a&e features
Longtime Creating Change conference organizer looks back
Boston’s Sue Hyde says diversity was always key component of annual event
Sue Hyde speaks at the Creating Change Conference. The long-time Boston resident is stepping down after decades overseeing the annual event. (Photo courtesy the Task Force)
Even in big U.S. cities with diverse residents, activist groups sometimes default into overabundances of white, gay, cis men. Organizers of Creating Change, the annual conference of the National LGBTQ Task Force, knew from the start they wanted diversity, but it didn’t just happen. Not by a long shot.
One of the founding principles behind the conference was to “build a stronger, more confident, more skilled, more connected and more representative LGBTQ political movement,” says longtime organizer Sue Hyde.
“People say Creating Change is one of the most diverse LGBTQ political events they attend and we worked hard to make that happen,” Hyde says. “We wanted a conference that would bring people together across age, across race, across income and across geography in the sense that we were very interested in attracting people from not just urban or suburban but also small towns and rural areas.”
She doesn’t know the median age of attendees but at the 2017 conference in Philadelphia, 47 percent of attendees were 30 or younger. About 49 percent identified as something other than European/Caucasian and 30 percent reported incomes of $35,000 or less. Another 22 percent identified as either gender non-conforming or transgender. Seventeen percent were from small towns and rural areas.
“From the get go, we were very conscious of wanting the attendee base of Creating Change to be reflective of who we believed the LGBT communities were comprised,” Hyde says.
The 30th annual Creating Change Conference is Jan. 24-28 at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington. About 3,500 are expected; 1,500 have signed up for a Capitol Hill lobby day that’s part of the event. The theme is “Learn. Connect. Resist.” The Task Force bills its event as the “foremost political, leadership and skills-building conference for the LGBTQ social justice movement.” The primary goal each year is for the conference to “build the LGBTQ movement’s political power from the ground up to secure our overarching goal of full freedom, justice and equality for (LGBTQ) people in the United States.”
Registration is still open and several tiers are available including daily rates ($180), conference passes for students/limited income ($210), regular ($475), senior and youth rates, sponsoring rates and more. Full details at creatingchange.org.
Moving on
It will also be Hyde’s last. One of the conference founders, Hyde has been its director every year except 1990-1993 when she left the Task Force for a few years to work on some other community organizing projects in the Boston area where she lives to this day despite the Task Force’s Washington headquarters. Hyde, 65, will continue to work on queer and social justice issues in a new role with the Wild Geese Foundation, an organization that works to make grants more accessible. She will continue to live in Massachusetts with her partner/wife of 35 years, with whom she has two adult children.
Her resignation inspired a spate of glowing comments. Task Force director Rea Carey said in a statement that Hyde’s impact on the movement of three decades is “immeasurable and unmatched.” Former director Urvashi Vaid called her “one of the most effective organizers with whom I have ever worked.”
Beth Zremsky, a longtime activist and with “28 or 29” Creating Change conferences notched (she doesn’t recall for sure but knows she missed a couple years), probably the record holder, says she feels Hyde’s supreme strength has been her ability to give the conference what it needed along the way to grow and evolve.
“She’s been able to adapt Creating Change both to respond to the issues of the day but also to really be inclusive of the people who are there,” Zremsky says by phone from her home in Minneapolis. “It’s never perfect, but she’s figured out a way to embody the values we say we care about. We say it’s about everybody bringing their full self but to be able to offer a space for 4,000 people to be their full selves, that takes a ton of intentionality. Everything from gender-neutral bathrooms, interpreters, food for all the low-income people so they can come and not worry about getting fed, I could go on and on. I often use Creating Change as an example of what it would really look like to create an intentional community just for five days that’s completely seen and completely held so they can do the work we need to do as a movement.”
Growing pains
And, as one would imagine, 30 years of conferences don’t happen without some snags along the way. Some are logistical. Hyde remembers one year the conference was at a fully unionized hotel but organizers failed to realize members of the audio-visual team also needed a union salary, significantly higher than what had been budgeted. Planning the conference is a year-round effort for Hyde and her team of four who work only on the conference (other Task Force staff members work on the conference and other duties).
