Dustin Lance Black to be Interviewed by Blaire Ostler at Affirmation International Conference
The highlight of the September 26th opening session of the Affirmation International Conference is sure to be an interview of Academy Award® winning filmmaker, writer, and social activist Dustin Lance Black by Blaire Ostler.
Dustin Lance Black won the Oscar and two WGA Awards for his screenplay MILK, the biopic of activist Harvey Milk starring Sean Penn, and in 2018 received the Valentine Davies Award from the Writers Guild of America for his body of work. Black was also a founding board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), which successfully led the federal cases for marriage equality in California and Virginia, putting an end to California’s discriminatory Proposition 8.
Blaire Ostler is no stranger to Affirmation and the LGBTQIA+ Latter-day Saint Community. In addition to being the master of ceremonies for the 2019 Affirmation International Conference, she is philosopher who is specialized in queer studies, and is a leading voice at the intersection of queer, Mormon, and transhumanist thought. She is an author publishing her first book, “Queer Mormon Theology: An Introduction.” She is a board member of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, the Christian Transhumanist Association, and Sunstone.
The 2020 Affirmation International Conference is being hosted virtually this year from September 12th to October 4th. Like so much in our lives, we’ve had to adapt this year’s Affirmation International Conference to the realities of COVID-19 and ongoing social distancing efforts and requirements. The health and safety of Affirmation communities are of paramount importance, but we also know gathering together and maintaining our connections with one another is also extremely important.
Conference workshops will take place on Saturdays: September 12, 19, and 26. Each workshop day will begin with amazing guests and speakers like filmmaker, artist, and social activity Dustin Lance Black, Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David, and activist and Colombian activist Ricardo Córdoba Moreno. Currently, the conference schedule includes over 30 workshops covering a diverse range of topics for all along the spectrums of sexual orientation, gender identity, faith, and relationship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Plenary sessions will take place on Sundays: September 20 and October 4 and feature keynote speakers like author and activist Carol Lynn Pearson, author and journalist Samantha Allen, and artist Matthew Gong.
Conference tickets are $39 per person with discounts and scholarships available for those requiring them. Current sustaining members of Affirmation or those who become sustaining members can register for the conference at no cost. For more information, conference schedule, registration, and more, visit conference.affirmation.org.