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Events 2023-09-28T12:54:50+00:00

13th Annual LGBTQIA+ Week

LGBTQIA Week Banner

LGBTQIA Week Banner

LGBTQIA Week is a programming series of educational events and activities exploring LGBTQIA identity and social justice issues; in addition, celebrates and remembers the history of the gay rights movement and is held in October to recognize National Coming Out Day.

LGBTQIA+ Week Organizers: Cindy Arias, Chase Magliocca, Fuifui Ah Kuoi, Kharmyn Williams, Edwina Fui (co-chair), Geomarc Panelo, Jenee Stanfield, Kenton Westerfield, Sarah Delaplaine and Dr.Tylir McKenzie (co-chair).

Monday, October 9, 2023

Film & Discussion: Being Thunder and Black Light T-Shirt Decorating

Time: 2:00-4:00pm

Location: Federal Way Hub

“Sherente, a two spirit-genderqueer teenager from Rhode Island’s Narragansett tribe performs traditional dance in competitions at annual regional pow wows of New England tribes. There is no written rule which prohibits two spirit-genderqueer people to compete in dances different from their birth gender. Wearing traditional female dress, Sherente performs with joy and beauty. However, behind the scenes, tribal leaders manipulate scores or disqualify him outright because they believe in traditional (White) gender roles. In spite of being blindsided by ongoing dishonesty and deception, Sherente continues to perform regardless of insensitive behavior from tribal elders and others in his native community. Sherente’s enduring courage and self respect are met with an outpouring of support from family, pow wow attendees, and fellow dancers.” (summary from IMDB)

Black Light T-shirt Decorating: Let’s gear up for the Black Light Party and decorate our own t-shirts! Feel free to bring in your own t-shirt, if not, our team will have a few options available. We will build community and celebrate in community!

HC Thunderbird Rainbow Logo
Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Black Light T-shirt Decorating
Time: 3:00- 5:00pm
Location: Bldg. 8-204 – Inter-Cultural Center

Let’s gear up for the Black Light Party and decorate our own t-shirts! Feel free to bring in your own t-shirt, if not, our team will have a few options available. We will build community and celebrate in community!

Title: Make a Racket! Pride Sports Night!
Time: 6:00-8:00pm
Location: Bldg.28 – Highline Pavilion

Description: Get energized and come make a racket down in Building 28 (Highline Pavilion) with your favorite racket sports including table tennis, badminton, and pickleball. There will be music, snacks, and plenty of other surprises. Meet the members of the planning committee and LGBTQIA+ Task Force and learn how to get involved or to support this work.

Play is open to any and all who want to participate.  Come to play or to eat and cheer the players on!

Every Body Poster
Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Film & Discussion: Every Body

Time: 11:00am-1:30pm

Location: Bldg. 7

Description: Focuses on three individuals who overcame shame, secrecy, and unauthorized surgery throughout their childhoods to enjoy successful adulthoods. Choosing to ignore medical advice to conceal their bodies and coming out as who they truly were. (IMDB)

Lunch provided!

Please RSVP for this event at this link

Merri Ann Osborne
Chino Gonzalez
Wednesday, October 11, 2023

PLAY TIME: an Arts Game Show with Chino Gonzalez and Merri Ann Osborne

Time: 1:30-4:30pm

Location: Bldg. 8 – Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus

Merri Ann Osborne is the Executive Director of the Mahogany Project, a Seattle, Washington based collaborative arts organization whose mission is to support and develop artists from the African diaspora by producing and showcasing their work. (www.mahoganyproject.org). In addition to her work with the Mahogany Project, Merri Ann is an actor, voice-over artist, writer and community arts advocate. She has traveled extensively and lived in Nigeria, Japan and the UK. She also has worked as a Bilingual classroom aide (LA Unified School District), English Teacher (Tokyo & Osaka, Japan), Conflict Resolution Facilitator for teenagers (Bradford, UK), Adult Literacy Teacher (Los Angeles, CA) as well as other classroom, workshop and teaching experience. Merri Ann believes that uplifting the voices of local and global groups who orient Black experiences through multi-disciplinary art forms, supports people of all ages and backgrounds to perform collaborative art together, making our diverse community more creative and united in community and societal advocacy. A graduate of Seattle’s Roosevelt High School, she holds a B.A. in Political Science (UCLA), an MA in Conflict Resolution (Dept. of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK) and studied Japanese Language, Japanese Politics, and Japanese Economic Systems and Theories at International Christian University (Tokyo, Japan).

Chino Gonzales is an educator, equity program developer, community organizer, music producer, graphic designer, playwright, and performing arts director. Chino believes storytelling and performance art can be used as powerful tools for achieving self actualization and creating significant change in our communities and personal lives. Chino is a lover of education, music, and design spending much of his free time collaborating with organizations and schools producing music, graphics, workshops, and performances through his business Bonnet Black. Chino holds an AA from Highline College with a degree in Fine Arts. Chino is a faculty member of the High School Engagement and Academic Success program, a co-founder of the Q Center Group, and member of the LGBTQIA+ Task Force at Highline College. Website: www.bonnetblack.com

Black Light Party
True Koroi
Thursday, October 12, 2023

Bring Out Your Light: Blacklight Dance Party with DJ Femmeboitoy

Time: 6:00-9:00pm

Location: Bldg. 8 – Mt. Townsend

Register for the dance at this link

DJ Femmeboitoy (they/he) is a DJ reigning from Tacoma, WA. They play music that will get the crowd moving. Their favs are R&B and HipHop.

