeting people who were successful and strong, who were also gay or transgender. It was incredibly encouraging.

So, that was my weekend. Good times. I’ll be blogging more this week :-).