SpeakOUT’s 50th Anniversary Year: 2022
SpeakOUT50:
honoring the power of Lgbtq+ stories
Only three short years after the Stonewall Rebellion, gays and lesbians in Boston founded the Gay Speakers Bureau to share the personal stories of our community to open minds and change oppressive attitudes. And for the next five decades, SpeakOUT speakers continued that tradition and expanded our inclusiveness of the rich and varied identities of our LGBTQ+ community.
SpeakOUT has 50 years of success sharing the true stories of LGBTQ+ lives to educate, open minds and hearts, and create strong allies. As part of the anniversary event, we will be honoring Warren Blumenfeld and Michael Bobbitt for their work in amplifying the voices of LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized communities.
Warren Blumenfeld was one of the early members of the Speakers Bureau and guided the development of our training manual and the personal style of our storytelling. He and another speaker, Diane Raymond, co-wrote the first gay and lesbian textbook used at the college level, Looking at Gay and Lesbian Life. His books include Homophobia: How We all Pay the Price and The What, the So What and the Now What of Social Justice Education. Warren has had a long career as a social justice activist and academic and currently teaches at UMass Amherst.
Michael Bobbitt is the Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council (MCC) and is on the board of the New England Foundation for the Arts. His earlier years in the arts were as a playwright, director, and choreographer with productions at Arena Stage, Ford's Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Kennedy Center and many other stages. More recently, Michael's work has centered on arts administration with his work as Artistic Director at Adventure Theater-MTC in Maryland and then in the same role at The New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, MA before joining MCC. Michael has been at the forefront of challenging the arts administration field to build anti-racist practices and policies and to create more inclusive arts organizations.
The evening will celebrate the 50-year legacy of SpeakOUT and focus on the power of storytelling in our educational work in the community, all while enjoying the festive cocktail atmosphere of District Hall. Join us!
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor for the event see our Sponsorship Opportunities or call 877-223-9390 for more information.
