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East Bay lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride conference under way 

More than 40 Berkeley Police officers are expected to attend an August 29 conference that covers lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. 

The all-day seminar is a part of the Safe Communities Project of East Bay Pride and will cover such topics as sexual harassment, workplace discrimination, hate crimes and new state laws on body searches. 

Berkeley police officer Kelly Gordon led a similar workshop for all 330 employees of the Berkeley Police Department in March and April and will be co-chair of Wednesday’s conference.“Events like this are important because, as police officers we have to be able to work with all members of our community,” Gordon said. “The conference will highlight moments from local law enforcement history and will teach how we can improve our community relations for the future.” 

The conference is a collaboration between East Bay Pride, the Oakland Police Department and the Berkeley Police Department and is open to all public law enforcement agencies. 

East Bay Pride is the East Bay’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender organization. The seminar is a part of East Bay Pride’s fifth annual Pride Festival, a ten-day-long landmark event. This year’s festival is the world’s first to bring together LGBT individuals from around the world. 

According to East Bay Pride, this event is groundbreaking for another reason. 

“This is the first time the transgender community has been this involved in organizing an event,” said Patricia Kavina-Kili, co-chair of the Organizing Committee and the Transgender Institute. The seminar started this weekend with a youth forum and will continue through the East Bay Pride Celebration on Sept.1.