Book This SpeakerSpeaker RepresentationWebsite

ANGELINE C. JACKSON is an LGBTQ human rights activist, expert witness, and minister-in-training. Angeline is the former Executive Director and co-founder of Quality of Citizenship Jamaica. She is the 2014 recipient of the Hero Award from Saint Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation for her work on LGBTQ rights in Jamaica, the 2016 Troy Perry Medal of Pride award, and the 2017 International Youth Icon Award from the Florida Youth Pride Coalition.

Her writing has appeared in The Advocate and Time Magazine. She has been interviewed by numerous media outlets and cited in multiple academic papers. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Management from Antioch University, a Master in Business Administration from National University, and is pursuing a Master of Divinity from Meadville Lombard Theological School. In 2015, President Barack Obama recognized her as one of Jamaica’s remarkable young leaders at the Town Hall for Youth in Kingston Jamaica.

Over the years Angeline has presented at various events and panels including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force: Creating Change, Washington University: World Affairs Council, and a repeat featured speaker at Human Rights First International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) Events (2014-2016). She is a fellow of the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum.

She is the Ministerial Intern at Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena, CA, an expert witness for Jamaican LGBTQ asylum seekers, and the author of Funny Gyal: My Fight Against Homophobia in Jamaica.

Speaking Topics

The Power of One Person

Activist and author Angeline Jackson stood up to the culture of homophobia in Jamaica after coming out as a lesbian in her teenage years. She shares her inspiring story told in her new memoir of overcoming Jamaica’s oppression of LGBTQ+ people to demand recognition and justice. Angeline discusses activism and helping young people find their voice to speak out.

LGBTQ Family Estrangement and Grief

A Pew Research Center survey of LGBT Americans nearly 40% of them have been rejected by families and friends because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Family rejection often leads to ostracization and estrangement. And as estranged relatives, LGBT individuals deliberately distance themselves from other family members because of the toxicity and negative relationship. When death happens during estrangement, the LGBT family member is likely to mourn separately from the rest of the family rather than patriciate in the collective mourning; their grief may also not be acknowledged leading.

In this talk, Angeline will share the story of her estrangement from a family member, his sudden illness, and his subsequent death. She talks about the impact the estrangement had on the grief she experienced and how family members can restore estranged relationships.

Workshops

Professional Ethics and Boundaries

Many people begin their careers with a clear sense of their interests, and desires, full of energy and enthusiasm. Over time they lose their shine, dulled by the stressors of work life, office/movement politics, despondency, and overwork. This creates fertile ground for boundary violations and misconduct. What if they could identify and articulate their boundaries and ethics before landing in the proverbial hot water?

This workshop helps participants identify and define their boundaries and ethics and is adapted from an academic paper on professional ethics and boundaries for ministers. The material can be adapted for any audience that is wrestling with ethics and boundaries in the professional sphere (religious professionals, activists, etc.).

The workshop can be presented in one day or over multiple days.

A Queer Ethic For Activists And Spiritual Types

What do liberatory ethics and leadership look like for activists? The workshop will explore: what are ethics, sources of ethics, living ethically, power and justice, and love. Learning about ethics from a purely academic perspective runs the risk of presenting an understanding of ethics removed from the day-to-day realities, resulting in one formed by people in places of privilege and power. This workshop seeks to help participants articulate an understanding of ethics based on their lived realities versus one based on rational abstractions only. At the end of the workshop participants will be able to define a queer ethic specific and unique to their context.

The workshop can be presented in one day or over multiple days.

Strengthening Community Bonds Through The Exploration Of Emotions

This workshop allows the LGBTQ community to explore their experiences of anger, fear, grief, love, and pleasure. Angeline explains the reason behind the exploration of each emotion and uses breakout sessions for deeper engagement with the experiences. The LGBTQ community has learned to live the dire realities of queer life without having opportunities or spaces to process the experiences and emotions that arise. Community bonds can become stronger if they can come together and explore thei anger, fear, grief, love, and desire for pleasure.

The workshop can be presented in one day or over multiple days.

Selected videos

  • Sermon on Hope and Faith for Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church (2022)
  • Sermon on Hope for Communities of Restoration (2020)
  • LGBT Voices for Equality Interview with Human Rights First (2017)
  • Guest Speaker – Founders Metropolitan Community Church: The Anchor Holds (2017)

Selected media

To book Angeline C. Jackson, contact Rob Firing at speakers@transatlanticagency.com.

Back to List of Speakers