The Summit is a gathering place to collectively discuss and explore our
rural and small town experiences as LGBTQ people.
This second annual event, formerly known as the Rural LGBTQ Futures Summit, is a two-day gathering for those of us LGBTQ people who are living, creating, working, and organizing in rural communities and small towns.
Out in the Open is a space to vent, strategize, connect, build, reflect, think, experience, and make. Folks from any rural community or small town are welcome to join us although we anticipate the majority of attendees to be from the Northeast US.
Read on for more details and feel free to be in touch with any questions!
Draft Agenda
Friday October 21 - Casual Pre-Summit Evening | 6-8PM | Broad Brook Grange (3940 Guilford Center Road. Guilford, VT)
Beverages (non-alcoholic) + snacks provided
Meet people, see the space, and chat
Saturday October 22 - CONVERSATIONS & IDEAS | Broad Brook Grange
9:00 AM - Arrive and settle in (light snacks and coffee available)
10:00 AM - Welcome activity (whole group)
11:00 AM - Conversation 1 (choice of topics)*
12:15 PM - Lunch (provided)
1:30 PM - Conversation 2 (choice of topics)*
2:45 PM - Self-care time/break (guided meditation available)
3:15 PM - Conversation 3 open topic(s) generated during the day (some from 2015 included farming/food justice, healthcare & access, etc)
4:30 PM - Whole group report-back
5:00 PM - Dinner (on your own or potluck at the storytelling event)
7:00 PM - Storytelling event - sign up for a slot if you want to share a story of your rural and/or small town LGBTQ life during an open-to-the-public Moth-style event. At The Root Social Justice Center (28 Williams St. Brattleboro, VT)
Sunday October 23 - MAKING & DOING | Broad Brook Grange
8:00-9:00 - AM light snacks & coffee available
9:00 AM - Making & Doing 1~
10:00 AM - Making & Doing 2~
11:00 AM - Closing & Next Steps
12:00 PM - Lunch (provided)
* Topics for Saturday include:
Conversation 1: police, policing, prisons, and alternatives to policing; Orlando within the history of violence against LGBTQ communities, other open topics including food & farming
Conversation 2: disability justice; misogyny and patriarchy in our LGBTQ communities; racial justice organizing in our rural communities & small towns
Conversation 3: LGBTQ healthcare, aging and issues related to aging LGBTQ adults, other open topics
~Workshops for Sunday include:
Making & Doing 1: tofu making, poem-making, yoga, plant walk, Summit zine-making
Making & Doing 2: fermentation, knitting, writing your story, yoga, Summit zine-making
Making & Doing 1 & 2 (two-hour session): area hike led by the Venture Out Project
More Details
Our intent with this gathering is to bring together individuals, regardless of organizational affiliation, to discuss, prioritize, strategize, about our rural and small town LGBTQ experiences. In an attempt to have no single organization dominate the conversation, we intend to have no more than three folks from an organization at the gathering.
This year's event has been planned in collaboration with a planning committee made up of three people (Kegan Rufalo, Sam Bonosevich, and Grace Johnston) who attended the 2015 event along with Green Mountain Crossroads' executive director, HB Lozito. If you would like to help plan the 2017 event, connect with us in October.
We don't know everyone who is strategizing and working in rural and small town LGBTQ spaces! If you know of folks who should join us, in this or subsequent years, let us know!
In an effort to have a gathering that is small enough to meet most people, yet large enough to have a strong diversity of experience, the Summit will be limited to 50 people.
These are participatory sessions; not lectures. We want to delve into the experience, knowledge, creativity, and expertise that exists within the group. Come prepared to share and work!
This year, the planning committee has decided that Saturday will be focused on ideas and conversations with the format of the day focused around group conversations. Sunday will be focused on making & doing—more of a skills-based day. If you have a workshop you're interested in offering for Sunday, get in touch!
Green Mountain Crossroads will provide logistical support, facilitate the day-of, document the gathering, and plans to create and distribute a report for our collective use.
Registration, Accessibility, Location, and Lodging
Registration
Purchase a ticket on one of the forms above.
Your ticket includes:
Friday evening events
Saturday coffee and light A.M. snacks; Saturday lunch; Saturday sessions; storytelling event
Sunday coffee and light A.M. snacks; Sunday lunch.
Planning and facilitation
If you know someone who should join us, please email HB Lozito with their name and contact info.
We have reserved 8 tickets for those who are unable to pay the registration fee. If this is you, please email HB to discuss.
Please do be in touch with any questions/comments/concerns.
Accessibility
If you need an American Sign Language interpreter, please contact HB Lozito by September 21, 2016.
Broad Brook Grange has a wooden ramp (approximately 20 feet long including a switchback) or two stairs available to enter the building. The second floor is accessible by stair only—we are planning to primarily use the first floor and to use the second floor for break-outs as the ability of participants allows. The driveway of the Grange is unpaved.
The Root Social Justice Center entrance has two stairs with a rise of about four inches. There is also a 10 foot concrete ramp with a handrail. There is a bathroom on the first floor that is wheel chair accessible.
Dietary restrictions and other needs can be shared with us during the registration survey (click through the forms above)
We are striving to make this event fragrance-free. GMC will provide unscented soap for our use during the weekend. More information on how and why to be fragrance-free below:
Please come without fragrances on your clothes, body, or hair so that members of our community with chemical sensitivities can participate without getting sick. More information about why and how to do this is available here: http://www.therootsjc.org/fragrance-free.html
Pro tip: body products and laundry detergents that are "natural" are not necessarily fragrance free--check the label for "fragrance" or "natural fragrance" or "parfum" and avoid using if it contains any of those things. Also, "essential oils" are a type of fragrance and should be avoided before coming to the meeting.
Further Information
More explanation about chemical sensitivities, and a list of fragrance-free products that are widely available (including many PoC-specific products), can be found at http://eastbaymeditation.org/accessibility/scentfree.html.
Some useful thoughts about chemical sensitivities, fragrances, race and gender can be found at http://www.brownstargirl.org/blog/fragrance-free-femme-of-colour-realness-draft-15 .
Information for event organizers, including sample language for fragrance-free requests, can be found at http://thinkagaintraining.com/about/fragrance-free/
There is space on the Summit registration form to share any additional accessibility-related needs you have with the organizers. We will do our best to accommodate those needs.
Locations (subject to change)
Friday evening, Saturday daytime, and Sunday We'll be at the Broad Brook Grange in Guilford, VT Friday evening (3940 Guilford Center Rd. Guilford, VT)
From Route 5, just after you pass the Guilford Country Store, turn right onto Guilford Center Road. Follow Guilford Center road about 4 miles. You will see the Grange on your right.
The Saturday evening storytelling event will be at The Root Social Justice Center (28 Williams St. in Brattleboro, VT).
Lodging
We recommend the Latchis Hotel in downtown Brattleboro.
We can also put you in touch with some local members of the LGBTQ Community who can potentially host Summit participants. Please contact HB Lozito for details on this option by October 6th.
Additionally, of course, there are many other area options as well as AirBnB.