12th Annual LGBTQIA+ Week

PRIDE & BEYOND: How Queer and Trans Liberation Can Lift Us All

October 10-14, 2022

LGBTQIA+ WEEK

Website Banner

LGBTQIA+ Week is a programming series of educational events and activities exploring LGBTQIA+ identity and social justice issues. In addition, the week celebrates and remembers the history of the gay rights movement and is held in October to recognize National Coming Out Day.

Center for Cultural & Inclusive Excellence, LGBTQIA+ Task Force and Q Center Group sponsors LGBTQIA+ Week events.

2022 Week of Events

Monday, October 10, 2022

Photo Jaelynn Scott

Photo Jaelynn Scott

Our Shared Liberation: Intersectional LGBTQ Activism

Keynote: Jaelynn Scott (Lavender Rights Project)

Time: 10:00-11:30am

Location: Building 8, Mt. Constance/Olympus

“If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free, since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all systems of oppression.” (Combahee River Collective, April 1977).

In 2022, we understand a little more about the nature of intersectional oppression. If we want to see change in the LGBTQ community, we should all work in solidarity, strategically, to disrupt violence and oppression of Black, trans women. If Black, trans women were free, the entire LGBTQ community would have to be free. Strategic Solidarity is an organizing strategy, rooted in intersectionality, a skillful means of working in the spirit of accompaniment with a community of concern.

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

LGBTQIA+WEEK

LGBTQIA+WEEK

Make Your Pride: Tie-dyeing with Dr. T and the Q Center

Hosted by: Q Center Group

Time: 2:30-3:45pm

Location: Building 8-204, Inter-Cultural Center

Come join the Q Center Team at the Inter-Cultural Center for a bandana tie-dyeing facilitated by Dr. T. We will supply the materials (bandanas, totes, dye supplies, and instructions for taking your projects home) and provide a quick walk-thru on techniques, you supply the creativity!! We anticipate having supplies for 20-30 people, so there’s plenty of fun to go around. This is a social event – so come have some fun (or even just watch), get social and let’s build community together!

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Photo of Bam Mendiola

Photo of Bam Mendiola

How to Prevent and Repair Unintentional Harm

Presenter: Bam Mendiola

Time: 11:00am-12:30pm

Location: Building 7, Turtle Building

This workshop is for people who make mistakes. We will discuss actions you can take to make spaces more inclusive and what to do (and not do) when you mess up. Topics will include: pronouns, inclusive language, and how to respond to call-ins and call-outs.  Bam Mendiola (they/them) will share the many mistakes they have made as a DEI facilitator and the things they are actively un-learning.

Thursday, October 13, 2022

Photo of DJ Mike Baskett

Photo of DJ Mike Baskett

LGBTQIA+ Resource Fair + Queeraoke: Sing It Out!

Presenters: Galactic Molasses and DJ Mike Baskett

Resource Fair: 11:00am-1:00pm Building 8, Mt. Constance/Olympus

Queeraoke: 1:00-3:00pm Building 8, Mt. Townsend

Sing It Out is a karaoke event meant to showcase voices of Highline College’s queer community. We will let voices of all types express themselves and celebrate queerness and transness in all of its voices. We will be highlighting the LGBTQIA+ community in how they choose to let their voices shine, in the way of the music that speaks to their hearts. Whether you can hold a tune or not, come out and celebrate the vast diversity of queerness. Sing your joy, sing your pain, sing whatever’s in your heart. Show up with your fabulous selves and let’s get loud!

Friday, October 14, 2022

Photo of Dr Tylir McKenzie

Photo of Dr Tylir McKenzie

Intersectional Identities: Sexuality and Beyond

Presenter: Dr. Tylir McKenzie

Time: 10:00-11:30am

Location: Building 8, Mt. Constance/Olympus

We are all made up of complex and intersecting aspects of identity. This includes not only gender and sexuality, but race, class, age, ability, religious beliefs, language, educational background, and much more. How these identities come together influences both how we perceive ourselves and the world around us, but also how others read and interact with us. Each of these characteristics can have varying levels of privilege and marginalization depending on a wide variety of factors. Come learn about the concept of intersectionality developed by black scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, and explore the implications of culture and environment as influencers in our lives.

Friday, October 14, 2022

LGBTQIA+WEEK

LGBTQIA+WEEK

Allied in Action: Kick It With the Task Force Kickball Game

Hosted By: LGBTQIA+ Task Force

Time: 2:00-4:30pm

Location: Softball Field

Are you energized from learning and growing during LGBTQIA+ History week? Then come kick it with Highline’s LGBTQIA+ Task Force at the campus softball field located between the North parking lot and the Pavilion (Building 28). Meet the members of the Task Force and learn how to get involved or to support this work over a game of kickball. Come to play or to cheer the teams on!

