Joan Garry - Saturday Speaker

Joan Garry plays a critical role as a visible media spokesperson and critic. In 1999, Entertainment Weekly featured her on its list of the “100 Most Influential People In Entertainment.” During her eight-year tenure at GLAAD, Garry led the organization through a series of high-profile campaigns, most notably GLAAD’s highly successful public education initiative to combat and expose the defamatory rhetoric of “Dr. Laura” Schlessinger.Garry lives in New Jersey with her partner of 27 years and their three children. Her landmark 1993 court challenge to New Jersey’s second-parent adoption law made Garry the first lesbian in the state to adopt her partner’s biological children.

Buddy Wakefield - Sunday Performer

Buddy Wakefield is a two-time Individual World Poetry Slam Champion. He has performed his poetry on NPR, the BBC, HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, and in hundreds of venues across the nation and the globe including The Fillmore in San Francisco, Scotland’s Oran Mor, San Quentin State Penitentiary, House of Blues New Orleans and CBGB’s. His most recent CD Live at The Typer Canyon Grand was produced by Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records. This spring Buddy Wakefield and Andrea Gibson will be traveling together on their Awkward While Airborn Tour.

Andrea Gibson - Sunday Performer

Andrea Gibson was named the winner of 2008's Women of the World Poetry Slam and has been a top 3 contender at the Individual World Poetry Slam for the past three years. Gibson has performed on Free Speech TV, NPR, Air America, and independent radio stations nation wide. In addition, she has been featured in the documentary Slam Planet. Gibson's poetry discusses gender norms, policitics, and queer conciousness. Her book Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns won a DIY Poetry Book of the Year Award and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Rick Jacobs - Sunday Speaker

Rick Jacobs is the Founder and Chair of the Courage Campaign. Jacobs chaired Howard Dean's presidential campaign in California and served as Senior Advisor to Democracy for America. He also co-founded Brave New Films and served two terms as a director of the Liberty Hill Foundation. Rick is also a featured contributor to HuffingtonPost.com. His organization has created numerous partnerships including MoveOn.org, CREDO Mobile, Democracy for America, PowerPAC.org, California Nurses Association, National Union of Healthcare Workers and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles.