November 23rd Queer Voices

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The LGBTQ Task Force interim communications director Cathy Renna

We speak with Cathy Renna, interim communications director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. Cathy Renna joins the National LGBTQ Task Force as Interim Communications Director but is no stranger to the organization and its incredible staff. As a longtime supporter and contractor on projects over the years and a regular presence at Creating Change, she has been part of the Task Force’s extended family for decades. The first real media training she ever attended was in fact at Creating Change in the early 90’s, a new activist finding her way as a volunteer at the then glaad chapter in Washington, D.C. She has stayed close to the Task Force ever since.

Renna is a veteran in the communications industry, and currently serves as the Principal of Target Cue. Since her time at GLAAD in the 1990’s and early aughts, Cathy has executed her particular expertise in crisis and strategic communications, playing a central role in shaping nearly all major issues affecting the LGBTQ community, from the beating death of Matthew Shepard in 1998 to the fight for marriage equality and the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”. She most recently worked with the team that coordinated historic coverage for WorldPride/Stonewall 50, working with NYC Pride.

After leaving her position at GLAAD as National News Media Director, Cathy joined Fenton Communications, where she served as its New York office Media Director from 2004 to 2006 and worked with clients ranging from MoveOn.org to the American Lung Association to Nobel Peace Prize recipient Wangari Maathai.

She went on to found Renna Communications and then co-founded Target Cue in 2013. In her near 30 years of media relations and activism experience, Cathy has garnered placements in every major media outlet in the U.S. and internationally, including The New York Times, USA Today, The Associated Press, BBC, The Guardian and the Washington Post. She continues to be a sought after spokesperson for LGBTQ+ issues, and has appeared on the O’Reilly Factor, CNN, MSNBC, and Good Morning America.

Renna lives in Montclair, New Jersey with her partner Karen and their ornery but lovable cat Winston. She is the proud Mom of Rosemary, just starting high school and living in Houston, TX, where she is a budding artist and part of the local LGBTQ community, helped start a GSA in her middle school and attends the HATCH program at the Montrose Center.

The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice and equality for LGBTQ people. We are building a future where everyone can be free to be their entire selves in every aspect of their lives. Today, despite all the progress we’ve made to end discrimination, millions of LGBTQ people face barriers in every aspect of their lives: in housing, employment, healthcare, retirement, and basic human rights. These barriers must go. That’s why the Task Force is training and mobilizing millions of activists across our nation to deliver a world where you can be you. 

Guest: Cathy Renna
https://www.thetaskforce.org

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