All Week: Scavenger Hunt Activity

LGBTQIA+WEEK

LGBTQIA+WEEK

 

Highline Library’s LGBTQIA+ Student Scavenger Hunt

Hosted By: Library

Time: All Week

Location: Highline College Library, Building 25

Complete Highline Library’s LGBTQIA+ Student Scavenger Hunt and receive a book that celebrates LGBTQIA+ identities! There are five books and numerous smaller prizes available. Designed by Highline’s Q Center Group and the Highline Library, this student scavenger hunt will be based entirely in the library and will feature books in the LGBTQIA+ Month Recommended Reads. Go to the library reference desk for scavenger hunt instructions and be the first to snag a prize!

If you need accommodations due to a disability, please contact Access Services at (206) 878-3710, ext.3857 (voice) or (206) 870-4853 (TTY).

LGBTQIA+ Week Organizers: Amy Rider King, Chino Gonzales, Edwina Fui, Geomarc Panelo, Megan Fuhlman, Tylir McKenzie, and Kharmyn Williams

Graphic Designer: Laylia Parker, Marketing Outreach Design Consultant

Monday, October 11, 2021

12:00 pm-1:30 pm

Monéts Zoom Link

Marvelous love w/ the Monéts

Within this showcase, Founding Mother Tinashea Monét will be discussing the importance of self love, community and communication as she gives insight on what it means to love yourself and the wisdom in her journey of what it was like to be the first Black transwoman in the Pacific Northwest to create a ballroom house. Accompanied by Seattle chapter Father Muffasa Monét closing out with fine spoken word.

Tinashea Monét, is the first black trans woman in the Pacific Northwest to start and found her own house, the eclectic beauty house known as The Marvelous Monéts. Currently standing in Washington state, they are the longest running house since it’s creation in 2018. Tinashea Monét is a highly regarded Community Organizer and Advocate for the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ Community. Outside of her community work, she’s known for snatching trophies, her stunning creativity, fashion knowledge and breathtaking witty performances. Using both glamour and humor she’s sure to keep a crowd beyond entertained. Father Mufasa Monét is a Seattle based poet, painter rapper, photographer and modeling artist. Pronouns are They/Them/He, and they have been active in the ballroom community since 2019. Being Father of the Monéts he has had the opportunity to be an influence and voice in the PNW scene. He aims to become a provider of opportunity in the community through creating a vast network of artists spaces. Being a skilled poet and lyricist, he’s sure to leave you in deep thought on abstract and relatable subjects. Mufasa likes to keep it real, knowing honesty is the best policy and leaving little room for embellishment.

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

11:00am-12:30pm

Dr. Sanlo Zoom Link

Sheroes, Heroes and They-roes: A Walk through LGBTQ History

We LGBTQ people did not pop out of a bar last Thursday night! We have a long, rich history that’s been buried for far too long. My purpose in creating this story-telling presentation is to share who we are, how long we’ve been around, and on whose shoulders we stand.

Author, LGBTQ historian, and playwright Dr. Ronni Sanlo is the Director Emeritus of the UCLA Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center (LGBT) Center and a frequent keynote speaker and consultant on LGBT issues in Higher Education. Now retired, Dr. Sanlo was also professor and director of the UCLA Masters of Education in Student Affairs. Prior to coming to UCLA in 1997, Dr. Sanlo was the director of the LGBT Center at the University of Michigan. In a previous life, Dr. Sanlo was an HIV epidemiologist in Florida from 1987-1994. Ronni earned a bachelor’s degree in music at the University of Florida, and a masters and doctorate in education from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. She developed the initial standards and guidelines for LGBTQ work in Higher Education and was founding chair of the Consortium of LGBT Professionals in Higher Education. Ronni is the originator of the award-winning Lavender Graduation, a commencement event that celebrates the lives and achievements of graduating LGBTQ college students. She continues to research and write with a focus on LGBT history which is the foundation for the award-winning documentary Letter to Anita and her play Dear Anita Bryant. While Ronni has over 100 academic publications, her post-retirement books include her memoir The Purple Golf Cart: The Misadventures of a Lesbian Grandma and an historical novel about the last five months of WWII entitled The Soldier, the Avatar, and the Holocaust. Her four-volume series This Day in LGBTQ History is available on Amazon. Ronni also teaches a memoir course through her company Ronni Sanlo Literary, encouraging LGBTQ people to write our stories so our lives are not lost. Ronni and her wife Dr. Kelly Watson spend time cruising on their boat Strait Knot in the Puget Sound area. Both are avid pickleball players and both play really bad golf. They live in Palm Springs, CA and Sequim, WA.

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

10:00 am- 11:30 am

AIDS Memorial Zoom Link

AIDS Memorial Pathway: A History of HIV & AIDS in Seattle

Join us as we discuss the history of HIV and AIDS in Seattle, with Pat Migliore (she/her), founder of the BABES Network, a support organization for women living with HIV, Jason Plourde (he/him), former Project Manager of The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway, and Fred Swanson (he/him), Executive Director of Gay City: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center. Topics will include the history of HIV and AIDS in Seattle, the creation of the AIDS memorial on Capitol Hill, the need for representation, local funding challenges, ways that communities have stepped up and supported one another, and the long term impacts of HIV on local LGBTQ communities historically and today.

