Four weeks to go!

Hi all--

Here we are: down to the end of it. I wanted to share a few updates from recent events. First of all, the Building Change conference happened Oct 13-15 and for it, I led a workshop on LGBT workplace issues and also helped facilitate the final Saturday session. My workshop had few people in it--low turnout is always frustrating--I think I could have done a better job of advertising for it, but with everything else, it kind of dropped off. Still, I think the folks who were there got something out of it and I was glad to have Stephen Alan Glassman, former cabinet secretary to Ed Rendell and first out elected official in PA, as well as Ella Kuperminc, the first allied member of Alcoa's LGBTA employer resource group (EAGLE).

Winona LaDuke

Building Change offered the opportunity to have some great conversations with community members of all stripes. The keynote speaker was Winona LaDuke, Native American (Anishinaabe), economist, environmental activist and former Green Party VP nominee with Ralph Nader. I was really impressed by her and how she grouped growing corn in with other ways of changing the world. It's the little things that have the biggest impact if one sees all things as connected.

I think there are some changes that could be made for future Building Change conferences, and it will be interesting to see how the continuations committee keeps going with the Action Plan to Build Social Justice in SWPA. However, I think a lot of folks got a lot out of it, and it was a great experience for me to see the inner workings of conference planning, and more experience leading workshops and facilitating is always good. Visit www.buildingchangewpa.org to stay involved in the process.

The next Pittsburgh QUILTBAG/LGBTQA 5 year plan meeting is happening Nov. 5th from 12-2 at First Unitarian at 605 Morewood Ave. This will be a potluck, so please bring some snacks if you can. Facebook event page is here. There are still many questions about what we are doing, how and why--but shaping these things takes time. I hope we can get another surge in attendance like the first meeting. Email raydensorock [at] gmail [dot] com to get on the mailing list.

Apart from that, my final presentation is coming up--Nov. 18th! View the press release here. Please check out the Facebook event page here. We still have about $1500 to raise before then to meet our goal so if you have thought about donating--even $5 or $10--please consider making your donation now through PayPal or by check. Make out checks to Persad Center and put "ITL" in the memo line. Mail to 5150 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15224. Thank you!

ITL Fellow in the News!

"Positive OUTLook" with Sara Luby
OUTtvPittsburgh/www.outonline.com
September 22nd, 2011



Sara stepped in to host Positive OUTLook this week as Nayck Feliz was out of town. Nayck's show is tagged: Health and Wellness in the LGBT Community in Pittsburgh and Beyond.

Sara works at the Positive Health Clinic at Allegheny General Hospital. We talked about ITL, my current projects, the Pittsburgh queer community 5-year plan, how great the acronym QUILTBAG is, and the recent rally in response to anti-gay violence in Boomfield. Great show! Thanks Sara & Nayck!

Thanks to the show's sponsors: Pitt Men's Study and Pittsburgh's OUT!

"Helping Transgender People Find a Voice" by Erika Beras
Essential Public Radio
September 21st, 2011

This radio piece is about voice coaches for transgender women. I make an appearance around 4:40 to talk about transgender voices. Erika and I had a great chat during the interview and we talked about Purchase College, where we both went to school.

Link: http://www.essentialpublicradio.org/story/2011-09-21/helping-transgendered-people-find-voice-7237

"Transgender Community Tries to Enlighten" by Tony Norman
Post-Gazette.com
September 16th, 2011

Tony Norman met Mad and I for dinner to talk through this piece about the ITL and the Stories on the Square event. We ended up talking even more about trans etiquette, trans representations and the trans community. Really a great opportunity to have an in depth conversation with Tony, who was so refreshingly up front about not knowing this or that about trans people. I've gotten a lot of good feedback about this article and I appreciate Tony for putting himself out there and spreading some good press about trans folks, and thanks to Mad for setting this up!

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11259/1175033-153-0.stm

Pittsburgh's QUILTBAG Community 5 year Plan Meeting PART II

Part II of Pittsburgh's QUILTBAG Community 5-year Plan Meeting

Summary of Findings

In regards to the question posed to participants: What is the Pittsburgh-area QUILTBAG community to you? Participants defined our community is a subculture, it is fractured, it is welcoming, it is different groups coming together, it is united by challenges and oppression, it is loosely connected, it is transient, it is Pride, it is our organizations & their programming, it is family/friends, it lacks a geographic center. There was hesitance to even say “community” as there are many communities and they don’t always come together.  Generally, participants expressed dismay and frustration about the extent of divisions within the QUILTBAG community. Divisions that came up: generational, racial, religious, queer men vs. queer women, ally vs. LGBTQ, political, regional, HIV status, economic.

In regards to where we want to see our community in 5 years, participants responded overwhelmingly with more. We want more resources (health, legal, emergency, housing) for youth, older adults, transpeople, sex workers, prison populations, etc. We want those resources to be accessible and up-to-date. We want more collaboration with allies, with a variety of organizations. We want more communication and more support for each other’s events and causes. More organizing around issues that affect some of us so they affect all of us—broadening what it means to be a QUILTBAG issue. For example, why isn’t Jordan Miles a queer issue? Why isn’t Marcellus Shale a queer issue? We want more discussion of, working on and unlearning racism within the community, and we want white people to take the lead more often on making that happen. We want events that are not in bars, substance-free, and welcoming to many different kinds of people within our community. We want Pittsburgh to become a queer destination, especially for young people and artists. We want to see the same enthusiasm about QUILTBAG issues year round and not just during Pride. We want more visibility and more people coming out. We want our allies to be educated. We want service providers, health care providers, and emergency responders to understand our issues. We want a space (preferably a building) that is self-sustaining and stands as a hub for the QUILTBAG community and provides event space, health care, a place to sleep, and youth services. Overall, intersectionality is huge and taking care of our own is huge. We can enact power to create change by unifying and bridging the gaps that divide us.

