WASHINGTON, D.C.—Those who've frequented congressional hearings having to do with free internet speech, LBGT rights or the "menace" of pornography may have run across Ricci Levy, president and founding executive director of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, whose mission is to promote sexual human rights.
The foundation is named for Victoria Claflin Woodhull, a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the late 19th century who, according to Wikipedia, "became a colorful and notorious symbol for women's rights, free love, and spiritualism as she fought against corruption and for labor reforms."
In that spirit and to that end, Woodhull is sponsoring Sexual Freedom Day 2010, an all-day event which will take place on Thursday, Sept. 23, at the National Press Club in downtown Washington—and it's free! Among the topics to be discussed at the event's policy breakfast, panels throughout the day culminating in its 3 p.m. press conference are the intersections between government policy and lawmaking, marriage, reproductive rights, personal relationships, child rearing, sexual orientation, gender identification, sexual expression, and sexual practice.
To that end, Levy has amassed an impressive roster of speakers, including Kenyon Farrow, executive director of Queers for Economic Justice; author and "sex radical" Amber Hollibaugh; AVN Legal Editor Mark Kernes; Dan Massey; Mia Mingus, a queer, physically disabled woman of color who is a justice activist for many sexual and political causes; Zack Rosen; RJ Thompson; clinical psychologist Dr. Carmen Vasquez; First Amendment attorney Lawrence Walters; and sex-radical feminist sociologist Elizabeth Wood. Adult actress Nina Hartley is also expected to attend.
The day's panels will include topics such as the intersections between aging, racial, reproductive and economic justice; sexual dignity; and current trends and opportunities for a human rights agenda with the aim of creating a policy blueprint with which to move forward.
A luncheon session will include presentations of the "Vicki" awards, given to individuals or organizations whose work and/or life embodies the mission and vision of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation to affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right. The recipients of this year's Vicki Award are Bina Aspen and Martine Rothblatt, Dr. Deborah Taj Anapol, Kushaba Moses Mworeko, and Susan Wright.
The afternoon press conference will feature the release of Woodhull's treatise, "The State of Sexual Freedom in the U.S. 2010," which will include essays and articles from several of the speakers named above as well as other sexual professionals, some of whom will be in attendance to answer questions from the press.
And yes, there will be an after-party!
So if you're interested in the myriad ways sex is expressed and repressed in modern America, why not attend? The breakfast session begins at 8:30 a.m.—and did we mention that it's free? All you have to do is register—but it's best to do that immediately, since seating for most sessions is limited.
The event will be held at the National Press Club, 13th floor, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20045.
