About 500 people – educators, youth and other allies of the LGBT communities – are expected to attend the 12th annual PrideWorks Youth Conference Tuesday, Nov. 16 at the Westchester County Center, White Plains.
The full-day event is designed for educators, school staff, parents and students – lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth (LGBTQ) – and their straight allies. The goal is to teach safety and respect for all people, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
The event is open to the public, but pre-registration is encouraged. For more information and/or to register, go to www.PrideWorksForYouth.org, call (914) 962-7888 or email .
Registration is $100 for adults and $45 for students. Limited scholarships are available. A continental breakfast and buffet lunch are included in the fees.
The conference is organized by GLSEN Hudson Valley, a chapter of the national Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network; PFLAG Westchester, a chapter of the national organization of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; and Center Lane (drop in center for LGBTQ youth), a program of Westchester Jewish Community Services. The Office of the Westchester County Executive is also a sponsor of the conference.
The conference will open with a keynote address at 9:30 a.m. by Chely Wright, the first major country music performer to come out publicly.
Throughout the day, there will be 25 workshops, addressing topics such as:
· Internet safety
· Healthy relationships
· Transgender and gender-different youth
· Growing a gay-straight alliance in a school
· Gay parents
· Coming out
· Homelessness among LGBT youth
· Bullying and violence
· The gay Hispanic experience, the gay Caribbean experience and the gay African American experience
· Spotting signs of depression
· Counseling gay and questioning-youth (for adults only)
· Working with transgender and gender-different youth (for adults only).
The conference is endorsed by the Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association, National Association of Social Workers Westchester Division, the Hudson River Teacher Center, Putnam-Northern Westchester Guidance Center, New York Association of School Psychologists, Westchester-East Putnam Region PTA and the New York State School Social Workers Association.
Support for the conference has been provided by the County Executive's Office, Wim De Pauw, Norman E. Friedman, The Guidance Center, IBM, Verizon, The LOFT LGBT Community Services Center, Westchester County Youth Bureau, Zyloware Eyewear of Port Chester and Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester.