IFGE   2009

The 23rd Annual Conference of the
International Foundation for Gender Education

Alexandria, Virginia    February 4-8
This February, the International Foundation for Gender Education, with the help of the local group TGEA, held its annual conference in the Washington, DC area. Thanks to all who took part! — the speakers and award-winners, the workshop presenters, the entertainers, the people at the conference tables and behind the scenes, the hotel staff and kitchen crew, and especially... the attendees. If you weren't there, we hope you can join us in 2010. Preparations are under way for next year's conference, which will (of course!) be bigger and better.

«« this way     more conference snapshots...      this way »»
photo from IFGE 2009
"We are very excited to be staging this year’s conference right next door to our nation’s capital at such a pivotal time in our country’s history," noted Denise Leclair, Executive Director of IFGE. “We believe it is very significant that the transgender community will be gathering in the Washington, D.C. area just two weeks after the presidential inauguration,” Leclair continued. “2009 is a critical year for our community in terms of securing the same employment rights and protections enjoyed by the rest of society, and we firmly believe that this conference will create momentum for change that will carry through the rest of the year.”

Program Highlights
  • A full slate of over sixty workshops and presentations, led by experts in Transgender Health & Medicine and Sexual Identity/Gender Identity.
  • A Saturday Luncheon Address by Kelley Winters, Ph.D., the founder of Gender Identity Disorder Reform Advocates, which advocates reform of the psychiatric classification of gender diversity as a mental disorder.
  • Special performances by singer-songwriters Cathy Worthley and Georgie Jessup.
  • Presentation of the 2009 Trinity Awards to Ms. Lisa Mottet, Mr. Spencer Bergstedt, and Mr. Gunner Scott
  • Special Wednesday Program: A Grassroots Political Institute
The Grassroots Political Institute is a free, day long pre-conference event comprised of workshops dealing with the past, present, and future of the transgender community, and how we can empower our community to take control of our own struggle for civil rights. The institute will be led by Ethan St. Pierre, in conjunction with Lisa Mottet, Marti Abernathy, Gunner Scott, and Mara Keisling. Everyone is invited to attend this event; sessions begin at 9:30 and run through the afternoon.
JGreen2001_0963_IMG_flipped_120h (4K) Programs & Personalities
Presenter Biographies
Full List of Workshops
Workshop Details:
Thursday · Friday · Saturday
 Prince2001bw_0965_IMG (10K)
Friday Night
Cathy Worthley
"...a transwoman singer/songwriter from the Coast of Maine who has been a performer in the folk world for 35 years." more about Cathy		 Saturday Night
Georgie Jessup
"...Georgie reinforces that we are all trapped by gender and physical being, and that the brightest life and light we have is our soul." more about Georgie

IFGE Home