A heterosexual teacher comes out as an ally for the gay and lesbian community and loses her job.....Brandon Teena, born female and living as a man, is brutally raped and murdered.....Matthew Shepard, a young gay college student, is pistol-whipped into unconsciousness and tied to a fencepost left to die.....These are the horrific images of the hatred known as homophobia at the end of the twentieth century. How can we make the twenty-first century a better time for us all?Lesbian author and activist Leslea Newman believes the key to ending homophobia is education, the earlier the better. She wrote Heather Has Two Mommies, the first picture book to portray lesbian families in a positive way, to teach children that families come in all configurations and that "the most important thing about a family is that all the people in it love each other."Ms. Newman, who has been called everything from an "honorary lesbian mother" to an "anti-Christ bookend" never thought her book would appear on a list of "the most dangerous books of the 1990's." She never thought portions of her book would be read aloud by Representative Robert Smith at a United States Senate meeting. She never thought having her book placed on the shelves of public libraries and included in school curriculums would divide communities and cause people to lose their jobs, including Joseph Fernandez, New York City's Chancellor of Education.In her talk, Ms. Newman uses her book Heather Has Two Mommies as a springboard to discuss the triumphs and defeats of the gay and lesbian movement during the last decade (the "gay nineties"). Ms. Newman, who was the Keynote Speaker for Gay Awareness Week at the University of Wyoming in 1998 was on campus the day Matthew Shepard died. She uses compassion and humor to urge audiences to respect and acknowledge the celebration of all people. Her presentation includes slides, a 15 minute video, and readings from her works. She is the author of 30 books. Ms. Newman will add a new dimension to your commitment to diversity awareness.