Jazz Jennings and Gavin Grimm will
figure prominently at next month's Time to THRIVE conference.
The annual LGBT youth conference
organized by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) will take place at the
Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek in Orlando on February 16-18.
At the conference, HRC will present
Grimm with its Upstander Award, which honors those who have advocated
tirelessly on behalf of LGBT youth.
Grimm challenged his school's policy of
not allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their
choice. The Supreme Court was scheduled to hear the case last year
but instead sent it back to a lower court after President Donald
Trump revoked Obama-era guidance to public schools protecting
transgender students. Grimm, though, has since graduated.
(Related: Supreme
Court won't hear case involving transgender teen Gavin Grimm.)
HRC has previously given the award to
Katie Couric, Jazz Jennings, Ruby Corado, Michael Sam, Lance Bass and
John Quiñones.
Reality star Jennings, the youngest
person to become a national transgender figure, is among the special
guests and speakers scheduled at the event.
Additional guests includes Raikes
Foundation co-founder Tricia Raikes, Rhode Island Teacher of the Year
Nikos Giannopoulos, non-binary advocate Jacob Tobia, HRC HIV 360°
Fellow Daniel Downer, trans athlete Chris Mosier, native American
dancers Adrian Stevens and Sean Snyder, advocates Judy and Dennis
Shepard of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and performer Johnny
Manuel.
“These advocates and allies have
dedicated their lives to ensuring that all young people have a safe
and inclusive place to learn, and an equal chance to thrive in all
aspects of their lives,” said Vincent Pompei, director of HRC's
Youth Well-Being Project and Time to THRIVE conference chair. “We
speak to LGBTQ youth every day and know that creating that space can
be challenging. Time to THRIVE was founded to provide cutting edge
training and resources to educators and other youth-service providers
across the country who are committed to the success of all young
people.”