Left: Mr. Rad 2009 ( Matt Lieberman ) and Miss Rad 2009 ( Alan SPO ) . Right: The 2009 Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf conference. Second photo by Vinny Valdez; third photo by Mike Goddard
Raymond Rodgers was a mix of smiles and tears after the Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf ( RAD ) Conference wrapped its five-day show in Chicago July 4.
Of course, those were tears of joy.
"In one word, fabulous," Rodgers said of the event. "Everything worked out flawlessly. Many people were saying it was one of the best conferences ever. Everyone seemed very happy and satisfied with the conference itself. A lot of celebrations were very exciting and fascinating, mesmerizing, better than most of the celebrations in past conferences. All workshop presenters were amazing and incredible."
Rodgers is the CEO/president of Chicago-based Deaf Communication By Innovation ( DCI ) , and the co-chairman ( with Vicki Kirkpatrick ) for the event.
"We were surprised at how successful the event was. Fortunately, we did break even with our finances. We thought we would lose money on the event, but we did end up breaking even," Rodgers said. "The best part for us was seeing the people really happy with the event. Witnessing the success of the overall experience for the attendants was wonderful. On the last day, Sunday, after closing ceremonies, nobody wanted to leave. They wanted the event to continue, so that was a true mark of success. The attendants also agreed on how wonderful a city Chicago was, remarking on the cleanliness and beauty of the city."
Rodgers did not have an exact attendance total "but it exceeded our expectations," he said. About one-third of attendees were female. There were a few bisexuals and a few transgender individuals from other countries. There were also several deaf/blind participants. There were many hearing people who attended, either partners or friends. Even some family members, parents and siblings enjoyed themselves as well. Attendees ranged in age from 18 to 80.
"There were many highlights, but [ one of ] the most spectacular was [ the appearance by ] Cleve Jones, founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, organizer of March on Washington in October and portrayed by Emile Hirsch in the recent blockbuster movie Milk," Rodgers said. "Mr. Jones appeared at the opening ceremonies, and really gave positive energy and motivation to everyone in the audience. He inspired awareness in our gay, lesbian and transgender audience members that truly invoked a spirit of advocacy and support for our movement.
"Another wonderful presenter was Colin Allen from Australia. He is a board member on the World Federation of the Deaf ( WFD ) . He gave presentations on different issues all over the world related to deaf, LGBT and general human rights. WFD announced as well that they are working tirelessly on setting up the world's first official International Deaf LGBT conference in South Africa. Additionally there was a representative from the National Association of the Deaf [ NAD ] , Gleena Cooper, who made a special announcement that NAD has recently established a task force focusing on LGBT issues in America. The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf has additionally set up a group called BLeGIT, which consists of bisexual, lesbian and gay interpreters and translators. The chairperson of this group is Amanda David. Other presenters included RAD president Larry Pike from Colorado. Other highlights included a gallery showing of deaf LGBT artists. This event was packed for the gallery and auction. There was also a community celebration for the Center on Halsted."
Chicago's Matt Lieberman won Mr. RAD, while Alan SPO of Hollywood won Miss RAD.
"I've been planning this event for four years," Rodgers said. "There was a 20-person committee that worked under me and Vicki Kirkpatrick, the co-chair of the event. It was very tough because of the economy for the past couple years, [ so ] we didn't have many sponsors. Most of the donations were in-kind donations, so we really had to get creative with the financial end of things, and we felt the struggle involved with that. We initially had had visions of extravagance and luxury, but we had to modify those plans a bit to account for the difficult economy. But fortunately we were pleasantly surprised because the committee became very creative in figuring out how to make wonderful, quality, decorations on a minimal budget. There was a lot of simplicity involved, but it was very nice. Everything worked out very well. It seemed to match the vision we originally had in our minds when we first started this four years ago. It showed us we don't need a lot of money but it's more about the heart of the committee, the motivation and innovation involved with putting this event together.
"And fortunately we had about 50 volunteers working together. Before the conference we faced so many unexpected problems, such as a couple committee members backing out at the last minute, so we had to figure out how to resolve that, but luckily it all worked out and as the time got closer, all the issues we were facing resolved themselves in time for the conference. The committee was wonderful, flexible and patient. They worked tirelessly to make the event a success. We're still shocked, and though many minor issues popped up, the outside person saw a wonderful event that ran flawlessly. Right now everyone on the committee is physically, mentally and emotionally worn out, but we're incredibly happy with the overall result."
The 2011 RAD Conference will be held in Denver, Colo.
"I think the ( attendees ) really enjoyed and laughed at the deaf Charlie Chaplin during the closing ceremonies," Rodgers said. "DCI produced a video that consisted of a young boy and girl, both deaf, who were acting as interns for the WCRAD conference. Vicki and myself approached them and asked them to research the Roaring '20s for the closing ceremonies. The boy and girl began their research online and found themselves falling in love with the genre. They actually fell into the computer and found themselves transported back in time to the silent film era of the '20s where they met Charlie Chaplin. The video continued to show the boy, girl and Chaplin interacting in this silent era, and the movie ended as the three characters came out on stage. The three actors then became the ( master of ceremonies ) for the evening's events. There was a lot of humor involved with their characters and Charlie Chaplin, because a deaf audience really loves Charlie Chaplin. He's very visual and used a lot of physical humor. During the silent-film era, voices were not used and so the deaf audience can really connect with that era. In the past, the closing ceremonies of RAD tend to be very dry and humorless. We handed out awards and did the traditional ceremony, but we added our own brand of humor and brought an added dimension to the ceremony that hasn't been seen in the past."
McRaith named to
head insurance dept.
On July 6, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn named Michael McRaith, an openly gay man, as the director of the newly created Department of Insurance. As a result of Governor Quinn's Executive Order 4, the Department of Insurance ( DOI ) separated from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation ( IDFPR ) June 1.
While previously serving as director of the Division of Insurance and Acting Secretary of IDFPR, McRaith assisted in developing and advocating for health insurance modernization both in Illinois and on the national level.
In addition, Quinn has asked Brent Adams—also openly gay—to serve as Acting Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulation. The department deals with institutions ranging from banks to pharmacies ( and associated issues, such as birth-control prescriptions ) .