LGBT Blogger Summit Participant Bios
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Rachel Asher
Zamna Avila
Jim Barrett
Kevin Barry
Wayne Besen
Adam Bink
Alex Blaze
Helen Boyd
is the author of My Husband Betty (Seal Press, 2007) and She's Not the Man I Married (Seal Press, 2007). Her blog (en)gender can be found at myhusbandbetty.com [1]. She also started Trans Group Blog, which is exactly what it sounds like, & which can be found at transgroupblog.blogspot.com [2].
Tamara N. Boynton
Tamara N. Boynton is a sexual health educator and loves to write. Tamara worked with the Lesbian Resource Centers Healthcare Provider Training (Durham, NC) program helping doctors to become culturally competent with the LGBT community. She also served as the co-advisor of BRIDE, Bennett College's gay-straight alliance. Participating with the students at the 2006 HRC HBCU Conference prompted her to come out of the closet. She says of her decision, "How could I help the students if I was afraid to help myself?"
At That Gay Girl Tamara[3], this North Carolina-based freelance writer blogs about her relationships with the important people in her life. She launched her freelance writing career with her first article featured in the December 2008 issue of Curve Magazine. Tamara also served as a panelist at the Feminist Majority Foundation's 2008 Women of Color Conference; the topic: "LGBT Women of Color Combating a Heterosexist Society".
Tamara received a BA in Psychology from Bennett College and a MPH in Community Health Education from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Her research interests include: lgbt students on hbcu campuses, lesbian health, religion, relationships, sex and money.
Feel free to add Tamara as a friend on: Twitter [4] or Facebook[5].
Tony Brescia
Tahlib Britton
Bil Browning
Bil Browning is a long-time LGBT activist and writer. He is the co-owner and Editor-In-Chief of The Bilerico Project [6]and Bilerico-Indiana [7]. He and his partner, Jerame Davis, live with their teenage daughter in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Bil has fought for gay rights since coming out in high school in rural Indiana. He followed the Clinton campaign across America with ACT UP in 1992 and has organized many protests and direct actions over the years since. Bil has led several grassroots coalitions including the one to pass an inclusive human rights ordinance in Indianapolis and has served in the leadership of quite a few LGBT organizations.
A full-time blogger, Bil does consulting work for internet, fundraising and political projects. He is a non-practicing vegetarian and occasionally sticks his foot in his mouth. You can add Bil as a friend on Twitter [8], Facebook [9], or LinkedIn [10].
Ron Buckmire
Ron Buckmire has been a “militant homosexual activist” since 1991, when he created the Queer Resources Directory (http://www.qrd.org), the first comprehensive directory of LGBT and HIV/AIDS information on the Internet. In 2006, he co-founded the Barbara Jordan/ Bayard Rustin Coalition (http://www.JordanRustinCoalition.org), a Black LGBT advocacy organization in Los Angeles. He currently serves as Board President for the Center for Health Justice and Jordan/Rustin Coalition as well as Secretary of the Board of Overnight Productions, which is responsible for the weekly radio newsmagazine This Way Out. He has previously served on the Board of Directors of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Equality California and the PlanetOut Corporation. In his day job, Ron serves as the Chair of the Mathematics Department of Occidental College, Barack Obama’s first alma mater. He blogs at http://MadProfessah.com about LGBT politics, tennis, movies, books and restaurants.
Nick Cargo
Ben Carver Carver
Rizalyn Casper
Lynn Casper is the Social Media Strategist for Working Films [11], a national nonprofit that links documentary films to activism. She is also the co-founder of the Be Yr Own Hero [12] and Be Yr Own Queero [13] collective which does activist work in the community of Wilmington, North Carolina and surrounding areas. She also hosts a music podcast called "dykes + fags" [14] which features music by queers for queers.
Lynn also writes about the intersection of technology and activism at DigiActive.org [15] and reviews music at OutImpact.com [16]. You can find Lynn on many different social networking sites here: http://www.retaggr.com/Card/LynnCasper
Feel free to add Lynn on twitter [17], facebook [18] and/or linkedin [19].
David Castillo
Greta Christina
Steve Clemons
Josh Cohen
Jusin Cole
Matt Comer
Chad Connally
Michael Crawford
Heather Cronk
Heather is Training Director at the New Organizing Institute. Immediately prior to her work at NOI, Heather worked with PledgeBank.com, a project of mySociety. In this position, Heather was responsible for reaching out to organizations and individuals across the country to encourage use of PledgeBank as a tool for local community organizing and citizen-centered collective action.
