D&I Emerald Coast Author, Mike will do an excerpt from his forthcoming sci-fi book “Probe” and discuss his writing style. Here is an example: “The cavern was glowing with warm orange light as he descended into its clutches. The tribe was sitting lazily, languishing around the large earthen room. He knew that there was no way to escape their inquiry. He would have to tell them everything, immediately. The platform clutched the floor and he stepped off of the metallic grating and rested his foot gently inside the cavern.  The platform sat solidly upon the cavern floor as he walked toward the center of the room. The Gelsphere pulsated weakly behind him. The tribe gasped as they slowly realized that his hand was missing. Lillian shrieked as she ran up to him. “What happened?” Copernicus exhaled, defeated. “There was an accident.” Tune in for more info on this exciting book.

COASTAL RAIBBOW FORUM - STEVE RYAN

PROBE--AUTHOR MIKE PART 1

 Shannon Fortner related Projects Harvey Milk Festival; The band Meteor-EYES has another single and a record coming out soon. MXME is a project consisting of her solo work and Erne Murphy. New releases and more in the works as far as new performance piece. Pop-up events in the fall of 2021 picking up the work with Moxie Productions SRQ. Hopes to work with the Ringling to do Ringling Underground soon. HMF Drive-in Festival music, performance art, dance, film. 2022 Fall 3+ Day Drag Culture Festival. 

Harvey Milk Festival--SHANNON FORTNER

Guest Name:  Susie Copeland (D&I with Black History) Email: susieb.copeland@gmail.com Topic: Bio: D&I with Black History Month: Susie will speak about her appointment as D&I Leader in Manatee, who is on the committee, what they see as possible elements of a D & I committee. On Black History: She will do an overview of how it began; why black history month; how it is celebrated; how most Blacks believe it should be celebrated. She will also discuss other related topics in the Black Community.

SUSIE COPELAND (D&I with Black History Month)

Guest Name –  Rev, Dr. Nancy Wilson Email:  revdrnancywilson@gmail.com Bio & Topic: Venice Pride & Other; Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson will discuss Venice Pride and events at Venice MCC which involve their outreach into community. She has long history of accomplishments and work in helping so many people in not only Florida but other areas. Society Bytes Radio considers it a honor to share some of Rev. Wilsons insights, and plans for future.

REV DR NANCY WILSON

Nathan is chair of the Florida LGBTQ+ State Legislative Committee and will lead efforts to advocate for LGBTQ+ Rights in all legislation. He is trained as a lawyer and multiple local, and state achievements; including instructing D&I Courses for Businesses/Organizations.

FLORIDA LGBTQ LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 2021 - NATHAN BRUEMMER

Sheila Weiss is a straight ally with 2 lesbian daughters; and she serves on Board of PFLAG Sarasota along with other NGO Leadership positions. She was born and lived in WV; then in Ohio over 30 years, before moving to Sarasota. She has a BA in MGT ECON and MBA. One daughter has been married 13 years and lives in Chicago with her wife and 2 yr old daughter. The other daughter lives in Philadelphia with her dog, Finn and her cat Maurice and is VP of sales for DMi Partners.

BOARD MEMBER PFLAG - SHEILA WEISS

Marlene has worked with parents, teachers and children for 30 years, directed foster care and counseling programs, provided parent and teacher education in MA & FL. She also taught Child/Family/Teacher Relations at the University of South FL for 8 years. “I did not decide to write a book on parenting because I felt I was an expert, although my years of experience would indicate some level of expertise. I undertook this project because although I had a great deal of experience caring for babies and children of all ages, at the time I became a mother, I was overwhelmed with the sense of protection and responsibility I felt for my son.”She holds a M.A. In Family Studies from Goddard College had the privilege of attending the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, as well as three years in a Ph.D. program on public policy and child welfare. She is a mother and grandmother. She is the author of If Only They Came with Instructions, A Guide for Parents, Nobody’s Perfect-Parenting in a World of Change, her latest book, as well as a series of books for first grade students and their families dealing with health and safety issues. She was the President of Parenting U International, a company she started with Gail Toulan, Ph.D. in 2007. The company did not survive the 2008 financial crisis when Publix was just about to roll our Parenting Link Program for their nearly 150,000 employees. Due to the challenging financial situation, Publix did not want to roll out any new programs at that time. She has worked with more than 2000 parents and more than 500 teachers in elementary schools and special education programs, for the Social Work Training Institute and as a manager, as well as a trainer for Head Start staff.