Pat Migliore (she/her) helped found both the BABES Network and the now national organization of Positive Women’s Network. She has taught in Seattle schools and youth services for many years and currently teaches HIV/AIDS education to grades 5-12 and at local colleges. Jason Plourde (he/him) has worked for LGBTQ community organizations for over 20 years. Prior to his role as Project Manager for The AMP, he served as Programming Director and then Executive Director of the non-profit Three Dollar Bill Cinema. Fred Swanson (he/him) has been Executive Director of Gay City: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center for 20 years. He’s also on the Human Services Commission in Burien, and active with Highline Public Schools, serving on both the Family Action Council and the Advisory Committee for Instruction on Race and Identity.

Thursday, October 14, 2021

11:00am-12:30pm

Senator Liias Zoom Link

Queer Politics Post Marriage Equality

When the Supreme Court made their landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) saying that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples, many saw it as a sign that LGBTQ+ folks had finally achieved equality. Six years later and with a rise in anti-trans violence and rhetoric we can see clearly what many in the queer community knew back then, there is still a lot of work left to do. While we’ve largely achieved basic acceptance in the political world, there is a lot of progress needed both at the federal and state levels of government.

https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/liias/biography/

3:00pm-4:30pm

Kumu Hina Zoom Link

Film Showing of Kumu Hina

Kumu Hina is a powerful feature documentary about the struggle to maintain Pacific Islander culture and values within the Westernized society of modern-day Hawaiʻi. It is told through the lens of an extraordinary Native Hawaiian who is both a proud and confident māhū, or transgender woman, and an honored and respected kumu, or teacher, cultural practitioner, and community leader.

The Revolution is Queer: Are You Ready?

October 12-15, 2020

Monday, October 12, 2020

Yosimar Reyes

Yosimar Reyes

10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Yosimar Zoom Link

Yosimar Reyes: “We Never Needed Papers to Thrive”

A poignant and insightful workshop aimed at looking at ways in which immigrants can be masters of their own narratives.

Yosimar Reyes is a nationally-acclaimed Poet and Public Speaker. Born in Guerrero, Mexico, and raised in Eastside San Jose, Reyes explores the themes of migration and sexuality in his work. The Advocate named Reyes one of “13 LGBT Latinos Changing the World” and Remezcla included Reyes on their list of “10 Up And Coming Latinx Poets You Need To Know.” His first collection of poetry, For Colored Boys Who Speak Softly… was self-published after a collaboration with the legendary Carlos Santana. His work has also been published in various online journals and books including Mariposas: An Anthology of Queer Modern Latino Poetry (Floricanto Press), Queer in Aztlán: Chicano Male Recollections of Consciousness and Coming Out (Cognella Press), and the forthcoming Joto: An Anthology of Queer Xicano & Chicano Poetry (Kórima Press). Reyes was featured in the Documentary, “2nd Verse: The Rebirth of Poetry.” He is a LAMBDA Literary Fellow as well as the recipient of the Undocupoets Fellowship. Reyes previously served as Artist-in-Residence at the media and culture organization, Define American. Reyes has toured and presented at university campuses across the United States. He is currently working on his one-man show, “Prieto,” to premiere in the near future. Reyes holds a B.A in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Kiki Robinson

Kiki Robinson

10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Kiki Zoom Link

Kiki Robinson: “Tarot Magic for Healing and Liberation”

In this workshop, I will explore the history and origins of the practice of tarot, specifically through the lens of the Romani diaspora and the inherent root of tarot as magical resistance. Through the practice of tarot, we can connect to our own altar within, our intuition, and connect to healing and liberation through connection to self as Healer. This workshop is both history lesson and experiential-I will guide you through a series of exercises to connect to psychic intuition, cultivate relationships with your magic through ritual, and guide a series of spreads to connect to the resource of internal guidance and insight. Tarot and self-healing are a deeply profound tool of clarity, insight, and wisdom especially in times of uncertainty and chaos. Ritual and Magic can be forms and pathways to activism and liberation!

My name is Kiki (AKA Opulent Witch) and I am a Queer witch, tarot reader, artist, and freaky non-binary starbeing. I started working with tarot when I was 17 years old, about a decade ago dove deep in relationship when I started melding tarot with psychic mediumship, ritual and spell work. I am Romani and Irish/British Isles and practice in the magic of my ancestors. My work is centered in sovereignty, heart-courage, and disrupting the systems that bind us. I am deeply committed to community healing and magical activism. More on my website can be found: www.opulentwitch.com

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m.

Oasis Youth Zoom Link

Oasis Youth: “Elevating LGBT Youth Voices”

Youth are the future of the revolution. LGBTQ youth activists from Oasis Youth Center in Tacoma will share their stories as young queer people fighting for Black Lives, trans rights, justice, and healthy futures for LGBTQ youth. The panel will be followed by a Q&A session.

