Equality Virginia: Trans Advocacy Speaker’s Bureau

Sunday, April 25th, 7–8pm via Zoom

NOTE:  This event has passed, but if you email us in the church office,
we'll be glad to send you the link to the recording!

This virtual community event is open to church members and the wider community alike! We will host Mel Howard from Equality Virginia, who will share 10 to 15 minutes of personal storytelling about his experience as a transgender person. We will then have 45 minutes of Q&A dialogue with our audience. The goal of the program is to increase familiarity and understanding of the transgender and nonbinary community, to foster new relationships, and to provide an opportunity to discuss how our congregation extends hospitality and welcome to the community.

Mel Howard (he/him) is a community leader, LGBTQ rights activist, and is focused on improving the lives of black and brown people. In his professional background, he is a loan consultant for a secondary lending company in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Mel is a member of Alpha Omega Kappa Fraternity, Inc. (which is a non-collegiate transmasculine fraternity), the LGBT Life Center’s Trans Advisory Board, Nationz Foundation’s Transcend Program, and Equality Virginia’s Transgender Advocacy Speakers Bureau as well other groups. For fun, he enjoys crabbing and conversation centered around black equality.

Please note: This event is intended to promote learning, growth, and deeper understanding. Whatever your position on trans rights and equality, and whatever your faith background, we invite you to join us. All are invited to bring sincere, honest questions and thoughtful comments to the discussion. In the interests of cultivating a spirit of hospitality and a safe space for growth, however, we will not tolerate bullying, mean or insulting language, or close-minded attitudes. The hosts will reserve the right to mute or remove belligerent participants from the Zoom room (although we promise to summon all of the Christian love and kindness we can muster if we have to do so!).
Participant Evaluations: Please click the following link to complete an evaluation of this event after Sunday evening: https://bit.ly/TASBevaluation

Equality Virginia info: To ask more questions, or sign up for more information from Equality Virginia, please click this link: https://bit.ly/EVsignupTASB

Equality Virginia website: https://equalityvirginia.org/