June is Pride Month, which commemorates the Stonewall riots that occurred on June 28, 1969, and celebrates the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community in the fight for equality. To honor Pride Month, we’re jumping into the Clinton School Speaker Series vault to revisit a few noteworthy past speakers on topics within the LGBTQ+ community.
Straight Talk Panel Discussion (2011)
The Clinton School hosted a panel discussion with Just Communities of Central Arkansas entitled “Straight Talk” that dove into issues regarding gay and lesbian issues in Arkansas and nationwide.
The panelists included: Ted Holder, senior attorney at Arkansas Securities Department; Dr. Joseph L. Jones, director of the Social Justice Initiative and assistant professor of political science at Philander Smith College; Susan May, community volunteer leader; Anne Shelley, executive director of Your Media and director of JCA’s Ourtown for Teens Youth Leadership & Diversity Institute; Ty Stacey, local homeless shelter manager and master’s of applied communication candidate at UALR.
Neil Giuliano: “40 Years After Stonewall” (2009)
Neil Giuliano is a former four-term Republican mayor of Tempe, Arizona, past president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and past president/CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
He currently serves as president/CEO of Greater Phoenix Leadership, the premiere organization of CEO business leadership talent in the metropolitan Phoenix region. As Mayor of Tempe, Giuliano was among the nation’s most visible openly gay elected officials. Before becoming mayor, he was a 25-year senior administrator at Arizona State University where he directed student leadership development, alumni relations, federal government relations, and community relations. Here, he speaks about LGBTQ rights and the societal shift seen throughout the media regarding the LGBTQ community.
Chad Griffin: “What the Supreme Court Rulings Mean for Gay Rights” (2017)
Chad Griffin served as President of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization. A native of Hope, Ark., Griffin previously served as president of the American Foundation for Equal Rights and was the leading strategist behind the lawsuit that originally overturned Proposition 8 in California, which barred same-sex couples from marrying in the state.
Griffin appeared as part of the program “What the Supreme Court Rulings Mean for Gay Rights.” He also participated in a podcast conversation for Clinton School Presents.