9:00 pm
Opening, general discussion

9:06 pm
As president of the Human Rights Campaign, Joe Solmonese has demonstrated that he has the political, strategic and communications skills to make the organization a powerhouse both in Washington and around the country. Under his leadership, the National Journal has rated the organization the second most successful interest group in all of Washington during the 2006 election. His vision for equality is clear: to make sure that HRC is wherever there are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans, and to equip them with all the assistance and resources he can to help secure equality. Whether it’s listening to gay families tell their stories over coffee in Kansas or advocating for GLBT workers on factory floors in North Carolina, he’s working tirelessly to win the hearts and minds of the American people. Committed to making clear that nobody has a monopoly on religion, Joe launched HRC’s Religion and Faith Program in 2005. The program provides new innovative resources for GLBT and straight-supportive people of faith so that they can stand up to those who use religion as a weapon.

He has also worked hard to engage a younger generation whose commitment to equality is greater than any of their predecessors. He has mobilized hundreds of students, including those at historically black colleges; overseen HRC’s highly success Youth College campaign trainings; and spoken on several campuses, including Columbia University and Cornell University. Joe understands that this next generation is the one that will lead us to full equality for all Americans. Before coming to HRC, Joe was chief executive officer of EMILY’s List, overseeing one of the nation’s most successful efforts to elect progressive women in every part of the United States. Joe brings that experience to HRC and is leveraging his experience to make the organization a national model of effective advocacy. Heading up an organization with more than 700,000 members and supporters, as well as an annual budget of more than $30 million, Joe understands that the fight for equality is a people-powered movement that is only as strong as the troops “on the ground.” That is why he implemented an unprecedented field and political operation in the last two years. During that time, HRC has seen several impressive victories. The House of Representatives passed a hate crimes bill for the first time ever. The Senate and the House of Representatives both soundly rejected the discriminatory Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. And, despite the bitter and divisive climate, HRC convinced Congress to pass groundbreaking new pension benefits for same-sex partners.
With Joe at the helm, HRC was instrumental in moving the Congress, the Senate and state legislatures all over the country toward more fair-minded majorities. He leveraged HRC’s political action committee, the largest PAC in the nation for GLBT rights, in critical races nationwide. Out of the 225 candidates endorsed by HRC in the last election, an astounding 211 were elected. And HRC successfully flexed its electoral muscle in several high-stakes races, such as the defeat of the notoriously anti-gay senator, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.

9:30 pm
NewsWrap

9:40 pm
James Knapp had just finished unpacking at his new apartment in Boston when he got word that Houston's LGBT community had selected him as the male grand marshal for this year's Pride parade. Fortunately, Knapp and his partner Jesse (“Jesse, James—we didn't plan it that way,” he says) still have their house in Houston, where Knapp will continue as artistic and managing director of the Bayou City Performing Arts (BCPA) until around the time of Pride festivities. On Monday after the parade, Knapp will leave Texas, where he's lived for 23 years, and return to his native New England. His eyes well with tears as he says, “It's going to be an important night for me, a big night, my last hurrah. I'm having a parade!” Knapp's legacy at BCPA will remain here: how the Gay Men's Chorus of Houston blossomed under his leadership since 2001 to more than 100 singers; how its concert audiences grew from less than 300 at local churches to about 1,200 in its new residence the past three years at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston; how Knapp launched the Bayou City Women's Chorus in 2005, and nurtured it from a dozen singers at its first rehearsal to a choir of more than 50 singers, including lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual women; how Knapp combined the voices of both men and women in the LGBT community and its supporters in founding the Bayou City Chorale, premiered at Jones Hall in 2007 with a benefit performance of “Sing for the Cure” for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Knapp's selection as male grand marshal is LGBT Houston's way of tipping its hat to both the success of BCPA choruses and its longtime leader, whose childhood began as Jamie Knapp in a tough Irish-Catholic/Italian-Catholic neighborhood in Rochester, N.Y.

9:55 pm
Music

10:00 pm
The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. The Trevor Project operates the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for LGBTQ youth. If you or a friend are feeling lost or alone, call The Trevor Helpline. There is hope, there is help. more

10:20 pm
This Way Out

10:40 pm
This incendiary documentary "outs" allegedly gay politicians who oppose gay rights in order to keep their sexual identities in the closet. Whatever you think of the pushy methods of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Kirby Dick (Twist of Fate, Sick, This Film Is Not Yet Rated) to examine the likes of Idaho's Larry Craig, Florida's Charlie Crist and Dubya's campaign manager Ken Mehlman, you can't deny the grave implications of the blatant hypocrisy on display. This film is a muckraking provocation whose time has come. more