The 2014 Gender Spectrum Conference will take place July 25 - 27, at Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, CA. The theme for this year's event is Expanding Understandings of Gender.
As evidenced in our recent collaboration and report with the Human Rights Campaign, "Supporting and Caring for our Gender-Expansive Youth," a deeper exploration of the many ways youth currently understand, define and describe gender is needed. We will examine how messages received from family and friends, as well as the organizations and communities we are a part of, influence our understandings of gender. These ideas inform, and sometimes limit, how each of us sees the world and our place in it.
During the conference, we will offer a range of programming, activities and immediately accessible resources designed to expand the concepts of gender identity and expression. In doing so, we hope to empower the young people in our lives to effectively navigate their world.
Given the exciting growth of the conference attendance, we have found a new location that allows for a greater variety of activities and events, including on-campus housing and food options, gorgeous, peaceful surroundings, and spaces more easily tailored to the weekend's needs. The conference will feature a broad array of workshops and supportive spaces for parents; separate programming for teens, tweens, and kids; various community-building opportunities; and numerous resources to help attendees delve into the important subject of gender. We will also have a number of optional activities planned on the evening of July 25 for families and youth arriving early.