Shawn Markus Crincoli is an Associate Professor of Law at the Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. He has published and lectured on a wide variety of subjects including: transgender health and the law; gender & disability in sport; regulation of the family; Jewish law; LGBTQ cultural competency; and more. He currently serves as Chair of the Legal Issues committee for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). In prior years, he has served on and chaired the...
Ryan Kendall is a survivor of conversion therapy who testified about his experiences in the Proposition 8 trial and in support of legislative bans in California, New York, and New Jersey. Ryan has worked as an advocate to eliminate conversion therapy, and his work has been featured in news stories, op-eds, scholarly articles, interviews, books, and theatrical performances. He is a graduate of Columbia University and the UCLA School of Law. Ryan is currently a civil rights attorney for the...
Peter Drake is a survivor of conversion therapy, Executive Director of the COIL Foundation, and father of two adult gay children. To help educate about the harms of conversion therapy, Peter has appeared on the Dr. Oz show and testified in the California State Senate. He has served on many nonprofit boards and currently serves on the boards of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, the Grace Cathedral, and the Tyler Clementi Foundation. He graduated from Stanford University and Business School...
Kimberly Inez McGuire is a reproductive justice leader and queer Latina with nearly a decade of experience in government relations, movement building, and strategic communications. As Director of Public Affairs for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Kimberly advocates for salud, dignidad, y justicia (health, dignity, and justice) for the nation’s more than 26 million Latinas, their families, and communities. Kimberly develops and implements intersectional policy change and...
Dr. Judith Glassgold, PsyD is a clinical psychologist with over 25 years of experience with LGBTQ affirmative therapy and advocacy. She was chair of the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation and lead author of the Task Force landmark report concluding that sexual orientation conversion efforts were ineffective.
The Rev. Debra W. Haffner is the President and CEO of the Religious Institute, a national multi-faith organization that advocates for sexual health, education, and justice in America’s faith communities. A certified sexuality educator, she is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister and also serves as the endorsed community minister at The Unitarian Church in Westport, CT. She formerly served as the President and CEO of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS)...
Dev Cuny is a survivor of conversion therapy and holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Graduate Theological Union. After years of rejection from the church because of their sexuality and gender expression, Dev’s own experience of spiritual abuse led them to seek healing for themselves and others through activism and ministries aimed at ending the harm Dev experienced as a young person in the church. Dev is a restorative justice and social emotional learning professional working to disrupt...
Caitlin Ryan, PhD, ACSW is a clinical social worker and researcher who has worked on LGBTQ health and mental health for 40 years and has done foundational research on family acceptance and rejection among LGBTQ youth, including conversion change efforts. She directs the Family Acceptance Project at SF State University – an initiative that uses a research-based intervention approach to help ethnically and religiously diverse families support their LGBTQ children in their families, cultures, and...
Bill Bettencourt, Senior Associate with the Center for the Study of Social Policy, leads CSSP’s get R.E.A.L. initiative, which works to improve healthy sexual and identity development for those involved in the child welfare system. He has over forty years of experience in social work including being the former Child Welfare Director in San Francisco County, leading child welfare reform efforts nationally as a senior consultant with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and leading system improvement...
James Guay is a survivor of conversion therapy and a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, providing LGBTQ Affirmative Psychotherapy for individuals and couples at his West Hollywood office. James testified in the California State Capital successfully advocating for them to ban the psychologically abusive practice of conversion therapy on LGBTQ youth by licensed therapists. His passion is to prevent other LGBTQ people from having to endure the harms of religious...
Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. We’re changing Florida through lobbying, grassroots organizing, education, and coalition building — so that no one suffers harassment or discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
Come Out With Pride
The mission of Come Out With Pride Orlando is to cultivate visibility, authenticity, and acceptance by curating inclusive experiences that celebrate and embody the spirit of queer resilience.
Orlando Youth Alliance
Since 1990, the Orlando Youth Alliance (OYA) has been providing safe spaces for LGBTQ youth in Central Florida. Their coverage area includes metro Orlando, but also spans out to include the rural counties surrounding Orlando. In 2008, they created a chapter in Lakeland, Florida (Polk County). OYA oversees the highly successful Polk Pride Festival which attracts over 6,000 people annually.
Southern Legal Counsel
Southern Legal Counsel, Inc. (SLC) is a Florida statewide not-for-profit public interest law firm that is committed to the ideal of equal justice for all and the attainment of basic human and civil rights. SLC developed its Transgender Rights Initiative to fill a gap in access to justice for Florida’s transgender community, including in areas such as access to legal authenticity, access to safe and affirming school and work environments, access to medically necessary healthcare, and more. SLC’s Trans Rights Initiative protects the rights of Florida’s LGBTQ+ community utilizing federal impact litigation, policy advocacy, and individual representation. SLC has litigated many of the recent federal cases against the state of Florida, and has successfully overturned the Medicaid Ban on gender-affirming care (Dekker v. Weida); permanently enjoined the medical care bans for minors and restrictions for adults created by SB 254 and the Boards of Medicine rules (Doe v. Ladapo); preliminarily enjoined the pronoun ban for transgender teachers in Florida’s public schools; and more.
Joy Metropolitan Community Church
Joy MCC is the spiritual home to a multi-cultural, inclusive, and diverse community of faith. We are rooted in the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus. We experience a vibrant spirituality that is positive, practical, and progressive. We’ve always been a totally open and affirming church. We welcome the full participation of people of allraces, cultures, ages, abilities, spiritual backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities. We share a deep sense of community where our diversity is celebrated, not merely tolerated.
ACLU of Florida
The mission of the ACLU of Florida is to protect, defend, strengthen, and promote the constitutional rights and liberties of all people in Florida. We envision a fair and just Florida, where all people are free, equal under the law, and live with dignity.
QLatinx
QLatinx is a grassroots community-led racial, social, and gender justice organization dedicated to the advancement and empowerment of Orlando’s LGBTQ+ Latinx community. QLatinx is committed to building a supportive infrastructure, addressing inequity, promoting inclusionary QLatinx aims to deepen the political consciousness of LGBTQ+ and Latinx individuals about intersections and complexities of institutional, interpersonal, and internalized forms of oppression. This work includes empowering local LGBTQ+ leadership to become cognizant of gender and racial inequities with the LGBTQ+ community and in relation to cisgender populations.
Community Spring
Community Spring is a grassroots organization dedicated to economic justice. The two pillars of our work are income and power: income to meet people’s needs and power to reshape the systems that keep them down.
Pride Community Center of North Central Florida
The Pride Community Center of North Central Florida offers safe spaces, resources, services and events to foster and enhance the well-being and visibility of LGBTQ+ people in North Central Florida. Visibility changes minds. Here in North Central Florida, LGBTQ+ people deserve access to safe spaces where they can not only express themselves, but where they can also be a part of a community. Come join us.