We are convening a day-long in-person Rural Pride Summit in Gainesville, FL on December 6, 2024. The summit aims to bring many local community members and leaders together with national and state groups to build and strengthen relationships, raise the profile of the issues that matter to rural communities, and learn from and support each other. We invite all those interested in participating in the summit to register. Registration is free.  

The National Center for Lesbian Rights launched our Rural Pride project in 2014 to elevate and address the needs of LGBTQ people living in rural communities across the country, challenge the stereotype that LGBTQ people live only in metropolitan areas, and raise awareness of the particular issues faced by LGBTQ rural communities, including increased rates of economic insecurity, discrimination and lack of LGBTQ culturally competent services, and the heightened challenges facing rural LGBTQ youth and people of color. 

Florida’s LGBTQ and Rural communities have shown tremendous resourcefulness, creativity and resilience in the face of many challenges.  

The 1.6 million rural residents of Florida face higher rates of poverty and worse health outcomes than those living in urban areas. Rural Floridians also face danger and economic disruption from the effects of escalating climate crisis. LGBTQ Floridians and their families and allies are subject to a hostile legal landscape that creates barriers to healthcare and education. 

AGENDA

8:30 – 9:15 A.M.: BREAKFAST, CHECK-IN

9:15 – 9:45 A.M.:WELCOME & OVERVIEW

• Welcome Speaker: Mary Alford, County Commissioner, Alachua County

9:45 – 10:45 A.M.: FILM & DISCUSSION: We Are Abundant, Presented by NCLR’s TyrONE Hanley

10:45 – 11:00 A.M.: BREAK

11:00 – 12:00 P.M. PANEL ONE: Healthcare and Well-being

Panelists:

• Ezra Stone, LCSW, Stone Therapy and Consulting

• Simone Chriss, Southern Legal Counsel

• Crystal Sorrow, Peaceful Paths

• Cathy Robinson-Pickett, Friends Together

• Moderator: Ming Wong

12:00 – 1:30 P.M. : LUNCH

1:30 – 2:45 P.M.  PANEL TWO: Housing and Home

Panelists:

• Jane Haskell, SAGE (Services and Advocacy for LGBTQ+ Elders)

• Kevin Rabin, Three Rivers Legal Services, Inc.

• Moderator: TyrONE Hanley

2:45 – 3:00 P.M. BREAK

3:00 – 4:15 P.M. PANEL THREE: Building/Maintaining Connections in our Movement

Panelists:

• Barzella Papa, The Community Foundation of North Central Florida

• Elizabeth Husband, PFLAG Gainesville

• Theresa Beachy, Center for Nonprofit Excellence

• Janet Allen, The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida

• Moderator: Mikaela Rioux

4:15 – 5:00 P.M.  CLOSING DISCUSSION & REMARKS

Closing speaker: Jon Harris Maurer, Equality Florida

5:00 – 5:30 P.M. FINAL WRAP-UP

Speaker Bios:

MARY ALFORD 

Mary Alford is a sixth generation Floridian who grew up in Gainesville with her eight brothers and sisters. She was first elected to the Alachua County Commission in 2020, after many years of volunteering in the community. She served on the Alachua County Environmental Protection Advisory Board, the City of Gainesville Utility Advisory Board and the Alachua County Code Enforcement Board. She has served on the board of several local non-profit organizations, including Florida Defenders of the Environment, the Cultural Arts Coalition, and the United Way of North Central Florida. 

As an undergraduate Mary worked her way through school at Shands Hospital (now UF Health), and later as an engineering intern for Gainesville Regional Utilities. She went on to work and consult at Progress Energy, Duke Energy, the City of Tallahassee and others. In 2007 Mary started The Sustainable Design Group, partnering with local architect Jennifer Langford. She was responsible for the first ten LEED-certified homes in Florida. She is a recognized expert and advocate for small and efficient homes, and advocates for quality urban development and smart growth. 

