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Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United States: Past, Present, and Future
Three-Year Project Final Conference
LGBTQ+ individuals and their communities have been organizing to assert their rights for over a century, especially in Germany and the United States—two countries that were early pioneers and that have currently achieved more equality than many other places. But many challenges still persist, especially as a backlash to greater LGBTQ+ rights has been visible in both countries.
Through site visits to six cities, three cohorts examined the histories, present-day experiences, and future goals of LGBTQ+ communities in Germany and the United States. Their exchanges examined LGBTQ+ issues in politics, culture, business, healthcare, education, and collective memory. The cross-cultural lessons of each cohort have generated new understandings and policy lessons for the LGBTQ+ community, as well as for other marginalized communities in Germany, the United States, and around the world.
During this conference, representatives from each program year will reflect on their experiences and lessons learned and share ideas and possible solutions in communities across Germany and the United States.
Please contact AGI Program Associate Mr. Jack Fornasiero at jfornasiero@aicgs.org with any questions.
This program is generously funded by the Transatlantik-Programm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aus Mitteln des European Recovery Program (ERP) des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWE) (Transatlantic Program of the Federal Republic of Germany with Funds through the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE)), the AGI Harry & Helen Gray Humanities Program, and The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF).
Agenda
- 8:30 – 9:00 am
Registration and Light Breakfast
- 9:00 – 9:10 am
Welcome
Jeff Rathke, President, AGI
- 9:10 – 10:00 am
Presentation and Discussion: Year One Orlando/Miami Beach, Florida, and Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Natalie Adams-Menendez, Office of Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Washington, DC
Zana Çobanoğlu, Free University of Berlin, Berlin
Mieko Kuramoto, Office of Congressman Mark Takano (CA-39), Washington DC
Christoph Mayer, German Bundestag, Berlin
Steven Paulikas, All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, New York
Simon Schütz, German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), Berlin
Moderator: Susanne Dieper, Director of Programs & Grants, AGI
- 10:00 – 10:15 am
Coffee Break
- 10:15 – 11:05 am
Presentation and Discussion: Year Two New York City, New York, and Munich, Bavaria
Baylen Campbell, Invest Appalachia, Lexington, Kentucky
Jasmin Gräwel, Level4Films, Leipzig, Saxony
Michael Guston, George Mason University Police Department, Fairfax County, Virginia
Lennart Linke, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Tyler Renner, PATH (People Assisting the Homeless), San Diego, California
Moderator: Jack Fornasiero, Program Associate, AGI
- 11:05 – 11:15 am
Coffee Break
- 11:15 am – 12:05 pm
Presentation and Discussion: Year Three Washington, DC, and Berlin
Joshua Acevedo, El Paso City Council, El Paso, Texas
Marie Dietrich, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Lower Saxony
Cecelia Parks, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Preston James Ross, Prince George’s County Council Chair Edward Burroughs III, Washington, DC
Sebastian Thiele, State Administration Office of Saxony-Anhalt, Leipzig, Saxony
Julian Urban, Hessian Ministry of Science and Art, Frankfurt am Main, Hesse
Moderator: Eric Langenbacher, Senior Fellow and Director of the Society, Culture & Politics Program, AGI
- 12:05 – 12:40 pm
Final Discussion
- 12:40 – 2:00 pm
Lunch Reception
Location
American-German Institute Conference Room
1776 Massachusetts Avenue NW Suite 600