Heather's background is in campus organizing, and worked with Idealist.org's campus program, first as an organizer and then as director. In the role of director, Heather coordinated Idealist's work with college students primarily in the United States, involving a unique combination of traveling nationally to train at campuses and conferences, running day-to-day operations for the program, working with a powerful team to organize a 1,500-person national conference on student engagement and activism, and building a strong network of university programs and nonprofit organizations. The majority of her professional experience has been in higher education, helping students find pathways into college activism, socially responsible careers, and meaningful movement-building work. Simultaneous to her work with NOI, Heather is coordinating the IMPACT Conference, formerly known as the COOL Conference and the Idealist Campus Conference.
Jerame Davis
Jerame Davis is the co-owner and tech guru for The Bilerico Project [20] and it's affiliate sites, Bilerico-Indiana [21] and Bilerico-Florida [22]. He built the site template from scratch and has implemented and planned all of the technology needs for the effort. When not occupied with his own site, Jerame is a freelance information technology consultant. He is the systems administrator for IndyNetworx [23], The Bilerico Project’s internet host.
Jerame has served as a board member or in a leadership role in many Indiana LGBT organizations including Pride At Work, Columbus (IN) G/SA, Indiana Fairness Network, Indiana Equality and Indiana Stonewall Democrats. He has provided technological support for several local not-for-profit organizations and LGBT groups.
He and his partner, Bil Browning, live in Indianapolis with their teenage daughter. They share a century old home with four dogs and a cat.
Paul DeMiglio
Lisa Derrick
Andres Duque
Michael Eichler
Serena Fereewomyn
David Fiderer
Eric Francis
Dan Furmansky
John Gascot
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Michael Hamar
In my full time profession, I am an attorney specializing in all phases of real estate law, business law, commercial transactions and estate planning matters, particularly for LGBT couples. I am admitted to practice law in Virginia, Alabama, and Texas. I currently have my own law firm, although in the past I have been a member of large law firms and also in-house counsel for an oil company back in the early 1980's.
As my blog's name - Michael-in-Norfolk - Coming Out in Mid-Life (http://michael-in-norfolk.blogspot.com/) - indicates, I "came out" in mid-life. I initially began the blog to discuss my personal story and in the process hopefully help others making the coming out journey to avoid some of my missteps and to also be a sounding board for those still in the closet. Since its inception, the blog has expanded to cover politics, religion, gay rights, current events and other topics. I hope through my blog to help make a diffenence in the quest for equality.
In addition to blogging, I am active in gay rights issues and was a founding member of Hampton Roads Business Outreach ("HRBOR"), a LGBT and LGBT friendly chamer of commerce in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia which is affiliated with the NGLCC and which is growing rapidly. I also recently served as co-chair for the 2008 Equality Virginia Legends Gala Dinner which raised over $45,000 for Equality Virginia.
Attending the summit has been a wonderful experience.
Andy Harley
Terrance Heath
Matt Hennie
Project Q Atlanta (http://www.projectqatlanta.com) launched in September to provide a queer take on the news, sports, information, events, organizations and the juicy dish and buzz that impacts our lives. The site, with its blog PQA Today (http://www.projectqatlanta.com/pqa_today/), focuses on information relevant to GLBT readers in metro Atlanta, the leading gay market in the Southeast. But the content also includes national and international gay news, entertainment and wraps on interesting perspectives from gay blogs across the country. You can also find the site at Twitter (http://twitter.com/ProjectQAtlanta) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/pages/Atlanta-GA/Project-Q-Atlanta/37872284007?ref=s).
Matt is a freelance journalist in Atlanta who worked in gay media for eight years, the last five as editor of Southern Voice. In 2006, he ventured out on his own and later launched Project Q Atlanta. He also posts for Jock Talk Blog at Outsports (http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/).
