We held our inaugural retreat in Washington, D.C. 8-10 January, 2014, hosted by The DC Center for the LGBT Community and the Human Rights Campaign. Over a three day period we held a number of events, including a Congressional Briefing (click here for more), a Public Reception and a number of group workshops.
LGBT-FAN Members Retreat, 9-10 January
Members of LGBT-FAN spent two days getting to know each other, educating ourselves on issues surrounding LGBT asylum through workshops, and discussing ways of improving the services we provide to LGBT asylum seekers. It was a well attended, productive event. Read Lauren Potenza’s indepth recap of the Retreat here.
Public Reception, 9 January
With support from the DC Center, we held a public reception and an introduction to our work. A panel discussion featured LGBT asylum leaders and asylum seekers based in San Francisco, CA; Worcester, MA; Washington, DC; and Toronto, Canada each talking about their on-the-ground work supporting LGBT people going through the asylum process. The event was livestreamed, and footage is available here until Feb 8, 2014. The handout from the event is available here.