Tamasha Emedi

Tamasha Emedi

1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

Tamasha Emedi Zoom Link

Tamasha Emedi: “The Queering of Authenticity”

Often times when we grow into our queer identities we struggle to find ways to live it out “authentically.” This leads to getting trapped into enough: “gay enough,” “queer enough,” “femme enough.” Then, we can add the layers of intersectionality and positionality we have. In this workshop, we are invited to dig deeper into our own personal understanding of our queer authenticity.

Tamasha Emedi (she/her) was born and raised in Olympia, Washington. She studied political science at Gonzaga University and Educational Leadership at Washington State University. She had taught in elementary school for seven years. This school year, Tamasha is centering system change work as her career path as an assistant principal, centering this as her heart work.

Thursday, October 15, 2020

9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m.

Lydia Brown Zoom Link

Passcode: 199299

Lydia Brown: “Fighting for Our Freedom & Our Futures: Disability Justice is Queer & Trans Liberation”

We are sick, disabled, mad, wobbly, lopsided, flappy. We are everywhere, working, loving, playing, laboring for liberation, yearning for community. From organizing on the ground, disrupting “law” and institutions, and merely existing at multiple margins, deaf, disabled, mad, and sick people are working for Disability Justice — an intersectional framework, imperative, and praxis for collective liberation. Disability oppression is deeply connected with white supremacy, capitalism, transmisogyny, eugenics, and settler-colonialism, along with all other forms of oppression. Yet even the most radical and revolutionary movements constantly erase our labor and our existence, writing us out of our own stories ― especially at intersections of race, gender, queerness, and sexuality. Queer, trans, and asexual disabled people understand intimately the connections between the pathologization of our identities and communities, the deep roots of historical and collective traumas, and the urgent need for radical intervention. Disabled people’s cultural work, community building, and leadership at the margins of the margins offer necessary interventions and vital wisdom for liberation work as we seek to get free and taste justice, grounded in intersectional theory and practice.

Lydia X. Z. Brown is a disability justice advocate, organizer, educator, attorney, strategist, and writer whose work has largely focused on interpersonal and state violence against multiply-marginalized disabled people living at the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, nation, and language. They are Policy Counsel for the Privacy and Data Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology; Adjunct Lecturer in Disability Studies for Georgetown University’s Department of English; and Director of Policy, Advocacy, & External Affairs at the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network. They are also the founder and volunteer director of the Fund for Community Reparations for Autistic People of Color’s Interdependence, Survival, and Empowerment. Currently, they serve as a founding board member of the Alliance for Citizen Directed Supports, presidential appointee to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Disability Rights, and co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Section on Civil Rights & Social Justice, Disability Rights Committee. Previously, Lydia worked on disability rights and algorithmic fairness at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Tech Law and Policy, served as Justice Catalyst Legal Fellow for the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and worked at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network as a member of the national policy team. They are former Chairperson of the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, Visiting Lecturer at Tufts University, Holley Law Fellow at the National LGBTQ Task Force, and Patricia Morrissey Disability Policy Fellow at the Institute for Educational Leadership. In 2015, Lydia was named to Pacific Standard’s 30 Top Thinkers Under 30 list, and to Mic’s list of 50 impactful leaders, cultural influencers, and breakthrough innovators. In 2018, NBC featured them as one of 26 Asian Pacific American breakthrough leaders for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and Amplifier featured them as part of the We The Future campaign for youth activism. Most recently, Lydia was named to Gold House Foundation’s A100 list of the most impactful Asians in America for 2020. Their work appears in numerous scholarly and community publications, and they have received many awards for their work, including from the Obama White House, the Society for Disability Studies, the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Washington Peace Center, the Disability Policy Consortium, and the National Council on Independent Living.

Joy Young

Joy Young

11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Joy Young Zoom Link

Joy Young: “The Transformative Power of Our Stories”

Join award-winning poet and storyteller, Joy Young, for a brief performance and lecture on the transformative power of spoken word followed by a workshop in which participants will engage in the visual mapping of their own identities and produce work centered on their own experiences.

Joy Young is a performance and teaching spoken word artist based in Phoenix, Az. Their performance works have been featured on Button Poetry and Everyday Feminism as well as on stages and in colleges and classrooms across the country. Additionally, they are the cofounder and editor of Prickly Pear Printing, a project dedicated to highlighting written and visual work with a focus on growth, beauty, and the celebration of bodies and narratives often silenced. Whether creating a storytelling curriculum for restorative justice or community engagement projects, running workshops that explore identity and what it means to be human, or performing their own poetry and stories, Joy’s work seeks to cultivate strong personal narratives within a larger social justice context, which is they were awarded the Mayor’s Arts Award in 2018 and named Storyteller of the Year by the Phoenix New Times in 2019. They believe our personal narratives should be a driving force for healing ourselves and the world around us— that they are a doorway through which we should consciously enter the world of social justice in hopes of creating understanding, connection, and making substantive change.

