The Preparation is the Journey

I know that at least a few of you missed me last week. I didn’t forget; I was fully engaged in what was one of my life’s truly peak experiences.

For the past year I have been mentoring for an organization known as The Point Foundation (www.pointfoundation.org). The mission of “Point” as it is known is to provide “financial support, mentoring and hope to meritorious students who are marginalized due to sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity.” A few weeks ago I was invited to photograph the annual leadership conference. The Point scholars (this coming year there will be more than 80) come together with leaders from the organization and the LGBT community to explore and develop their own leadership.

The new scholars were provided a day of orientation on Friday. They were joined by returning scholars for an opening banquet that evening. The next two days were filled with working sessions, keynote addresses and relationship building. Throughout, I stood on tables and chairs, crawled on the floor, kneeled, leaned, and tip-toed to be as invisible as possible while taking almost 2,000 pictures. Now I am in the process of editing these, and compiling a portfolio for Point to use.

It was an amazing three days. The scholars range academically from incoming freshmen to Ph.D. MD, and law students. Their schools range from a small bible college in the Midwest to Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, NYU, and American University; both public and private institutions are included. There were gay men and lesbians, bisexual men and women, as well as transgender/transsexual female to male and male to female. Ethnicity, race, geographic origins, and religious traditions were broadly represented.

I put my camera down as I watched the new scholars participate in an icebreaker on Friday afternoon. I had already met some, and knew their stories. The tears came to my eyes as a half-dozen self-identified as having experienced homelessness. Twice as many acknowledged that they had gone more than a day without eating at some time in their lives because they could not afford food. Some have lost homes, and families, by being honest about their sexual identification. Some have experienced verbal and physical abuse: at home, in school, in their neighborhoods and in their communities. Some have been ostracized by the houses of worship in which they were raised.

As I listened to their stories, and observed the scholars, I realized that the preparations we make in life are our journeys. Each of these students brought their background into the conference, and for the duration of their time together explored ways in which they could draw from that background to lead into the future.

Perhaps the most amazing thing for me, however, is that their commitment to leadership is broad-based. It is not only in social justice for the LGBT community, it is in social justice for all. It is about leadership in politics, medicine, law, academics, corporate America, and in the arts. It is about leadership that serves all, not just their LGBT brothers and sisters. It is a dedication, a commitment, a passion for securing and improving not only our national, but also our global future. Yes, there is the idealism of youth. However, it is not an idealism grown of privilege, so much as one nurtured in pain. It is an idealism not of lessons learned as much as lessons experienced. It is a promise of hope for our collective future that I have not seen in a very long time.