LA2010: compelling seminar leaders and all-star entertainment

Los Angeles 2010 – the 20th World Conference of GLBT Jews is shaping up to be quite an event! Sara Felder of San Francisco will headline the entertainment at Saturday night’s gala dinner, with guest entertainers the Gay Gezunt band and the BCC choir. All this will follow the acceptance of the World Congress Leadership Award by California State Senator Mark Leno. Lisa Geduldig has had to cancel her appearance due to an injury. We wish her a speedy recovery and are pleased to announce that Sara Felder will now be our headline entertainer at the Saturday night gala.

Conference Photos by
Long Beach Photographer Drew Faber

Tentative Schedule of Seminar Sessions

[Detailed Session Descriptions]

9:00 am – 10:30 am Shabbat morning services (Hillel - various locations)

10:45 am - 12:00 noon Saturday Session A

1. History of World Congress-
   Michael Levine (chair), Barrett Brick, Beth Cohen, Harvey Cohen, Scott Gansl, Pricilla Golding, Bonnie Kantor, William Wahler, Sandy Warshaw, Lo Woudstra

2. Reclaiming Torah: A lesson in modern day Tikkunim.
   Rabbi Jocee Hudson

3. Spiritual Play with Zvi Bellin - Nehirim's engagement coordinator
   Zvi Bellin

4. Mapping the American LGBT community: Diversity, geography and the laws
   Naomi Goldberg

5. Na’aseh v’Nishma: Excerpts from a queer Jewish memoir
   Sarah B. Burghauser

6. Faith for Equality: How to engage diverse faith communities in policy change
   Kerry Chaplin

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm Lunch

2:00 pm – 3:15 pm Saturday Session B

1. Session for Shabbat (title to be announced)
   JB Sacks

2. A review of programming and best practices for the facilitation and promotion of GLBT inclusion in Jewish institutions.
   Asher Gellis/ Dr. Joel Kushner

3. Kweer words-Writing new liturgy and telling sacred stories
   Andrew Ramer

4. Telling Our Stories, Healing our Wounds, Finding Our Souls
   Rabbi Carla Howard

5. How do I advocate for my kids in the mainstream world?
   Tara Rose, Robin Berkovitz

3:45 pm – 5:00 pm Saturday Session C

1. Improvisation workshop: Gay/Jewish theater
   Terry Baum

2. What LGBT Jews need from LGBT and Jewish communities as we are aging
   Sandy Warshaw

3. Persecution and refugees: What international LGBT community must learn from the Jewish experience
   Neil Grungras

4. Playing the Game: Men who loved men in the Middle Ages
   Maggie Anton

5. Be fruitful and multiply: Sperm donors, surrogates, and what you need to know about making mishpocha
   David Eden

6. Building A Wider Bridge
   Arthur Slepian

9:15 am – 10:30 am Sunday Session D

1. Film: Ruthie and Connie Every Room In the House
   Ruthie Berman and Connie Kurtz

2. Gay revolt at Denver City Council --- and the beginnings of an organized gay community
   Gerald A. Gerash

3. Same gender marriage: Issues of Jewish law and justice/Jews for Marriage Equality in the Fight Against Prop. 8
   Robin Podolsky/Steve Krantz, PhD/Rabbi J.B. Sacks

4. Building community: The California Men’s Gathering model
   Barry Schoenfeld

5. The science of sexual orientation
   Richard Lippa

6. “Thou shalt not put a stumbling block before the blind”
   Corinne Blackmer

10:45 am - 12:00 noon Sunday Session E

1. Film: Ruthie and Connie Every Room In the House (continued)
   Ruthie Berman and Connie Kurtz

2. Gay revolt at Denver City Council --- and the beginnings of an organized gay community (continued)
   Gerald A. Gerash

3. Signal through noise
   Howard Rosenman

4. Getting our history out of the closet
   Mark Bowman

5. Presentation about Be’chol Lashon
   Davi Cheng

6. Beyond the pink: the next generation of young Jewish lesbians in LA
   Elissa Barratt [not Elissa Barrett] and Janelle Eagle

7. Summer joins the past: deserted and abandoned Jewish summer camps
   Albert J. Winn

What an impressive bunch! We’ll have to have a seminar on decision-making to help you decide which seminars to attend!