Mary spends much of her free time with her family, and enjoys working in the community, cooking, gardening, reading, camping, kayaking, and traveling by train or taking road trips “off the beaten path”. She feels passionate about creating opportunities for a dignified and productive life for all citizens through housing, digital connectivity, health and behavioral health access and a beautiful, safe and healthy environment.  

JANET ALLEN 

Janet Allen is the Program Director at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida. Janet joined The Community Foundation in 2016 to work on the finance team and then moved to the programs team in 2020. She is the initial point of contact for discretionary grantmaking and manages a diverse portfolio of grants. Previously, she worked in educational non-profit management experience for six years and in public healthcare finance for 11 years with the Massachusetts Executive office of Health and Human Services in Boston. 

THERESA BEACHY 

Dr. Theresa Beachy brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to social change to her role as the Organizational Strategist at the Center for Nonprofit Excellence.  For the past 24 years, Theresa has served as the Executive Director/CEO of Peaceful Paths Domestic Abuse Network, Inc., the certified domestic violence center serving Alachua, Bradford, and Union counties. Her leadership and dedication to addressing family violence, homelessness, and social justice have been instrumental in driving positive change in the community. She is recognized as a local expert and resource for nonprofit leadership, and has developed best practice for service delivery, business management, and collaborative impact. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce and is actively involved in numerous local initiatives that address intersectionality and access. 

Theresa moved to Gainesville in 1989 to attend the University of Florida, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (1991), a Master of Education (1992), and a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Foundations (2000). She has also completed Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management at the Harvard School of Business (2011). Dr. Beachy’s career in education spanned from 1992 to 2000, when she worked with rural and at-risk programs, including teaching high school social studies in Hardee County, FL, and serving as principal of Camp E-KEL-ETU, a wilderness education program for at-risk boys in the Ocala National Forest. She has been recognized as a Santa Fe College Woman of Distinction, received the Chamber of Commerce Chairman’s Award, and the Marta Varnes Victim Advocacy Award. 

TYRONE HANLEY  

TyrONE Hanley is the Director of Racial and Economic Justice Initiatives at the National Center for Lesbian Rights.  

TyrONE Hanley was born and raised with his two brothers by his Black lesbian mother in a low-income community in the ‘burbs of Chicago. She taught him how to be authentic, loving, curious, and non-judgmental.  

He brings his upbringing into his work by focusing on those most marginalized in the LGBTQ community. Prior to coming to NCLR, TyrONE worked as the HIV Prevention Manager at SMYAL, a DC-area LGBTQ youth organization. He has also previously served as the Gender Public Advocacy Center’s Youth Program Coordinator and as an AmeriCorps/National AIDS Fund member at HIPS, a DC-based harm reduction organization for sex workers and drug users.  

As Director of Racial and Economic Justice Initiatives, he focuses on the criminalization of queer/trans sexuality and those living with HIV and LGBTQ poverty. TyrONE was a creator of the #EndBadHIVLaws campaign with the Center for HIV Law and Policy and Human Rights Campaign. He was also a co-author of the first national LGBTQ poverty agenda, “Intersecting Injustice: A National Call to Action, Addressing LGBTQ Poverty and Economic Justice for All,” co-founder of the National LGBTQ Anti-Poverty Action Network, and founder of NCLR’s “We Serve with Love” campaign.  

JANE HASKELL 

Jane Haskell, M.S. is an accomplished LGBTQ+ advocate, organizer, and speaker with extensive experience in both higher education and the nonprofit sector. She has led cultural competency training for students, staff, and faculty in higher education, as well as for professionals working with LGBTQ+ older adults across various disciplines.  

Jane played a pivotal role, alongside Executive Director Chastity Bowick, in developing the first transitional housing program for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming (TGNB) individuals in New England, in collaboration with the Transgender Emergency Fund of MA. This program has successfully housed over 30 TGNB individuals since its launch.  