Hyde mostly shrugs off any suggestions of rancor along the way and says, having worked under 10 Task Force directors over the years, each of whom “had their own idea about what they thought the programming should look like,” a few hiccups were to be expected.
“Yeah, I’ve taken a lump or two but it comes with the territory,” she says. “But along with the lumps have been a great deal of very satisfying and really gratifying experiences of bringing together now thousands of people who are committed equally to securing freedom and justice and equality and liberation so the lump is not really what I want to remember or think about. I tend to think much more about the incredibly beautiful metabolism of Creating Change and our movement coming together every year. It’s a political organization but also a family reunion.”
Zremsky sees it slightly differently.
“One of the things Sue is a master at, as is Urvashi, is the idea that for something to be a movement, it needs to move,” Zremsky says. “They’ve kept Creating Change moving with the movement and Sue is one of the most graceful people I know when it comes to dealing with conflict and allowing conflict to be a growth opportunity. She leans into it as a way to sort of say, ‘Hey, this is our growth point.’”
The conference started as an outgrowth of the second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987. Then Task Force director Jeff Levi “looked at us like we’d lost our minds,” Hyde recalls when she and others pitched the idea.
“He thought we were crazy but he agreed to go forward, which was a good thing, and pretty much left it in the hands of me and Urvashi to deal with the logistics,” Hyde says.
Making it work
A group of attendees at the 2017 Creating Change Conference. (Photo courtesy the Task Force)
The conference is held in a different city each year. This is the second time it’s been in Washington. The first was in 1988 for its inaugural event though it was held in Bethesda, Md., in 1989; Arlington, Va., in 1991 and Alexandria, Va., in 1996. Several cities have hosted twice including Detroit (’95 and ’08), Minnesota (’91 and ’11), Denver (’09 and ’15) and Dallas (’94 and ’10) among others. Hyde says she can’t name a favorite host city but has enjoyed seeing integration among activist circles increase upon returning to areas years later. It was especially pronounced in Detroit, she says.
About 300 folks attended the first conference in 1988. Peak attendance was in 2016 in Chicago with about 4,600. It’s been between 3,000-4,000 for the past few years.
Hyde guesses the first conference budget was around $65,000. She can’t say what it is for 2018.
And although the Task Force does not view the conference as a moneymaker, its goal, Hyde says, is “to do better than break even. Exact figures, she says, are impossible to fully extricate from the overall Task Force operations because of the carryover of staff, supplies and overhead that aren’t designated fully to either the conference or other Task Force areas. There have been times the conference has not broken even, but it’s been rare.
Calamities have been few. A 1996 tornado made it impossible for the keynote speaker to fly into Alexandria from California. A substitute who could arrive by train from New Jersey was quickly found. Hyde says that was the biggest logistical snafu she recalls.
One of the most tedious aspects to pulling it off each year is going through the more than 600 proposals submitted for session topics each year only about half of which can be approved. Hyde says it’s important that each is given careful consideration.
On the conference floor itself, Hyde says she has her game face on.
“I’m the trouble-shooter in chief, so when things are going a little bit awry, I am often involved in pulling people together so it’s not like going to your own dinner party. You have 3,000 people in a building. I believe in customer service and I try to treat every conversation as though it’s the first conversation of the day even if it’s the 100th. I try to give people my full attention, my best problem-solving skills and my best conflict mediation skills.”
a&e features
Visit Cambridge, a ‘beautiful secret’ on Maryland’s Eastern Shore
New organization promotes town’s welcoming vibe, LGBTQ inclusion
CAMBRIDGE, Md. — Driving through this scenic, historic town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, you’ll be charmed by streets lined with unique shops, restaurants, and beautifully restored Victorian homes. You’ll also be struck by the number of LGBTQ Pride flags flying throughout the town.
The flags are a reassuring signal that everyone is welcome here, despite the town’s location in ruby red Dorchester County, which voted for Donald Trump over Kamala Harris by a lopsided margin. But don’t let that deter you from visiting. A new organization, Proudly Cambridge, is holding its debut Pride event this weekend, touting the town’s welcoming, inclusive culture.
