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STONEWALL SPEAKERS

Educating the community, one story at a time.

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STONEWALL SPEAKERS AT A GLANCE

LGBTQI Speakers Bureau

Stonewall Speakers, a program of the Connecticut Stonewall Foundation, Inc., is an all-volunteer speaker's bureau comprised of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, pansexual, queer people and their allies. Our speakers give their hearts, time and travel expenses to help eliminate hate and promote understanding. Speaking engagements generally include two or more panelists and combine personal life stories with a question and answer session. We speak to thousands of youth and adults annually. Stonewall Speakers is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization

Motivational Speaker

ACTIVITIES

PUBLIC SCHOOL ENGAGEMENTS

Educating Students

WORK PLACE ENGAGEMENTS

Advocating Safe Work Environments

COMMUNITY FORUMS

Community Education

“The richness, beauty and depths of love can only be fully experienced in a climate of complete openness, honesty and vulnerability.”

Anthony Venn Brown

Image by Sharon McCutcheon

OUR STORY

Stonewall Speakers, a program of the Connecticut Stonewall Foundation, Inc., is an all volunteer speakers bureau comprised of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people and their allies.


The organization was originally named ‘Speak! Out!’ and was the creation of the Anti-Violence Project (AVP) of 1988. AVP organized during the hearings for two Hartford area high school students who brutally beat and killed 33 year old, Richard Reihl, a gay man from Wethersfield who was employed by the Aetna Insurance Company.


The boys were sentenced to 30 and 40 years for enacting a murder due to unreasoned fear, hatred and non-acceptance of difference. For this the families and friends of Richard Reihl and the boys suffered needless loss.


AVP recognized the urgent need for a preventive educational program for schools: one that might help to dispel the myths and stereotypes that hurt LGBT people. This program would provide youth an opportunity to: meet LGBT people and their allies in person to hear personal accounts of their lives and obtain informed answers to any questions they might want to ask.


“Speak! Out!” later changed its name to “Stonewall Speakers.” The choice of “Stonewall” in the organization’s name is a tribute to the historical Stonewall Rebellion of June 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village, which is recognized as the start of the Gay Rights movement in the United States.

CONTACT US

121 Shield Street,
PO Box 331091
West Hartford, CT 06133

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CT Stonewall Speakers
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Stonewall Forever - A Documentary about the Past, Present and Future of Pride
21:49
LGBTCenterNYC

Stonewall Forever - A Documentary about the Past, Present and Future of Pride

Stonewall Forever is a documentary from NYC’s LGBT Community Center directed by Ro Haber. The film brings together voices from over 50 years of the LGBTQ rights movement to explore queer activism before, during and after the Stonewall Riots. The history of the Stonewall Riots is equally as cherished as it is charged. There are questions of who was there, who “threw the first brick” and who can claim Stonewall. This film doesn’t answer these questions but instead it aims to expand the story of Stonewall by including more voices in its telling. Stonewall Forever brings together queer activists, experienced and new, to look at the movement for LGBTQ equality before, during and after Stonewall. It highlights trans people, people of color and homeless people who were at the forefront of the movement, and who have often been erased from the narrative. It explores how the activism of today stands on the shoulders of the activists who have come before. And it asks us all to recognize the legacy of Stonewall that remains today, when the struggle for queer rights is far from over. Stonewall Forever was directed by Ro Haber and created by a predominantly queer and trans cast and crew who are proud to be a part of preserving this legacy. MUSIC CREDITS: “New Way of Lovin” Performed by Jackie Shane Written by Jackie Shane Courtesy of The Numero Group “Any Other Way” Performed by Jackie Shane Written by William Bell Published by Irving Music, Inc. Courtesy of Capitol Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises "Come Out Singing” Performed by Lavender Country Written by Patrick Haggerty Courtesy of Paradise Of Bachelors By arrangement with Terrorbird Media “Cruel Cruel World” Performed by Jackie Shane Written by Jackie Shane Courtesy of The Numero Group
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