LGBTQIA Week: October 7-11, 2019

LGBTQIA Banner

These events are free and open to the community. Thank you for joining us!

View the LGBTQIA Week 2018 photos.

Are you interested in volunteering or have additional questions? Please contact Multicultural Affairs at (206) 592-3296.

If you need accommodations due to a disability, please contact Access Services at (206) 878-3710, ext.3857 (voice) or (206) 870-4853 (TTY).

 

 

LGBTQIA Week 2019

50 Years: Still Honoring the Resistance, Transforming Our Community

Monday, October 7, 2019

Karama Blackhorn

10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Building 8, Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus 

Karama Blackhorn: “Out of the Closets, Into the streets! Queer Activism and Coming Out 50 years later”

The development of queer activism following Stonewall has been incredibly diverse, but much of the larger narrative that has stuck around is to be proud and out. We teach our new community members how to build a new home, a new family, a new language. This has made queer life and celebration more visible. Every corporation and brand has rainbow specials and queer icons pitching their products. We have gone in many ways from rioters to consumers of our experience. This whole time continuously being reminded that to be queer is to to be out and proud. This talk will explore this history, closet,and  how we have co-existed with it, shaped it and how our approach to coming out has not worked for all of us. We’ll begin to work on ways to heal and transform our understanding and responsibilities of what it means to be out and proud for the next 50 years.

Karama Blackhorn (Rogue River Shasta) is a Two-Spirit organizer and educator. An equity and diversity professional supporting the empowerment of people of color, queer,trans, and indigenous peoples in higher education. Blackhorn has been a lead organizer for statewide projects including Washington state’s Queer I Am Leadership Conference. Blackhorn holds a Bachelors in Critical Race and Gender Studies, and Masters of Public Administration in Tribal Governance from Evergreen State College. Raised in Medicine Creek Treaty Territories, but now calls Long Beach in the Tongva Basin home with brilliant and beautiful partner Jessenia and their loving plants, books, and art projects keeping them company.

Be Steadwell

Be Steadwell

12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

Building 7

Be Steadwell: “Queerness Love and Song”

Growing up black, queer and girl-life was hard and love was home. Queer folks fall in love hard, and fall out harder. I write love songs in an effort to heal myself and my communities. Let’s talk about love, joy, trauma and sing like the gods we are.

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Armando Ibanez

Armando Ibañez

9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Building 7

Armando Ibañez: “Our Existence through Filmmaking”

This presentation is about “Undocumented Tales” , a web series about a queer, undocumented, Latinx immigrant living in the states. “Undocumented Tales” breaks the stereotypes and misconceptions of immigrant and LGBTQ communities  on the screen. The program aims to encourage all misrepresented communities to tell our own stories.

Armando Ibañez is a latinx queer filmmaker and activist from Mexico. He has been living in the United States for over 16 years and lives in the state of California. Armando is involved in the LGBTQ and immigrant rights movements and is an active member with Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement. His passion for film began at the age of 7 years old while watching Mexican cinema from the 1950s. Currently, Armando is the director and writer of the online series “Undocumented Tales,” a story that follows the journey of a Mexican undocumented and queer server living in Los Angeles. He is committed to portraying authentic Latinx characters and address real issues impacting immigrant and LGBTQ communities in the United States.

Joshua Magallanes

Joshua Magallanes

12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

Building 7

Joshua Magallanes: “Love and Critical Consciousness: Creating a Tapestry of Transparency”

We inhabit, and are inhabited by, multiple categories of identity. Our intersecting identities create more emotional, cultural, and material differences than any one identity. In order to understand intersectionality within the complexity of social structures, we must first understand the privileges of our single identities. How is society allowed to say who, what, and when we will become the individual they see? Don’t you want to have a say in that? Lastly, and most importantly, how can we integrate the power of LOVE as a tapestry to heal and work for us as a generation and for generations of the future?

Joshua believes the developmental process is a road that is never paved or well-traveled; the way we it and experience it is what makes us marvel at the amazing products along the way. Magallenes explores the societal constructs placed on communities of color and Queer communities to continue to raise awareness and create change. Joshua has spoken and led various workshops in Washington State including being a keynote at the Links and Alliances Conference. Magallanes has worked with Edmonds School District to adopt a program centered around cultural responsive practice when working with the queer community. He has served on the board of directors for Gay City Men’s Health Project in Seattle, WA. Currently a faculty member at Highline College teaching courses including “The Queer Experience” and “Cultural Competency Practices”, and“Social Justice”. Magallanes holds an Associate faculty status with Seattle University where he teaches in the College of Education Graduate Counseling Program. Joshua owns a private practice in Seattle where he provides therapeutic services for individuals, males of color and couples in the queer and straight community. You may have seen him as a regular guest on the morning news for Q13 as an expert therapist sharing his thoughts around grief, violence, toxic masculinity and the list goes on. Joshua earned his Bachelor of Science from Northern Arizona University and his Masters in Community Counseling from Seattle University.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Ale and Ganesha smiling

Ganesha and Alé

10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Building 8, Mt. Constance/Olympus

Alé Abreu and Ganesha Gold Buffalo: “Land and Body”

Reclaiming plant medicine & Birthwerq for Trans & Queer People of Color. Together we will explore and talk about our personal journey’s & how they intersect with indigenous teachings, ancestral wisdom, our bodies, and the expanse of our environment. We will prepare a plant essence & create a collective altar. Participants are encouraged to bring an item to place into the altar to charge with the collective energy and take home afterward.

