Rockway Institute Partners with GLAAD, WPATH
and Center on Halsted to Host Chicago Media Trainings 

For Immediate Release 
Media Contact: Rick Moore
415-314-8952
rmoore.rockway@alliant.edu 
 
San Francisco - August 29, 2007 - Rockway Institute, a national center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender research and public policy, and GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, will partner to present two media trainings in Chicago in early September.

Mental health professionals participating in the Chicago meeting of the World Professional Association on Transgender Health (WPATH) are invited to a media training scheduled during that international convention, being held at the Embassy Suites Lakefront Hotel. 

A second training, co-sponsored by the Sexual Orientation and Gender Institute, is scheduled later that day at The Center on Halsted. The second training is open to mental health professionals, social science researchers, and physicians specializing in LGBT issues.

Registration for the WPATH training is open only to those attending the convention. Registration for the Halsted training is available at http://fs8.formsite.com/AlliantUniv/form883017973/index.html. Space is limited and registration is required. Additional information is available by emailing SOGI@centeronhalsted.org or by telephoning Braden Berkey at 773-472-6469.

Cindi Creager, national news director for GLAAD based in New York City, and Robert-Jay Green, Rockway Institute’s Executive Director, will conduct the trainings. They will prepare psychologists and other mental health professionals for encounters with the media that will be comfortable and effective. The sessions will cover deciding whether to accept an interview request, preparation for the interview, conducting the interview, and follow-up monitoring of resulting broadcasts, articles, or web postings.

Some of the professionals completing the trainings may be selected to participate in Rockway Institute’s “Scientific Accuracy in the Media” project, funded in part by the Gill Foundation. The project works to counter misrepresentation of scientific research by right-wing, antigay groups. Rockway has more than 30 experts who have agreed to be available to the media. Work is in process to identify experts in every state.

“Rockway experts are a major element in our efforts to counter the distortions of research by antigay groups,” said Rockway Executive Director Robert-Jay Green, PhD. “By training these experts to convey accurate information to the media and making them easily available to reporters across the nation, Rockway hopes to ensure that coverage of stories about LGBT people will be more informative and based on reality rather than stereotypes.” 

The current roster of Rockway experts is available at www.RockwayInstitute.org under “For the Media.” Rockway experts provide authoritative information on a variety of LGBT issues, including same-sex marriage, lesbian/gay parenting, antigay bullying in schools, transgender matters, and conversion or “ex-gay” therapy.

For additional information on Rockway Institute or its “Scientific Accuracy in the Media” project, visit the website or contact Rick Moore, 415-314-8952 or rmoore.rockway@alliant.edu.