FFRF’s 2020 convention: San Antonio awaits! (But don’t wait to sign up!)

Yes, it’s still very early in the year, but it’s not too soon to make plans and to register for FFRF’s fabulous 2020 national convention — taking place the weekend of Nov. 13-15, 2020, at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio on the famed Riverwalk.

Make your room reservations directly at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio, 123 Losoya, by phoning 210-451-6200. Rates are: $205 (single/double occupancy), $215 (triple/quad occupancy), not including state and local taxes. Indicate you’re with the “Freedom From Religion Foundation” bloc or reserve online at ffrf.us/hotel.

The convention opens at 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, and continues through Saturday, Nov. 14, with membership and State Representative meetings Sunday morning. Plan to come early or stay late if you want to sightsee in this exotic locale. The hotel is less than five minutes from the Alamo and many other attractions.

With two luminaries opening the conference — Gloria Steinem and Margaret Atwood (see story on Page 1) — FFRF expects the convention to be a sell-out. The venue will hold about 900 participants. So, we encourage you to register with FFRF and book your hotel rooms as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

“A Conversation with Gloria Steinem,” the feminist icon, activist and bestselling author, will take place Friday at 3 p.m. For those purchasing a $500 ticket (part of an FFRF fundraiser) to the 4 p.m. private reception to meet Steinem, she will autograph copies of her charming new book, The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off! Thoughts on Life, Love, and Rebellion. (A copy of the book is included with the ticket; there will be no other book-signing opportunity.) A legal Q&A with FFRF attorneys will take place concurrently for those who don’t attend the Steinem event.

“An Evening with Margaret Atwood,” the bestselling novelist whose novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, has become a modern secular parable, will start at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Atwood will do a 45-minute book signing, to be followed by a private reception (also a $500 per person fundraiser for FFRF). The ticket to the reception will include Atwood’s Booker Prize-winning Handmaid’s Tale sequel, The Testaments.

Already confirmed to join that illustrious line-up are:

• Journalist and author Katherine Stewart. In addition to conducting the on-stage interview with Margaret Atwood, Stewart will talk about her new forthcoming book, The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism. She is also the author of The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children. In 2014, she was named Person of the Year by Americans United for her coverage of religion, politics, policy and state/church conflicts.

• Black Skeptics Los Angeles founder, novelist and activist Sikivu Hutchinson, Ph.D, will be receiving FFRF’s Freethought Heroine Award. Hutchinson is an educator, author, playwright and director. Her books include Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics, and the Values Wars (2011), Godless Americana: Race and Religious Rebels (2013) and the novel White Nights, Black Paradise (2015) on the Peoples Temple and the 1978 Jonestown massacre. She also wrote, directed and produced a short film of “White Nights, Black Paradise.”

FFRF registration is only $60 per FFRF member, $65 companion accompanying member, $115 nonmember (or save money by joining for $40). Children 12 and under are free and the student rate is $10.

So, register early for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Steinem, Atwood and many others in San Antonio! Go to ffrf.org/convention2020.