Currently, Jane serves as the Director of Collaborations at SAGE (Services and Advocacy for LGBTQ+ Elders), where she supports 80 organizations across the country in advancing services for LGBTQ+ older adults.  

Prior to her role at SAGE, Jane worked at Empath Health in St. Petersburg, FL, where she led the EPIC Generations program, a social support initiative for LGBTQ+ older adults. In this capacity, she hosted community events, coordinated a Friendly Caller Program, and provided technical assistance to local agencies committed to advancing equity in aging services. Jane currently lives in St. Petersburg, FL with her fiancé and their dog, Pepper.   

ELIZABETH HUSBAND 

Elizabeth Husband, LCSW, MEd. (Retired) began her career as a 5th grade teacher is 1965 and spent the last 22 years working as a counselor in a low-income elementary school in south Mississippi. 

However, as the mother of a 57-year-old trans son who works as an emergency room physician and the grandmother of a 23-year-old nonbinary grandchild, she now focuses on being an affirming advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. She is the Recording Secretary of PFLAG Gainesville whose mission is to support, educate and advocate for their LGBTQ+ loved ones. 

JON HARRIS MAURER 

Jon Harris Maurer is strategically positioned in downtown Tallahassee to keep an eye on the Florida Capitol as Equality Florida’s Public Policy Director.  He serves as a front-line lobbyist for LGBTQ equality in the Capitol and leads local policy work around the state.  He graduated from Rice University and Florida State University College of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review.  Prior to joining Equality Florida, Jon Harris worked in the Texas House of Representatives and spent five years in private legal practice for administrative and environmental law.  Outside of work he volunteers with Children’s Home Society and Leadership Florida, and he spends time with his growing family.   

KEVIN RABIN 

Kevin Rabin is the Litigation Director for Three Rivers Legal Services, Inc. in Gainesville, FL. Kevin has worked for non-profit legal services organizations serving the communities of North Central Florida for the past 11 years. He focused primarily on rental housing (both private and subsidized), fair housing, and consumer law prior to becoming Litigation Director, and has experience in estate planning and probate, family law, domestic and sexual violence injunctions for protection, and public benefits. He has litigated hundreds of evictions, debt collection, foreclosure, and consumer protection suits to completion, and currently serves as a co-chair of the Florida Housing Umbrella Group. He has participated in a dozen amicus curiae briefs filed in federal and state appellate courts related to housing programs, sex and disability discrimination, and fair housing rights, including Fox v. Gaines before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. He has presented to landlords, tenants, public housing authorities, non-profits, public interest attorneys, and public officials regarding a wide variety of housing-related topics, including preservation of existing low-income rental housing and tenants’ rights. He graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law cum laude in 2013. 

CATHY ROBINSON-PICKETT 

Cathy Robinson-Pickett is the Founder and Director of Friends Together. She and her late husband Steve founded Friends Together in 2000. Cathy’s journey with HIV began when she was infected as a result of a sexual assault in 1984. Their dream was to help make a better future one person at a time through education and compassion. 
They began by helping families in Central Florida while educating thousands of students across the state. Their mission quickly expanded to serving families across the state of Florida and presenting countless programs in various organizations and universities across the country. Eventually, their dreamed crossed the world to help children and families in Tanzania, Africa.  

Cathy continues to spread her message of compassion and education. Her unique perspective of living with HIV for over 30 years gives hope to those in need and inspiration to those in her classes. 

EZRA STONE 

Ezra Stone is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 14 years of experience working in human services and mental health. They have served the community in a number of capacities, as a support group facilitator, violence prevention educator, domestic violence advocate, and as a therapist for adults and children in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Ezra is passionate about queer and trans mental health and runs a small private practice focused on providing culturally sensitive, evidence-based therapy to the LGBTQ+ community. They have training in LBGT-Affirmative Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Somatic Experiencing. In addition to their individual work with clients, they facilitate DBT therapy groups, organize a monthly mental health discussion group called Rainbow Resilience, and are active in the local LGBT community.