“We stumbled on a beautiful secret and we wanted to help get the word out,” said James Lumalcuri of the effort to create Proudly Cambridge.
The organization celebrates diversity, enhances public spaces, and seeks to uplift all that Cambridge has to share, according to its mission statement, under the tagline “You Belong Here.”
The group has so far held informal movie nights and a picnic and garden party; the launch party is June 28 at the Cambridge Yacht Club, which will feature a Pride celebration and tea dance. The event’s 75 tickets sold out quickly and proceeds benefit DoCo Pride.
“Tickets went faster than we imagined and we’re bummed we can’t welcome everyone who wanted to come,” Lumalcuri said, adding that organizers plan to make “Cheers on the Choptank” an annual event with added capacity next year.
One of the group’s first projects was to distribute free Pride flags to anyone who requested one and the result is a visually striking display of a large number of flags flying all over town. Up next: Proudly Cambridge plans to roll out a program offering affirming businesses rainbow crab stickers to show their inclusiveness and LGBTQ support. The group also wants to engage with potential visitors and homebuyers.
“We want to spread the word outside of Cambridge — in D.C. and Baltimore — who don’t know about Cambridge,” Lumalcuri said. “We want them to come and know we are a safe haven. You can exist here and feel comfortable and supported by neighbors in a way that we didn’t anticipate when we moved here.”
Lumalcuri, 53, a federal government employee, and his husband, Lou Cardenas, 62, a Realtor, purchased a Victorian house in Cambridge in 2021 and embarked on an extensive renovation. The couple also owns a home in Adams Morgan in D.C.
“We saw the opportunity here and wanted to share it with others,” Cardenas said. “There’s lots of housing inventory in the $300-400,000 range … we’re not here to gentrify people out of town because a lot of these homes are just empty and need to be fixed up and we’re happy to be a part of that.”
Lumalcuri was talking with friends one Sunday last year at the gazebo (affectionately known as the “gayzebo” by locals) at the Yacht Club and the idea for Proudly Cambridge was born. The founding board members are Lumalcuri, Corey van Vlymen, Brian Orjuela, Lauren Mross, and Caleb Holland. The group is currently working toward forming a 501(c)3.
“We need visibility and support for those who need it,” Mross said. “We started making lists of what we wanted to do and the five of us ran with it. We started meeting weekly and solidified what we wanted to do.”
Mross, 50, a brand strategist and web designer, moved to Cambridge from Atlanta with her wife three years ago. They knew they wanted to be near the water and farther north and began researching their options when they discovered Cambridge.
“I had not heard of Cambridge but the location seemed perfect,” she said. “I pointed on a map and said this is where we’re going to move.”
The couple packed up, bought a camper trailer and parked it in different campsites but kept coming back to Cambridge.
“I didn’t know how right it was until we moved here,” she said. “It’s the most welcoming place … there’s an energy vortex here – how did so many cool, progressive people end up in one place?”
Corey van Vlymen and his husband live in D.C. and were looking for a second home. They considered Lost River, W.Va., but decided they preferred to be on the water.
“We looked at a map on both sides of the bay and came to Cambridge on a Saturday and bought a house that day,” said van Vlymen, 39, a senior scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton. They’ve owned in Cambridge for two years.
They were drawn to Cambridge due to its location on the water, the affordable housing inventory, and its proximity to D.C.; it’s about an hour and 20 minutes away.
Now, through the work of Proudly Cambridge, they hope to highlight the town’s many attributes to residents and visitors alike.
“Something we all agree on is there’s a perception problem for Cambridge and a lack of awareness,” van Vlymen said. “If you tell someone you’re going to Cambridge, chances are they think, ‘England or Massachusetts?’”
He cited the affordability and the opportunity to save older, historic homes as a big draw for buyers.
“It’s all about celebrating all the things that make Cambridge great,” Mross added. “Our monthly social events are joyful and celebratory.” A recent game night drew about 70 people.