IF THEY ONLY CAME WITH INSTUCTIONS - MARLENE RESNICK SIMONS PART 2

Marlene has worked with parents, teachers and children for 30 years, directed foster care and counseling programs, provided parent and teacher education in MA & FL. She also taught Child/Family/Teacher Relations at the University of South FL for 8 years. She holds a M.A. In Family Studies from Goddard College had the privilege of attending the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, as well as three years in a Ph.D. program on public policy and child welfare. She is a mother and grandmother. She is the author of If Only They Came with Instructions, A Guide for Parents, Nobody’s Perfect-Parenting in a World of Change, her latest book, as well as a series of books for first grade students and their families dealing with health and safety issues. She was the President of Parenting U International, a company she started with Gail Toulan, Ph.D. in 2007. The company did not survive the 2008 financial crisis when Publix was just about to roll our Parenting Link Program for their nearly 150,000 employees. Due to the challenging financial situation, Publix did not want to roll out any new programs at that time. She has worked with more than 2000 parents and more than 500 teachers in elementary schools and special education programs, for the Social Work Training Institute and as a manager, as well as a trainer for Head Start staff.

IF THEY ONLY CAME WITH INSTUCTIONS - MARLENE RESNICK SIMONS PART 1

Jordana was a leading person behind the first organized Pride event in this remote northern area of Canada. She first experienced a Pride event when she moved away from Flin Flon (less than 6k pop.) at a young age to Saskatoon (a metro area of about ½ million pop.) Still not sure of her sexual identity out when she moved, she built a relationship with a “roommate” in Saskatoon. She dealt with trauma of coming out to family who at first did not accept. Moving back to Flin Flon, she gained acceptance from family and others over time. They still have incidents of hate; but much of town now accepts an participate in their annual parade.

#138 FLIN-FLON PRIDE AND LGBTQ - JORDANNA OULETTE

Catherine Esposito Prescott is the author of the chapbooks Maria Sings and The Living Ruin. Recent poems appear in Bellevue Literary Review, Gone Lawn, Green Mountains Review Online, Flyway, MiPOesias, NELLE, Pleiades, Poetry East, Southern Poetry Review, South Florida Poetry Journal, as well as The Orison Anthology, and Grabbed: Writers Respond to Sexual Assault. Co-founder and editor in chief of SWWIM Every Day, Prescott teaches vinyasa yoga and yoga philosophy. She lives in Miami Beach with her family.Jen Karetnick's fourth full-length book is The Burning Where Breath Used to Be (David Robert Books, September 2020). She is the author of nine other poetry books, including a collection forthcoming from Salmon Poetry in 2023. Karetnick has been awarded the 2020 Tiferet Writing Contest for Poetry, the Hart Crane Memorial Prize, the Romeo Lemay Poetry Prize, the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Prize, and two Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Prizes, among others. Her work appears recently or is forthcoming in Barrow Street, The Comstock Review, december, Michigan Quarterly Review, Terrain.org, and elsewhere. She is co-founder and managing editor of SWWIM Every Day, and has been an Artist in Residence in the Everglades, a Deering Estate Artist in Residence, and a Maryland Purple Line Transit grant recipient, among other honors. She works as a food-travel-lifestyle journalist and is the author of eight cookbooks and guidebooks.

RESPECTED AUTHORS - CATHERINE ESPOSITO PRESCOTT AND JEN KARETNICK

Originally trained as a Marine Biologist; he is now “Sexual Minority Health Coordinator for Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County”, Fl. He is former Exec. Director at Pridelines in Miami-Dade, Fl. He also has Consulting background for Body Positive and is one of the long-term survivors of HIV. He has a long list of activism events we will discuss.

SEXUAL MINORITY - LUIGI FERRER

Author Caridad Moro is the author of TORTILLERA, the winner of the TRP Southern Poetry Breakthrough Prize for Florida forthcoming from Texas Review Press in the Spring of 2021, as well as the chapbook Vision-ware, published by Finishing Line Press as part of its New Women Voices Series. She is also a Contributing Editor for Grabbed: Poets and Writers Respond to Sexual Assault, Empowerment and Healing (Beacon Press, 2020) and an Associate Editor for SWWIM Every Day, an online daily poetry journal for women identifying poets. Moro is the recipient of an Elizabeth George Foundation Grant and a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in poetry. Her work has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes, The Best of the Net and a Lambda Literary Award. Recent work can be found at The Best American Poetry Blog, Rhino, Go Magazine, Fantastical Florida, Notre Dame-Review, West Trestle Review, The Woven Tapestry Press and others. She resides in Miami, FL with her family.

GRABBED - CARIDAD MORO

D AND I - TYLER PART 2

D AND I - TYLER PART 1

THE COMMITTEE - AUTHOR STERLING WATSON

A Forum that interviews interesting people for their perspectives on local, regional, and international issues that impact the LGBTQIA Community. Included are many personal 1st person stories which shows why the struggle for LGBTQIA rights must continue. We will also report on issues and local events that directly impact the Florida West Coast LGBTQIA Community.

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COASTAL RAIBBOW FORUM - STEVE RYAN

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