Conference registration is ongoing. For those who have already registered, but have not yet paid, please do so as soon as possible. Don't forget to join us on Facebook for ongoing news, social networking, and updates.

We encourage scholarship fund donations so as to make the conference as accessible as possible, and we also encourage the donation of frequent flier miles, which could be used to help participants and presenters travel to LA for the conference

The conference committee for LA2010 is pleased to announce that we will be honoring California State Senator Mark Leno with the second World Congress Leadership Award for his long career advocating GLBT rights and inclusion. Senator Leno’s path to public service included two years of rabbinic training at Hebrew Union College, which gives him a unique perspective on the role of gays and lesbians in the Jewish and larger world. His work in Sacramento on issues of social justice is evidently influenced by his Judaic values, and it is this contribution that the World Congress of GLBT Jews wants to recognize. Senator Leno’s support of public education, accessible post-secondary education, environmental and energy issues, and quality affordable healthcare, along with his leadership on same-gender marriage make him a fine candidate for this esteemed award.

Senator Leno will accept the World Congress Leadership Award at the gala dinner on Saturday night, August 14, at LA2010, the 20th World Conference of GLBT Jews, which is to take place on the UCLA campus from August 13-15, 2010.

Presenting the keynote address at the Friday night dinner will be Elissa Barrett, Executive Director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance. Ms. Barrett’s melding of social justice work, and a commitment to both the LGBT community and the Jewish community make her a perfect choice for keynote speaker, and we look forward to her inspirational words. Ms. Barrett has become a beacon of tikkun olam, and has spoken out on many issues around the world – from international human rights to local fair housing to LGBT rights in California. She has brought the Progressive Jewish Alliance into the California fight for marriage equality, including the PJA-sponsored Tu B’Av Summer Love In. For all these reasons, Elissa Barrett will be a terrific keynote speaker.

We are also working with the Jewish Historical Society to offer “The Los Angeles Jewish GLBT Experience” after the conference.  This unique bus tour will depart from the UCLA Hillel at 2 pm Sunday and return there at 7 pm, at a cost of $50 per person, as space allows.

For those looking to stay onsite for the weekend, you will want to book soon at the UCLA Guest House – our rooms there are limited and will fill up fast.  When that fills up, we also have a block of rooms at the West Hollywood Ramada.  Home hospitality is available too!  And we are thrilled to announce American Airlines as our official airline, offering a 5% discount on their lowest fares to the Los Angeles area. More information on these subjects can be found on The Conference page.

Our conference is to be held at the warm and welcoming Hillel at UCLA, a spacious and modern three-floor building on the east side of the UCLA campus, which can accommodate a large group of 200 or more for services, seminars, and kosher meals. We are also working with the UCLA Faculty Center across the street as a venue for our Saturday evening gala dinner and entertainment. World-class speakers and leaders in the Jewish and GLBT communities will be giving seminars and will be welcoming the world to our conference.

Exciting highlights of our conference will include a splendid variety of activities, including:

• Warm and welcoming erev shabbat services, led by our wonderful clergy
• Keynote Speaker Elissa Barrett of the Progressive Jewish Alliance
• California Senator Mark Leno to be honored with the World Congress Leadership Award
• General sessions
• A variety of fascinating breakout sessions
• Saturday evening havdalah, gala dinner, and stellar entertainment
• Performances by the community klezmer band Gay Gezunt, and by the Beth Chayim Chadashim choir
• Four delicious meals are included
• Socializing, networking, and meeting new friends
• Time to explore the UCLA campus, Westwood Village, the beaches, and West Hollywood

The conference is going to be held on the campus of UCLA, which is close to the beaches as well as West Hollywood. Additionally, the greater Los Angeles area offers a plethora of interesting attractions and diversions.