Activists welcome National Center for Transgender Equality to Tampa

TAMPA | Area activists will host a special reception for the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) Sept. 12 at the Tampa Club to raise awareness and funds for the social justice advocacy organization.

NCTE is devoted to ending discrimination and violence against transgender people through education and advocacy on national issues. They advise that by empowering transgender people and their allies to educate and influence policymakers and others, NCTE facilitates a strong and clear voice for transgender equality in the nation’s capital and around the country.

Executive Director Mara Keisling, who founded NCTE in 2003, will be in attendance to provide a state of the transgender movement and detail the organization’s work. She will be joined by hosts and community advocates Ashley Brundage, Joanne Herman and Nathan Bruemmer, who were inspired to help raise awareness “for all NCTE is doing to protect and advocate for the transgender and gender non-confirming communities.”

“The last 500 or so days have not been easy,” the VIP reception’s public invitation reads. “We’ve fought tooth and nail to help protect trans folks from an administration that is hell-bent on taking our rights away. But in spite of this, we have still made great strides in securing trans-inclusive policies at both the state and federal level.”

Brundage says that she met Keisling while speaking at a transgender conference several years ago, which immediately became an opportunity to learn about NCTE’s work. “I was very, very excited to know that there was someone out there trying to advocate for the community on such a large scale,” she says.

Since then, she’s wanted to help NCTE—noting that they operate on a much smaller budget than many national LGBTQ organizations. “They really rely on these kinds of donor events where they can share their mission,” she says. “I’ve been talking to them quite a while.”

The hosts invited the organization to Tampa to help engage the community and raise awareness. “The spotlight is on Florida in so many ways,” Brundage says. “As an extreme minority community, we have to really be able to expand our donor base.”

VIP reception tickets begin at $25 and include drinks and light fare, with available sponsorships ranging from $500 to $5,000. “There’s definitely time to be able to get in and partner with us. The event itself is going to strategically be more of a networking-style type of reception, allowing people to meet other people and local organizations,” Brundage says. “There’s more intersectionality to our community than you think. I think it’s so important to really make a stand right now and bring the leaders here to share their missions.”

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