In the News: Out Smart

The 20th Annual Transgender Unity Banquet Scheduled for April 28, 2011

The Houston Transgender Unity Committee is extending an open invitation to help us celebrate the 20th Annual Transgender Unity Banquet on Saturday April 28, 2011. This is the largest Transgender Community event held in Houston each year.

The Houston Transgender Unity Committee (HTUC) was formed to plan and coordinate common activities for the Houston Transgender Community and is composed of members from; Tau Chi chapter of Tri-Ess, Helping Transgenders Anonymous (HTGA), Some Transgenders Are Guys (STAG), Houston Transgender Cover Girls (HTCG), Diamond T Girls, and Transgenders of Faith-Community Gospel Church.

The Unity Banquet is held each year to acknowledge and honor our allies and advocates. This year’s Unity Banquet will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Brookhollow Sheraton, 3000 North Loop West, Houston, TX 77092. Doors will open at 6:30pm. (There will be a cash bar.) The Unity Committee asks for your support by attending the banquet and/or participating as one of our sponsors. Last year’s Sponsors included: Equality Texas; Frye and Associates, PLLC Law Firm; Houston GLBT Political Caucus; Dr Kristen Schilt; Montrose Grace Place; Psychology Services of Southeast Texas, Robert Meier, PhD; Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church; Shell Oil – Sea Shell Network; TENT: Transgender Education Network of Texas; Baylor College of Medicine; Dennis “Woodja” Flanigan; Katine and Nechman, LLP; Erotic Cabaret; John Steven Kellett Foundation; J. Silver; and MCONSERV.

Non-sponsor tickets for the 2012 Unity Banquet are priced at $90 for a reserved ticket, $700 for a reserved table of 8, $65 for early purchase open seating, and $85 at the door.

The Peggy Rudd Transgender Scholarship Fund, the TG float in the annual Pride Parade, and other TG Community needs are supported by the proceeds from this banquet. The Unity Committee operates within the Transgender Foundation of America (TFA) and is a 501(c)3 public charity. Your donation may be partially tax deductible and your payment receipt or canceled check should be used as your tax receipt.

Keynote speakers will include the Rev. Megan Rohrer and Marty Ebel.

The Rev. Megan Rohrer, is the first openly transgender pastor ordained in the Lutheran church. Called by four Lutheran and one Episcopal churches, Megan serves as a missionary to the homeless in San Francisco as the Executive Director of Welcome.Working at with the chronically homeless at Welcome since 2002, Megan’s innovative projects have included the Homeless Identification Project, the Urban Share Community Gardens and the LGBTQ Homeless Youth Leadership Project. Megan is also the Provider and Resources Manager at Project Homeless Connect and founded SF Refresh, a series of citywide events that provide free whole body health care in community garden settings that is funded by the Mental Health Services Act in collaboration with the SF Department of Public Health. Recently awarded an honorary doctorate from Palo Alto University, Megan won Out History’s Since Stonewall Local Histories Competition with an exhibit on the history of trans male mentoring in San Francisco, is the co-editor of Letters For Our Brothers: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect and is an advocacy blogger for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Martin S. “Marty” Ebel is the Deputy Director of the Houston District Office of the EEOC. Before joining the EEOC, he was General Counsel, and later, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), where he ran the Commission’s Springfield office, directed the agency’s employment testing project, spearheaded a review and revision of the agency’s regulations, and adjudicated employment discrimination cases. Before coming to Texas, Ebel was twice named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer. Ebel is a 1994 graduate of Boston College Law School, where he was a member of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Team and was honored with the St. Thomas More Award—the Law School’s highest honor. He is the Immediate Past-President of the Law School’s Alumni Association.

To purchase your tickets go to htuc.org or visit Vanity’s Transformation Studio at 1446 Yale St, Houston, 77008 (cash or check only)
For information on volunteering contact the committee at htuc2012@gmail.com