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The 17th Annual GLSEN Boston ConferenceWe are excited to announce that the 17th Annual Conference will be held on Saturday, March 31st at The English High School in Jamaica Plain with the theme of "Teaching Respect: Empowering Youth and Adults for Change." In this spirit, the conference will feature speakers, workshops, panels and presentations designed to engage people of all ages with GLSEN's mission of creating safe schools for all members of the community. We hope to see you there! The English High School
This year’s conference will feature a special performance by the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus!
Click here for detailed information about the conference's schedule, speakers and worshops. Registration: For your convenience, the conference information and registration brochure is also available as a downloadable PDF file.
Please consider sponsoring a student with an additional donation, and don’t hesitate to contact us ahead of time for any accessibility accommodations that may be needed for our guests with disabilities.
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Keynote Speaker: Sol Kelley-Jones is a second generation queer activist and artist who passionately believes in the interconnection between struggles for justice and the radical potential for creative coalitional organizing. As the daughter of lesbian parents, Sol grew up on the frontlines of the LGBTQ movement in Madison, Wisconsin. She actively countered the harmful effects of heterosexism from her youngest years, developing anti-homophobic and anti-racist school curriculum, leading LGBTQ cultural competency and diversity trainings for teachers and youth, and both serving on the National Board of COLAGE and starting a thriving local chapter. At the age of 10, Sol's compelling testimony at a hearing on same sex marriage produced front-page headlines and she stepped into a role as a national spokesperson on behalf of LGBT families, which continues to this day. As a teen, Sol spoke at national LGBTQ conferences in Oakland, Chicago, and New York, before 500,000 people during the Millennium March on Washington, and appeared in countless stories in the national and local media. Increasingly targeted for her activism and pride in her own queer identity during her middle school years, Sol refused to be silenced, and instead, turned her talents toward creating forums for other marginalized youth. One of Sol's proudest accomplishments is as co-founder and former youth artistic director of Proud Theater, an award-winning theater troupe and support group for queer youth now in its seventh successful year. Presently, a sophomore at Hampshire College, Sol fuses art, heart and activism through her self-designed major: Performing Resistance: Re-imagining Justice-making. She continues to integrate her work for racial and economic justice, peace, civil liberties and ecojustice into her queer activism. Sol has received numerous awards and recognitions for her activism from organizations including: The Point Foundation, national and local GLSEN, COLAGE, Madison Transgender Association, OutReach Inc, Family Pride, Rainbow Families Wisconsin, ACLU, NOW, Urban League, Brick "Do Something," and the Madison Rotary. Sol has also been featured in books such as Love Makes a Family, Friends and Family, and Generation Fix, magazines from Alternative Family to Teen People, and newspapers from the Village Voice to the Los Angeles Times.