- Scott Tinker
- Jon Meacham
- Cory Booker
- Jack Bowman
- Candace Gingrich-Jones
- David Agus
- Jeffrey Immelt
- Isaac Asimov: Science Fiction to Science Fact
- Reza Aslan: No god but God
- Norm Augustine: Want Jobs? Invest in Universities
- Charles Best: DonorsChoose.org
- Dr. Robert DiClerico: The Last Class
- Bill Easterly: Free the Poor!
- Jared Fogle: Living Well
- Harold Ford, Jr.: More Davids than Goliaths
- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
- Leroy Hood: Systems Biology & Medicine
- Arianna Huffington: The Road to 2008
- Gwen Ifill: Evolution in Washington
- Walter Isaacson: Evolution of Mass Communication
- Sebastian Junger: Front Lines of History
- John Kao: Mr. Creativity
- Sheril Kirshenbaum: Unscientific America
- Meave Leakey: Evolution & Fossil Evidence in Africa
- Gayle Tzemach Lemmon: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana
- C. Peter Magrath: Land-Grant @ 150
- James McPherson: Lincoln and the Millennium
- Maria Mossman: Peace Caravan
- Siddhartha Mukherjee: The Emperor of All Maladies
- Gary Paul Nabhan: Renewing America's Food Traditions
- Soledad O'Brien: Diversity & Media
- Byron Pitts: Step Out on Nothing
- Marcus Rediker: The Slave Ship
- Mark Russell: Comedy, Music, Bribery, and Conspiracy
- Laurie Santos: Evolution of Irrationality
- Joshua Wolf Shenk: Lincoln's Melancholy
- Rebecca Skloot: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
- Gore Vidal: A Conversation
- Sarah Vowell: Assassination Vacation
- Alan Weisman: The World Without Us
- Cornel West: Hip Hop, Law & Culture
- Jerry West: My Life
- The Revolution Will Be Tweeted!
- Einstein's Unfinished Symphony
- Does Race Matter?
- Digital Media and the 2008 Presidential Election
- The American Penny
Candace Gingrich-Jones
The Accidental Activist
A Personal and Political Journey
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
7:30 p.m.
Mountainlair Ballrooms
The Accidental Activist, the title of Candace Gingrich-Jones 1996 autobiography, captures best her path to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) advocacy well. Her involvement in the movement for queer equality began in 1995 when her brother, Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-GA., was elected House speaker and she had an opportunity to make her voice heard. Since then, she has not stopped advocating for the issues of importance to the LGBT community.
Gingrich has been profiled in national newspapers and magazines, guest-blogged at the Huffington Post and has appeared on Good Morning America, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and the Queen Latifah Show. She also memorably guest-starred on Friends as the minister in the groundbreaking episode “The One with the Lesbian Wedding.”
On behalf of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights and advocacy organization, Gingrich has crisscrossed the country to promote the importance of coming out, the duty to vote, and the power of everyday conversations to change minds. Gingrich believes that the current generation of young Americans is crucial to obtaining full queer equality. Noting the widespread support for LGBT issues in this cohort, she has coined the phrase “Generation Equality” to describe the under-30’s.
“But just being supportive doesn’t magically make change,” says Gingrich. “GenEQ needs to speak up and act out in order to achieve the justice and equality queer Americans deserve.”