Humanist Education Focuses on People for Winter 2024
Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash Humanism is about people connecting with other living beings, on the one planet we have, during the one life we have, in a meaningful and responsible way. The American Humanist Association will expand on this concept for our 2024 programming by exploring people and community-building in the winter, the planet and resource challenges in the spring, health and safety in the summer, and economics and technology in the fall. We look forward to sharing insightful articles, presentations, and discussions throughout the year to engage you on these important topics. Our winter programming is below. You also can visit us online for more events and articles.
Town Hall: Protecting Transgender Rights
Monday, January 22, 7pm ET
Register for this Online Webinar on Zoom (event will be recorded)
Issues impacting the transgender community have become a flashpoint in the 2024 election, with far right candidates campaigning and endorsing policies that are against gender-affirming care, the right of transgender folks to participate in sports, comprehensive education that’s inclusive of gender identity and sexuality, access to abortion for trans* and non-binary folks, and much more. According to the ACLU, 506 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in state legislatures in 2023 as of November. At an alarming rate, the House of Representatives is introducing bills that are harmful and dangerous to the transgender community, such as the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for FY 2024. Section 534 of this bill will prohibit gender-affirming surgical procedures and hormone therapies, which would result in extensive damage if passed.
Transgender activist and trek podcaster Sarah Ray (she/her) will host our panel that includes Lily Bolourian (she/her), AHA Legal and Policy Director; Alison Gill (she/her), American Atheists Legal and Policy Vice President; Kris Tassone (they/them), Policy Counsel for the National Center for Transgender Equality; and Carter Brown (he/him) Co-Founder and Executive Director of the National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition.
Discussion: Progressing Consent Culture
Thursday, February 15, 7pm ET
Register for this Online Meeting on Zoom (event will not be recorded)
Join the AHA education team for an engaging discussion on how we can support a more consensual and empathetic culture. We have a right to determine how we want to be treated and a responsibility to respect how others want to be treated, and we all must recognize that people may have different needs and preferences than we do. Consent is about giving permission and respecting boundaries. It includes all types of interactions—not just sexual or physical—and impacts all ages, so let’s normalize talking about and ensuring consent.
Speaker Event: Creating Compassionate Humanist Communities
Wednesday, March 6, 7pm ET
Register for this Online Meeting on Zoom (event will be recorded)
Join us for a conversation about how we might create more compassionate communities within the humanist movement. Too often those drawn to our communities are dealing with unprocessed religious trauma, anger toward religion writ large, or expect others to have the same ways of expressing their humanism. How do we make space for newcomers? How do we hold ourselves to a standard of personal development that includes the ability to be more compassionate to ourselves and for one another? Not only does this type of engagement help us live more within our values, but doing so can lead to the growth of our communities, as well.
The event will be led by Kevin Jagoe who is a Humanist Celebrant and minister with BuxMont Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Warrington, PA. He completed his Master of Arts in Nonprofit Management at Hamline University, his Master of Divinity at Meadville Lombard Theological School, and is currently working on his Doctor of Ministry at United Lutheran Seminary (studying Practices of Connection for Non-theists). He is a graduate of The Humanist Institute and Adjunct Faculty with the Humanist Studies Program of the American Humanist Association. Jagoe tries to maintain a meditation practice, and loves (perhaps too much) using his Bullet Journal.