She noted that the goal is not to gentrify the town and push longtime residents out, but to uplift all the people who are already there while welcoming new visitors and future residents.
They also noted that Proudly Cambridge does not seek to supplant existing Pride-focused organizations. Dorchester County Pride organizes countywide Pride events and Delmarva Pride was held in nearby Easton two weeks ago.
“We celebrate all diversity but are gay powered and gay led,” Mross noted.
To learn more about Proudly Cambridge, visit the group on Facebook and Instagram.
What to see and do
Cambridge, located 13 miles up the Choptank River from the Chesapeake Bay, has a population of roughly 15,000. It was settled in 1684 and named for the English university town in 1686. It is home to the Harriet Tubman Museum, mural, and monument. Its proximity to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge makes it a popular stop for birders, drawn to more than 27,000 acres of marshland dubbed “the Everglades of the north.”
The refuge is walkable, bikeable, and driveable, making it an accessible attraction for all. There are kayaking and biking tours through Blackwater Adventures (blackwateradventuresmd.com).
Back in town, take a stroll along the water and through historic downtown and admire the architecture. Take in the striking Harriet Tubman mural (424 Race St.). Shop in the many local boutiques, and don’t miss the gay-owned Shorelife Home and Gifts (421 Race St.), filled with stylish coastal décor items.
Stop for breakfast or lunch at Black Water Bakery (429 Race St.), which offers a full compliment of coffee drinks along with a build-your-own mimosa bar and a full menu of creative cocktails.
The Cambridge Yacht Club (1 Mill St.) is always bustling but you need to be a member to get in. Snapper’s on the water is temporarily closed for renovations. RaR Brewing (rarbrewing.com) is popular for craft beers served in an 80-year-old former pool hall and bowling alley. The menu offers burgers, wings, and other bar fare.
For dinner or wine, don’t miss the fantastic Vintage 414 (414 Race St.), which offers lunch, dinner, wine tasting events, specialty foods, and a large selection of wines. The homemade cheddar crackers, inventive flatbreads, and creative desserts (citrus olive oil cake, carrot cake trifle) were a hit on a recent visit.
Also nearby is Ava’s (305 High St.), a regional chain offering outstanding Italian dishes, pizzas, and more.
For something off the beaten path, visit Emily’s Produce (22143 Church Creek Rd.) for its nursery, produce, and prepared meals.
“Ten minutes into the sticks there’s a place called Emily’s Produce, where you can pay $5 and walk through a field and pick sunflowers, blueberries, you can feed the goats … and they have great food,” van Vlymen said.
As for accommodations, there’s the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay (100 Heron Blvd. at Route 50), a resort complex with golf course, spa, and marina. Otherwise, check out Airbnb and VRBO for short-term rentals closer to downtown.
Its proximity to D.C. and Baltimore makes Cambridge an ideal weekend getaway. The large LGBTQ population is welcoming and they are happy to talk up their town and show you around.
“There’s a closeness among the neighbors that I wasn’t feeling in D.C.,” Lumalcuri said. “We look after each other.”
a&e features
James Baldwin bio shows how much of his life is revealed in his work
‘A Love Story’ is first major book on acclaimed author’s life in 30 years
‘Baldwin: A Love Story’
By Nicholas Boggs
c.2025, FSG
$35/704 pages
“Baldwin: A Love Story” is a sympathetic biography, the first major one in 30 years, of acclaimed Black gay writer James Baldwin. Drawing on Baldwin’s fiction, essays, and letters, Nicolas Boggs, a white writer who rediscovered and co-edited a new edition of a long-lost Baldwin book, explores Baldwin’s life and work through focusing on his lovers, mentors, and inspirations.
The book begins with a quick look at Baldwin’s childhood in Harlem, and his difficult relationship with his religious, angry stepfather. Baldwin’s experience with Orilla Miller, a white teacher who encouraged the boy’s writing and took him to plays and movies, even against his father’s wishes, helped shape his life and tempered his feelings toward white people. When Baldwin later joined a church and became a child preacher, though, he felt conflicted between academic success and religious demands, even denouncing Miller at one point. In a fascinating late essay, Baldwin also described his teenage sexual relationship with a mobster, who showed him off in public.