Todd Heywood
James Hipps
I am the managing editor for GayAgenda.com. I also manage BestGayBlogs.com, which is a clearing house for LGBT blogs, so feel free to send me your blog link and I will be happy run it as a feature. Both sites are owned by Vibe Media, Inc., based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I can be reached at james@vibemedia.net. My personal email is hippster108@hotmail.com. Also, my office # is 800-382-0460 ext. 113. One of the main goals I have for GayAgenda.com is to provide a source for all the latest in LGBT news, issues and commentary. I post interviews weekly and the site is updated daily. Another primary goal for the for GayAgenda.com is to build a true to the sense LGBT community. I see a great deal of segregation, and a lack of community within the LGBT spectrum. I firmly stand behind the thought of strength in numbers. I feel just as strong that if we want to be accepted by those outside of the LGBT community, then we need to accept each other first. We need to put an end to racism, classism, genderism and ageism within our community first, then we will be much stronger and able to make more progress. Alone we can achieve, together we can achieve great things!
Jeremy Hooper
When Jeremy founded Good As You in 2005, he had a two-fold goal in mind. The first half was to unapologetically challenge the anti-gay rhetoric that keeps LGBT people confined to the margins of society. The second was to inject a fresh, new, irreverent approach into the world of gay activism.
Focusing on the message rather than the "attacker," Jeremy prefers to use a lighter, more irreverent tone. Now, that doesn't mean anyone is given a pass. On the contrary, anyone wronging LGBT folks on even the smallest of scales will be challenged at G-A-Y. It does, however, mean that Jeremy will shy away from writing off his opposition as a "bigot," as he sees that to be counterproductive to the goals at hand. And it also means that he'll always look for a laugh in even the dimmest of situations, because let's face it -- we humans are a pretty ridiculous breed.
Is he a journalist? Sometimes.
A gay activist? Yes, in in his own way.
A watchdog? Ruff, ruff.
A social commentator? Sure, that fits too.
A part-time stripper? Only if you don't click enough Blogads.
But the label that most handily fits Jeremy is "unlabel-able dude who wants all to be free to live their truths without fear or persecution." By taking the piss out of the cruel idea that some humans were created unequally, he hopes to take us one step closer to a more peaceful day.
*Recent national press for Jeremy/ G-A-Y:
Profile in HRC's Equality magazine
Feature on the PBS program "In the Life"
*Other writings/ appearances:
A first person piece Jeremy Hooper recently published in The Advocate
"No Time To Cower -- Written for the ACLU's Blog of Rights
*Recent honors:
One of five finalists for the 2008 Brave Nation Young Activist Award
And the best of all: Chosen by anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera as the 10th of the "20...good reasons why Christians (or anyone) should never feel guilty about a single-minded focus in countering the homosexual/transsexual activist and pro-abortion lobbies."
Waymon Hudson
Nan Hunter
Nathaniel James
Heather Jensen
Ramon Johnson
Jake Kaskey
Jake currently coordinates statewide outreach and policy reform initiatives with Equality Advocates Pennsylvania. Jake formerly organized with numerous campaigns including Dick Gephardt’s 2004 Presidential campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He also served as Statewide Field Director for the Missouri House Democratic Campaign Committee. Most recently, Jake worked with the Ohio Education Association targeting emerging exurban communities on behalf of successful gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland in Ohio. In 2006 Jake was featured in “The Advocate” for his past organizing work. Jake is a graduate of American University, earning degrees in Political Science and C.L.E.G.: Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics and Government. Jake is also a graduate of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies’ Campaign Management Institute. You can find Jake on facebook- [24]
Sue Kerr
Social worker by day and lesbian blogger by night, I've been blogging at Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents [25] since 2005. I live and enjoy queer life in Pittsburgh with my partner, Laura (known to my readers as Ledcat) and our small menagerie. I contribute to LezGetReal.com and am one of the co-founders of the Pittsburgh Women's Blogging Society [26]. I have a BA in Political Science from Marymount University and an MSW in Community Organizing from the University of Pittsburgh.
Megan Kinninger
Brian Leubitz
Eric Leven
Eric Leven is one of a new generation of gay men using new media to agitate, educate and organize. He is, in the words of Joe Jervis, creator of the massively popular blog Joe. My. God. “one of the brightest stars of young gay activism in NYC.” By day Eric works as a story producer for reality and documentary programs. On nights and weekends he blogs, writes and films with the goal of empowering gay men and creating a greater sense of community unity. He is creator of the blog KnuckleCrack .
Eric has worked in producing television shows for networks such as: NBC, ABC, MTV, A&E, and FX.
In 2006 Leven wrote, produced and directed an online video PSA entitled "Second Date" which was considered controversial in the fight for Safer Sex awareness and HIV/STDs.
