Bayard Rustin breakfast breaks new ground

The 19th annual Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast, an event to mark the contributions of LGBT people of color in fighting against the AIDS epidemic, breaks new ground this year. Diego Sanchez, director of public relations and external affairs for AIDS Action Committee, will be the first transgender person to keynote the event, which takes place May 3 at the John F. Kennedy Library.

Sanchez, who said he has attended every breakfast since 1992, told Bay Windows that he will use his speech to talk about how different types of identities intersect and how that impacts the fight against HIV/AIDS.

"I am going to focus on the intersection of all of myself and all of the representations of my brothers and sisters, the LGBT communities of color, and drawing what we have in common, [and what distinguishes us]," said Sanchez.

He said he would chart his own experience moving through two very different worlds: his decades of experience working in the corporate world on behalf of Fortune 500 companies followed by his work over the past seven years in the non-profit sector. In addition to his work at AIDS Action Sanchez has served on the board of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition and was recently appointed to the Human Rights Campaign's Business Council. Earlier this year Sanchez was appointed to the platform committee of this summer's Democratic National Convention, making him the first out trans person to be appointed to a committee in the convention's history.

The Bayard Rustin Breakfast, named after the late openly gay civil rights activist who organized the 1963 March on Washington, is organized by a committee of volunteers and funded by AIDS Action. Sanchez has been a member of the breakfast committee for several years, although he said once he was nominated to keynote the breakfast he left the room to allow the rest of the committee to decide on a speaker without pressure.

"Since I'm the first trans speaker and one of the rare Latino speakers for the event, I was honored," said Sanchez.

Beyond the keynote the breakfast will also feature performances by singer Tre Alee and by the NIA Dance Troupe.

Sanchez said he would also close his speech in a somewhat unorthodox fashion. His good friend Shantanette Patrice and former breakfast committee chair greg-eugene have choreographed a dance piece to the 1972 song "Wildflower" by the band Skylark. Sanchez said that when he first heard the song it had a profound impact on how he understood his own identity.

"Basically it's a song about a woman and about all women, and I remember hearing it. It's about the quiet struggle women go through. ... When I heard it in '72, I never identified as a girl, but it reminded me that I was born a girl, and there was no dishonor in it," said Sanchez.

The Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast takes place May 3 at the John F. Kennedy Library, Columbia Point, Boston. The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited. Doors open at 10:00 a.m., and the program kicks off promptly at 10:30 a.m. For more information visit www.bayardrustin.org or call 617.450.1644.