The Issues Gallery Crawl activity allowed participants to move around and record ideas about various issues apparent in our community. For each issue, there were two columns with something like the following: What is already happening? What needs to happen? That way, we have a space to focus on assets/the current state of things as well as generate ideas for change.

What a Pittsburgh-area QUILTBAG Community 5-Year Plan might look like

• Mission statement (i.e. what the 5-year plan is what it stands for)
• Vision (i.e. our ultimate goal for our community/communities)
• Background and history (i.e. previous plans, progress made, where we go from here)
• Structure of the plan (i.e. continuations committee, how to share the information)
• Themes of change (i.e. intersectionality, collective organizing, expansion of resources)
• Specific goals, steps to get there and timelines to measure success

[All information would be informed by ideas generated by this and future 5-year plan meetings]

Pittsburgh's QUILTBAG Community 5 year Plan Meeting PART I

QUILTBAG: queer/questioning, unsure/undecided/unisex, intersex, lesbian, transgender/transsexual, bisexual, asexual/ally, gay/genderqueer

Event Background and Planning

So where did the idea to hold a 5-year-plan meeting come from anyway? The Initiative for Transgender Leadership was created to enable leadership and professional development for transgender youth in Pittsburgh.One of the goals of the fellowship is to create positive change in the community.

Furthermore, this October 13-15^th the Three Rivers Community Foundation will put on the first-ever Building Change: A Convergence on Social Justice conference [Registration is now open!], which will bring together community members to begin building a regional, cross-issue movement. One of the goals of the conference is to generate a community-generated Action Plan to build social justice movements in the region.

Additionally, on June 22^nd, representatives from organizations that serve the QUILTBAG community were invited to attend a workshop on “Creating a Successful Internship Program” with the Regional Internship Center (a program of Coro Pittsburgh). I led a discussion following the workshop on community assets and challenges, and how to create a better community through the use of successful internship programs. This conversation sparked interest for more group discussion on community issues.

Why not get started on creating an action plan for the QUILTBAG community? That way, our community can have something more complete to bring to the table at the conference. Generating these discussions also has a positive impact within the community: building coalitions, bringing community members into the same space to share ideas, creating a more comprehensive image of the community, etc.

More than 130 people were invited to the meeting to begin creating a 5 year plan for the QUILTBAG community. Invitees were encouraged to fill out a registration form that would give them an opportunity to RSVP as well as contribute ideas, even if they could not attend. Responses to “Top 3 Community Challenges” were added to a list that was available for attendees to draw ideas from.

Fifty-seven people attended the meeting at United Cerebral Palsy. Originally the meeting was to be held at the GLCC, but because of difficulties with the handicapped accessibility, it was decided to change the location.

Structure of the Meeting

            There was time for a mixer between 6:30 and 7pm and attendees could talk, schmooze, peruse fliers and resources, sign in, and eat snacks. The meeting itself ran from 7-9pm. Eight tables were set up with eight chairs for each. Markers and note-taking paper were provided.

            Etta C., Lizzie A. and I co-facilitated. Jessica M. provided ASL interpretation. Anne L. provided vegan/gluten-free/soy-free desserts. The meeting begun with introductions, a quick background, and setting the meeting ground rules (for example: speak from your own experience, notice who is talking and who isn’t). Attendees were asked to introduce themselves to the rest of their own tables to cut down on go-around time. Two shorter brainstorming activities generated ideas about what the QUILTBAG community is to us and where would we like it to be in 5 years. Participants were encouraged to think big. The longer activity asked participants to walk around and write down ideas on large paper based on central themes (generated by the registration forms). This was called a “Gallery Crawl”. After each activity, participants reported back to the group. At the end, we evaluated the meeting.

Project Intern: LGBT Community Outreach

So--Some big recent developments to report. "Project Intern: LGBT Community Outreach" is under way! This project identifies organizations and businesses in southwestern PA who offer internships and are interested in direct outreach to the LGBT community to advertise those internship opportunities. LGBT students looking for internships will be able to search through the Regional Internship Center website to find positions with employers who are committed to LGBT inclusion in the workplace. Students will also receive email updates of available positions. Employers who sign on will fill out surveys about workplace environment and will have the opportunity to work with the RIC to develop the best internship program for both the employer and for the intern (this in the form of employer workshops, a monthly program developed by the RIC).
So far, there are 5 or 6 organizations that are interested. And 2 LGBT student groups. For-profit businesses are kind of a blind spot for me but there are organizations in Pittsburgh that focus on diversity in the workplace and have business contacts.

Also--I just found out 2 days ago that my workshop proposal was accepted for this year's Philly Trans Health Conference. Caught me a little off guard since it was about 3 weeks after they said I would hear back about it...But after last night's meeting with Michelle (thanks!) I feel better about what that can be. In general I'm freaked out about how to boil down all this noise into one true note...Like what do I want to leave in my wake? It must be clear, and simple, and affective. What do I want to leave the RIC? What do I want to leave to the community? What do I want to give to the folks who (hopefully) show up to my workshop? I've been asking myself these questions all along--but I still don't feel much closer to the answers.

I want to start a dialogue--between QUILTBAG folks and employers, between QUILTBAG folks and other QUILTBAG folks about all the things that we can do and others can do to make our workplaces into places that we want to be--where who we are is an asset not a drawback. We can inform each other about what works, what doesn't work, what our major concerns are, what resources we need that are specific to our community. It's about investing in the work that we do--and the future careers (by this I don't just mean employment) of LGBT youth. And I guess I don't just mean youth either, as folks of all ages may deal with conflict at work about being queer.