Addressing overflow crowds at the 2007 Southern Comfort Conference, a series of top-level executives from national gay rights groups hammered out the message that transgender issues will no longer take a back seat as long as gay issues remain at the forefront of national politics.

“There is not an LGBT organization that I can think of that is not as trans inclusive as it can be at this time,” Mara Kiesling, a transwoman and executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, told would-be trans activists during a Southern Comfort training seminar.

Southern Comfort, held every year in Atlanta, took place Sept. 10-16 at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia hotel. More than 1,000 registrants attended the seventeenth annual conference, organizers said.

The new status for transgender issues seemingly marks the end of a long and sometimes bitter struggle between gay and transgender activists over whether gender identity should automatically be included when lawmakers push to get rights and protections for gay men and lesbians defined within the law.

Kiesling illustrated the progress transgender leaders have made by touting the suddenly warm receptions she and other NCTE employees receive in some Capitol Hill offices.

“We had been trying to talk with [Massachusetts Sen. Ted] Kennedy’s office for years, and we couldn’t get in. Then all of a sudden, one day this year it’s Sen. Kennedy’s office on the phone, asking us to come in and talk with them about the hate crimes bill,” Kiesling recalled.

“And I thought, ‘Are you kidding me?’ We’ve been trying to get a meeting with you for years,” Kiesling said.

In another sign of increasing acceptance for transgender people, Southern Comfort organizers and the Human Rights Campaign presented the first annual Transgender Career Expo on Sept. 14 at the host hotel.

Twenty-one companies from a broad spectrum of sectors including financial and accounting services, hospitality, travel and broadcasting hosted information booths during the expo. Steady crowds — from the conference and the public — filled the expo space for hours.

“The level of interest, the level of attendance, and the level of participation has made this an unprecedented success,” said Kristin Reichman, an organizer of Southern Comfort and the career expo.

HRC President Joe Solmonese addressed conference attendees the same day. He touted strength in numbers for gay and transgender rights issues, but also pointed out that a number of national corporations have enacted policies that prohibit employment discrimination against gay men, lesbians and transgender people. He encouraged conference attendees to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act by calling congressional representatives who are likely to vote on ENDA this fall. The bill would outlaw employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. 

“In the next few weeks, Congress will vote on federal legislation that U.S. employers have already overwhelmingly embraced,” Solmonese said, citing the HRC’s 2007 Corporate Equality Index, which ranks companies based on their policies for gay and trans employees and was released Sept. 17.

In addition to Solmonese, Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, addressed the conference. Justin Nelson, president of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and Dave Noble, director of public policy and governmental affairs for the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, spoke to conference attendees in seminars.

On Saturday, Kiesling echoed Solmonese’s support for ENDA, and encouraged the conference attendees to lobby their elected officials .

“The people who don’t want this bill to pass are calling. We need to catch up,” she said.