Alé Abreu (They/She, Afro-Lenca) is a two-spirit curanderismo ritualist, artist, plant medicine maker, and indigenous birth worker. They are the creative director of performance art collaborative Hijx de Su Madre, plant medicine maker, birth doula, & ritualist for Abre Caminos, & one of the indigenous healrs for Canoe Journey Hebalists. She currently offers cultural consultations, host ceremonies, ritual performances, and curates healing spaces in the Duwamish, Puyalup, Nisqually, Squaxin areas and beyond. Learn more about Alé at @Hijxdesumadre@Abre_Caminos@Canoejourneyherbalists.

Ganesha believes in the limitless capacity of humanity to destroy and heal itself in breakable cycles. In this way, it sees all pain and imbalance as an opportunity to cultivate more balance and right relationship with one another, the land, and Spirit. As a disabled Afro-indigenous (Black/African, Tsalagi, German), Two-Spirit, Intersex, Non-binary Trans Womxn; it understands how trauma via  colonial and patriarchal violence works by locking us in those cycles, and that breaking them can be as simple as making the decision to heal.

Mikey Xi

Mikey Xi

12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Building 8, Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus

Mikey Xi: “Re-Centering Ballroom: A Re-Introduction to Pop Culture’s Oldest En Vogue Influence”

Vogue has gained popularity in recent years through viral clips, music videos, and pop cultural conversation. Today, Mooncakes will be re-centering the conversation back onto it’s origins of ballroom, and the importance and influence it holds with the QTPOC community. Mooncakes will also be giving an introductory lecture on the various categories of ballroom with video demos (viewer discretion is advised for sexual content/partial nudity and explicit language).

Mikey Xi (she/they/he) is a Seattle dancer and performer. Under the name Mooncakes, they have trained in the styles of vogue femme and waacking. Since April 2016, Mooncakes has been an active member of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest’s ballroom scene and street dance scene, having performed in numerous Seattle all-style battles, as well as walked balls in Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Vancouver, and Los Angeles. Additionally, they are a drag performer and active in the Seattle drag scene under the name of “Kylie Mooncakes”. They aim to utilize their platform to continue to spread the knowledge and history of their trained styles, as well as to uplift the QTPOC+ communities these styles and cultures belong to. Learn more about Mooncakes at @xmooncakes.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

LGBTQIA Resource Fair

DJ Dos Leches

DJ Dos Leches

DonnaTella

DonnaTella

11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Building 8, Mt. Townsend and Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus

Resource Fair, DJ Dos Leches, and DonnaTella (Performer and MC)

Highline and its community partners support the health and wellness of the LGBTQ community. In its third year, visitors can explore campus and community resources to connect with caring and affirming resources.

 

Come strike a pose! Visit our photo booth to create unforgettable memories with fun for all.

DJ Dos Leches is based out of Seattle, Washington. Situated between Caribbean and American culture, she uses sound to probe concepts of identity, power and history. Drawing from her personal experiences and diasporic roots, dos leches uses music as a form of emotional therapy and healing. The diversity of places, ideas and cultures is evident in her enthusiasm for everything from 90’s vogue, hard style reggaeton and neo perreo to booty bass, hip hop and electronica. As a DJ, dos leches focuses on heavy danceable rhythms and blending music styles from different genres. She is a member of Babexhouse, a member of TUF, an intersectional femme, non-binary, and trans collective and is also a member of the QTPOC art collective DARQNESS whose ethos is centered around the production of multidimensional work through sound, visual and performance art while expanding the dialogue surrounding marginalized communities and subcultures that too-often become diluted and obscured. Dos Leches has performed in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and NYC.

Community Organizations and Resources

Information will also be available from the following community organizations.

Highline College Campus Resources

Resource Fair attendees subject to change.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Picture of the word Pose

Pose

12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Building 8 Room 204, Inter-Cultural Center

Pizza & Pose

Join us for a viewing of “Pose” followed by a discussion. Pizza will be provided!

Monday, October 8, 2018

Photo of Sonj Basha

11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Building 7

Sonj Basha: “Islamahomophobia: Why Visibility Matters”

One of the most powerful tools of oppression is division. How can the Queer* community become stronger by bringing parts of itself closer together? We can begin to empower ourselves to resist marginalization in our own movement and combat institutional violence by fighting for justice at the intersections of our identities.

Learn more about Sonj Basha in The Seattle Times article: Seattle LGBTQ leader: ‘I am Muslim, I am queer and I exist’.

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

 

Dr. Elizabeth Eaman: “Queer & Trans Health”

9–10:30 a.m.