Baldwin’s romantic life was complicated, as he preferred men who were not outwardly gay. Indeed, many would marry women and have children while also involved with Baldwin. Still, they would often remain friends and enabled Baldwin’s work. Lucien Happersberger, who met Baldwin while both were living in Paris, sent him to a Swiss village, where he wrote his first novel, “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” as well as an essay, “Stranger in the Village,” about the oddness of being the first Black person many villagers had ever seen. Baldwin met Turkish actor Engin Cezzar in New York at the Actors’ Studio; Baldwin later spent time in Istanbul with Cezzar and his wife, finishing “Another Country” and directing a controversial play about Turkish prisoners that depicted sexuality and gender.
Baldwin collaborated with French artist Yoran Cazac on a children’s book, which later vanished. Boggs writes of his excitement about coming across this book while a student at Yale and how he later interviewed Cazac and his wife while also republishing the book. Baldwin also had many tumultuous sexual relationships with young men whom he tried to mentor and shape, most of which led to drama and despair.
The book carefully examines Baldwin’s development as a writer. “Go Tell It on the Mountain” draws heavily on his early life, giving subtle signs of the main character John’s sexuality, while “Giovanni’s Room” bravely and openly shows a homosexual relationship, highly controversial at the time. “If Beale Street Could Talk” features a woman as its main character and narrator, the first time Baldwin wrote fully through a woman’s perspective. His essays feel deeply personal, even if they do not reveal everything; Lucian is the unnamed visiting friend in one who the police briefly detained along with Baldwin. He found New York too distracting to write, spending his time there with friends and family or on business. He was close friends with modernist painter Beauford Delaney, also gay, who helped Baldwin see that a Black man could thrive as an artist. Delaney would later move to France, staying near Baldwin’s home.
An epilogue has Boggs writing about encountering Baldwin’s work as one of the few white students in a majority-Black school. It helpfully reminds us that Baldwin connects to all who feel different, no matter their race, sexuality, gender, or class. A well-written, easy-flowing biography, with many excerpts from Baldwin’s writing, it shows how much of his life is revealed in his work. Let’s hope it encourages reading the work, either again or for the first time.
a&e features
Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
Washington Blade’s unique archives chronicle highs, lows of our movement
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of LGBTQ Pride in Washington, D.C., the Washington Blade team combed our archives and put together a glossy magazine showcasing five decades of celebrations in the city. Below is a sampling of images from the magazine but be sure to find a print copy starting this week.
The magazine is being distributed now and is complimentary. You can find copies at LGBTQ bars and restaurants across the city. Or visit the Blade booth at the Pride festival on June 7 and 8 where we will distribute copies.
Thank you to our advertisers and sponsors, whose support has enabled us to distribute the magazine free of charge. And thanks to our dedicated team at the Blade, especially Photo Editor Michael Key, who spent many hours searching the archives for the best images, many of which are unique to the Blade and cannot be found elsewhere. And thanks to our dynamic production team of Meaghan Juba, who designed the magazine, and Phil Rockstroh who managed the process. Stephen Rutgers and Brian Pitts handled sales and marketing and staff writers Lou Chibbaro Jr., Christopher Kane, Michael K. Lavers, Joe Reberkenny along with freelancer and former Blade staffer Joey DiGuglielmo wrote the essays.
The magazine represents more than 50 years of hard work by countless reporters, editors, advertising sales reps, photographers, and other media professionals who have brought you the Washington Blade since 1969.
We hope you enjoy the magazine and keep it as a reminder of all the many ups and downs our local LGBTQ community has experienced over the past 50 years.
I hope you will consider supporting our vital mission by becoming a Blade member today. At a time when reliable, accurate LGBTQ news is more essential than ever, your contribution helps make it possible. With a monthly gift starting at just $7, you’ll ensure that the Blade remains a trusted, free resource for the community — now and for years to come. Click here to help fund LGBTQ journalism.
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