The next speaker in the West Virginia University 2012-13 David C. Hardesty Jr. Festival of Ideas lineup will focus on her path to accidental activism and the power of “Generation Equality.”

Candace Gingrich-Jones is an advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues and author of the “The Accidental Activist: A Personal and Political Memoir.” She will speak at the Festival of Ideas on Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mountainlair Ballrooms.

When her brother Newt Gingrich was elected as speaker of the House of Representatives, Gingrich-Jones drew national attention for her opposition to his views and her own stance on LGBT issues. The book chronicled her journey from being an unknown political entity to becoming a nationally known gay rights advocate.

Gingrich-Jones calls the current under-30 population “Generation Equality” because of their widespread support for LGBT concerns. She says that this generation must speak up in order to bring about the changes they want to see.

She has blogged for The Huffington Post and has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Good Morning America and Larry King Live, among others. She is currently the associate director of the Youth and Campus Outreach Program for the Human Rights Campaign.

Other upcoming Festival of Ideas speakers include Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, N.J., on Feb. 7; and Scott Tinker, geologist and co-producer of the award-winning energy documentary “Switch,” on March 19.

This lecture series was created in 1995 by former WVU president, David C. Hardesty Jr., and was inspired by events he organized as WVU’s student body president in the 1960s.

Today, the Festival of Ideas spans the entire academic year and is organized by the Office of University Events. The aim is to bring key figures from politics, business, entertainment, research, sports, scholarship and culture to Morgantown to open the doors of discussion and engage the Mountaineer community in thoughtful conversations about important issues by facilitating the free exchange of ideas and knowledge.

The series is supported in part by the David C. Hardesty Jr. Festival of Ideas Endowment. All lectures are free and open to the public.

Go online to http://festivalofideas.wvu.edu/ to view the latest information. Follow the Festival of Ideas on Facebook.

-WVU-

dm/10/31/12

CONTACT: Liz Dickinson, Office of University Events
304-293-8025, liz.dickinson@mail.wvu.edu

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.