Leven lives in the East Village of New York City and continues to write articles, highlight queer-related events and create media focusing on a vast spectrum of LGBT issues. His main topics include Gay Rights, Gay History, Youth advocacy, Safer Sex and HIV/AIDS discussion.
Rod McCullom
Rod McCullom is a writer, television news producer, and political columnist and frequent contributor to The Advocate, the award-winning LGBT news magazine. His work can also be seen at the magazine's corporate cousin Out.com. On the mainstream side, he has written or produced news at ABC News, Fox, and NBC, as well as at local television stations in New York City and Chicago and several tabloid and talk shows.
Rod McCullom's blog is Rod 2.0, rod20.com. He can be reached at rod.mccullom@gmail.com.
Leah McElrath-Renna
Brian McGinnis
Irene Monroe
Karl-Thomas Musselman
Karl-Thomas Musselman was destined to become the first man on Mars having twice won the prestigious "Right Stuff" award at Space Camp. Al Gore changed all that when he won the 2000 election, sparking a undiscovered passion for politics which led Musselman to his current activism in grassroots Democratic politics. An early supporter of Howard Dean, he first experienced snow canvassing neighborhoods in Iowa and New Hampshire. He would later become Texas' youngest delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2004. In that presidential election, he helped organized one of the most successful student voter registration and GOTV drives ever at the University of Texas-Austin, with one campus precinct reporting 99.58% turnout.
Having written for Burnt Orange Report since 2003, Musselman became its second editor in the summer of 2005. Shortly thereafter, he spearheaded UT-Austin efforts against the state's constitutional ban on equal marriage rights resulting in a 1,000% increase in student turnout with an opposition vote averaging 85% on the measure. In 2006, he served as Tech Director for the Travis County Coordinated Campaign and wrote for the Secretary of State Project which elected 5 new Democratic officeholders in key states across the country. During this time he joined the steering committee of Democracy for Texas.
In 2007, Musselman took on the new role of Publisher of Burnt Orange Report upon his acceptance of employment at ActBlue in Cambridge, MA and graduation from UT-Austin as a Liberal Arts Honors Government major. He has since returned to his native Texas to serve as Online Coordinator for Rick Noriega's US Senate campaign and Campaign Manager for State Representative Mark Strama.
Tobias Packer
Teddy Partridge
Jeffrey Prior
Greg Rae
Cathy Renna
Sam Ritchie
Rashad Robinson
Michael Rogers
Michael Rogers is the Publisher of blogACTIVE-- the web site that reports on hypocrites in the government and PageOneQ, a progressive LGBT news aggregator and original content provider.
Prior to his current work, he was a fundraiser and non-profit executive for a variety of progressive causes. Over the past two decades, Rogers has served as the first development officer of the Harvey Milk High School, the Director of Development of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and Major Gifts Manager for Greenpeace. He is the Director of the LGBT Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative and co-chaired the recent Write to Marry Day.
Zack Rosen
Dana Rudolph
I publish Mombian: Sustenance for Lesbian Moms, which offers a mix of parenting, politics, diversions, and resources for lesbian moms and other LGBT parents.I also write a regular Mombian column for Bay Windows, Between the Lines, Philadelphia Gay News, and Windy City Times newspapers, a regular column on parenting and politics for Logo's 365gay.com news site, and blog at Offsprunglink title, an online parenting humor magazine. I've had pieces appear in the Huffington Post, After Ellen, After Elton, and the Bilerico Project, and my partner Helen and I produce the She Got Me Pregnant video blog for After Ellen. I have reported on non-parenting related news for Bay Windows, and served as consulting editor for the newsletter of Political Research Associates, a progressive think tank.
I live with my partner of more than a dozen years, and am currently staying at home with our five-year-old son. I have over a decade of experience in the online industry, at both the startup and corporate levels. Most recently, I was vice president at Merrill Lynch, developing online marketing and business strategies. I was also the first leader of the firm's global LGBT employee network.
