Upcoming Events

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Sunday, November 5th, 1-3pm
First Unitarian Universalist Church
1000 Blanton Avenue - Richmond, VA 23221
Please register here to reserve your free seat(s)

How would you react if society insisted you were defective? So broken, in fact, that you needed to be repaired?  What if it was your friends telling you this? Your family? How about a priest that you esteemed as the direct or indirect mouthpiece of god?

For the devout, this type of communal rejection can lead to shame, hopelessness, denial, and self-loathing.  And whether you’re gay or straight, the needless suffering of our fellow human beings should be of concern to us all.

In that vein, Richmond Humanists and SavedByScience invite you to join us for a discussion about conversion therapy in particular, and more broadly, about the importance of standing up for one another’s rights in a political climate of increasing vitriol and tribalism. 

The conversation will feature:

Apryl Prentiss
April is a survivor of years of conversion therapy and ex-gay programming. She has been advocating for LGBTQ rights and against conversion therapy at the state and national level for over three years as Deputy Policy Director for the Alliance for a Progressive Virginia.  APV has brought legislation in front of the General Assembly multiple times to ban conversion therapy for minors in VA. 

Bill Harrison
A civil rights activist since the mid-1970’s, Bill Harrison is the president and executive director of Diversity Richmond. The Foundation’s mission is to serve as the LGBT community center for Central Virginia. Since its founding in 1999, mainly through the profits of Diversity Thrift, the Foundation has contributed over $950,000 back into the community, helping organizations such as FeedMore to help provide food to the hungry;  Side-By-Side to support LGBT youth and their families; Fan Free Clinic to aid the uninsured in obtaining quality healthcare; Jewish Family Services to help defray the costs of adopting children and Planned Parenthood to support their transgender clinics.

Prior to joining Diversity, Bill was the public and government relations director with the American Red Cross, Greater Richmond Chapter. A highlight of his career was serving the month of October at the World Trade Center following the terrorist attacks of September 11th.

Bill also served as the first public information officer for the Virginia Department of Health’s HIV/AIDS Bureau for nine years during the height of the HIV epidemic.

Richard Yeagley (via phone)
Producer and director of The Sunday Sessions, Richard is the founder of Dickie Bruce Productions, a company which specializes in the production, marketing, and release of non-fiction films. His debut documentary, The Tradesmen: Making an Art of Work was aired regularly on PBS affiliates and features Mike Rowe of Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs. Additionally, Richard is the Head of Production and co-founder of Light Street Studios (LSS), where he is the lead writer and producer. LSS is a brand, marketing and production studio working with a network of film and marketing industry experts to develop, produce, distribute, amplify and measure the impact of branded entertainment.

Rob Penczak, M.D.
Conversation will be moderated by Rob Penczak, a physician turned writer turned secular activist. Rob is the founder of SavedByScience and co-leader