Adele Sakler
A little bit about me:
My name is Adele and "i am thomas, doubter. i am judas, betrayer. i am nicodemus, reluctant in the night. i am st. john of the cross, soul darkened by love. i am a christian. i am not." (i borrowed this from David Henson at the blog unorthodoxology b/c i like what he said and i resonated with this.) i am also "lost, wicked, and depraved but redeemed by the grace and beauty of God." ( i also resonated with this and borrowed it from Eugene Cho at the blog beauty and depravity.)
i am a traveler who currently resides in Richmond, VA with my partner and love of my life, Katryna, and our two dawgs, Lady Dalmation, and Mushu, our Tibetan Spaniel. i am currently going through long-term treatment for Chronic Lyme Disease, other tick borne diseases, and heavy metal toxicity.
i began blogging at Existential Punk (http://www.existentialpunk.com/) in April 2004 as a way to get back in the habit of writing as i was applying for grad school. i also wanted a place to muse, think and rant out loud. i blog about LGBTQ issues, politics postmodern and emerging Christianity/spirituality, Lyme Disease and other Tick-Borne Diseases, Pop culture, and anything else that might catch my fancy. i do not write about my friendships or what cute things my dawgs do.
i dream, hope and believe that we in the LGBTQ community will have full equality and that i will be free from and healed of this HORRIBLE chronic disease that invades my being 24/7.
My interests include:
dawgs, world travel, blogging, sex, music, postmodernism, philosophy, politics, social justice, environment, emerging church/alt. worship, tattoos, piercings, silver jewelry, books/reading, photography (b/w in particular), cool quotes, cinema (especially foreign & indie), running, cigars, pipes, tea, water, coffee, SUSHI, Thai food, Indian food, Italian food, wine, beer, martinis, moby, U2, Thievery Corporation, Paul Frank, apple computers/macs, ipod, life's journey...
Paige Schilt
Scott Schmidt
Bryan Scrafford
John Shields
After resigning his Air Force officer's commission, his friends said John just didn't come out of the closet - he kicked the door down. Moving to West Hollywood, he found himself leading a large group of protesters after Republican Governor Pete Wilson vetoed AB101, which would have provided protection in housing and employment for gays and lesbians across the Golden State. During that autumn in 1991, John immersed himself in knocking on the doors of Congress and writing articles, op-ed pieces and then columns for major gay publications (including Frontiers in LA, the Bay Area Reporter in SF, David Magazine, the Washington Blade and Genre). Those events led him to become a journalist, radio and TV producer, website editor and blogger.
He can be reached at john.f.shields@gmail.com, http://captainjohn.typepad.com, or catch him on Facebook.
George Simpson
George True Simpson is the eCommunications Associate at Equality California, and is currently recovering from the fresh and stinging passage of the discriminatory Proposition 8. He’s looking to the future, however, with optimism, fortitude and fresh ideas. Interests include any and all internet fads/trends/memes and harnessing the extraordinary potential of online organizing to advocate for justice and progressive change. George blogs at The California Ripple Effect, http://www.ca-ripple-effect.blogspot.com.
Pam Spaulding
I'm the editor and publisher of Pam's House Blend (http://pamshouseblend.com), honored as "Best LGBT Blog" in the 2005 and 2006 Weblog Awards. The Blend, which averages 220,000 visitors a month, was launched in July 2004 as a personal response to the anti-gay state of the political landscape. I am also a regular contributor to the progressive blog Pandagon.net and have guest posted/contributed to Firedoglake, The Rude Pundit, The Bilerico Project, Glenn Greenwald's Unclaimed Territory on Salon and written for The Independent Weekly. I live in Durham, NC. More about me here: http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4
Adele M. Stan
I'm the journalist and editor who authors the blog, AddieStan (http://addiestan.blogspot.com). I also blog at The Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adele-stan), and contribute essays to The American Prospect Online (http://www.prospect.org/cs/author?id=1227) and Guardian America's Comment Is Free site (http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/adelestan). I've published essays and articles in The New Republic, the Village Voice, The Nation, The Advocate, Salon.com, the Washington Blade and Mother Jones magazine, as well as on the op-ed pages of the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Daily News. I began media career at Ms. magazine, where she served both on staff and as a contributing editor.
I'm currently in the midst of planning a second career as a lounge-singing ukulele-player. Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/addiestan
Nathan Strang
I'm the "Technological Homosexual" in Buffalo, NY. I blog at http://buffawhat.com which centers around gadget and designer toys news, and culture, with my lifestream to fill in the blanks. At times I get bogged down working as a tech guy for a few places, one of which is WNYMEDIA.NET, a blogging and hyperlocal media company for the WNY area.
Joe Sudbay
James Viloria
Kevin Walling
Kevin Walling
Sara Whitman
Andy Wibbles
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