Building 7

Dr. Elizabeth Eaman has worked as a family physician in the Puget Sound for more than 10 years. In addition to caring for patients of all ages and walks of life, she has specialized in the primary care of transgender, non-binary, and LGB patients. Since 2003 she has worked with various organizations and educational institutions to improve LGBT+ patient care and continues to work with the University of Washington and other Washington schools to further LGBT health education.

Dr. Elizabeth Eaman, of Oodle Family Medicine, will also be joining us at our Resource Fair.

 

Angel ‘Moonyeka’ Alviar-Langley and Mikey Xi: “BB! : Ballroom Basics, Recentering QTPOC Movement Resistance History”

11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Building 8

Vogue has gained popularity in recent years through viral clips, music videos, and pop cultural conversation. It has gained traction especially through TV shows such as Pose, and being featured in performances by the likes of Madonna, Ariana Grande, and FKA Twigs. During this session, we will be re-centering the conversation back onto its origins of ballroom, and the importance and influence it holds within the QTPOC community. We will be viewing selected clips from Paris is Burning ( plus additional films), and leading discussions on subjects such as the house system, balls, and identity. We will be exploring questions such as: How have we (as queer folks) been liberated because of Ballroom Culture? How do we honor histories and people while being in proximity to Ballroom Culture?

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Whitney Archer

Whitney Archer: “De-Whitening LGBT Experience”

9–10:30 a.m.

Building 7

Whitney Archer holds a Masters of Arts in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies as well as a Masters of Education in College Student Services Administration with a specialization in identity exploration and development. Whitney’s graduate thesis research was on the experiences of transgender students attending women’s colleges. Currently, Whitney directs the Hattie Redmond Women & Gender Center at Oregon State University where she is also pursuing a Ph.D. in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

Thursday, October 11, 2018

LGBTQIA Resource Fair  Allison Masangkay (DJ Phenohype)

Resource Fair & Allison Masangkay (DJ Phenohype)

11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Building 8

Highline and its community partners support the health and wellness of the LGBTQ community. In its second year, visitors can explore campus and community resources to connect with caring and affirming resources.

Come strike a pose! Visit our photo booth to create unforgettable memories with fun for all. We’ll have photo props available. Photos will be taken by Juanita Gonzalez, Highline College student.

Community Organizations and Resources

Information will also be available from the following community organizations.

Highline College Campus Resources

Resource Fair attendees subject to change.

Friday, October 12, 2018

Dennis Denman: “LGBTQIAA 101 Workshop”

10–11:30 a.m.

Building 2

The LGBTQIAA 101 is a workshop designed to bring community members together in a safe and shared space to discuss terms and issues that arise in the LGBTQ+ community. The presenter will cover topics such as allyship (and how to be a good one), intersectionality (we’re not all white), and ideas for creating more inclusive campus programming around LGBTQ+ events.

Monday, October 9, 2017

Dr. Qwo-Li Driskill

Dr. Qwo-Li Driskill

Title of discussion: En-storying Resistance

Time: 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Location: Building 7

Co-Sponsors: Academic Affairs

Qwo-Li Driskill is a (non-citizen) Cherokee Two-Spirit and Queer writer, activist, and performer also of African, Irish, Lenape, Lumbee, and Osage ascent. S/he is the author of Walking with Ghosts: Poems (Salt Publishing, 2005) and the co-editor of Sovereign Erotics: A Collection of Two-Spirit Literature (University of Arizona, 2011) and Queer Indigenous Studies: Critical Interventions is Theory, Politics, and Literature (University of Arizona, 2011) Hir book Asegi Stories: Cherokee Queer and Two-Spirit Memory ( University of Arizona 2016) was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in 2017. S/he is the Director of Graduate Studies and the Queer Studies Curriculum Organizer in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Oregon State University.

Using poetry, history, and personal story, this talk will address how telling our stories Indigenous and LGBTQ+ peoples can contribute to social transformation, resistance, healing, and imaginings of a decolonized future.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

PFLAG

PFLAG Panel & Discussion

Time: 12–1:30 p.m.

Location: Building 8, Mt. Constance

Coming out can be challenging for anyone who identifies as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, or Queer. Preceding national coming out day, we have panelist from PFLAG Tacoma who will be talking about their experiences with the coming out process. PFLAG (formerly known as an acronym for Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) is a volunteer organization whose mission is to meet people where they are and collaborating with others through: Support for families, allies and people who are LGBTQ, educating ourselves and others about the unique issues and challenges facing people who are LGBTQ, advocate for our community members to change attitudes and create policies and laws that achieve full equality for people who are LGBTQ.

PFLAG envisions a world where diversity is celebrated and all people are respected, valued, and affirmed inclusive of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

Visit the PFLAG website.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

LGBTQIA Resource Fair

LGBTQIA Resource Fair & Entertainment

Time: 12–2 p.m.

Location: Building 8

Highline and its community partners support the health and wellness of the LGBTQ community. In the first resource fair of its kind at the college, visitors can explore more than 40 campus and community resources to connect with caring and affirming resources.

Entertainment provided by Renee Jarreau Greene, aka Reverend Dollars.

Community Organizations and Resources

Information will also be available from the following community organizations.

Highline College Campus Resources

Resource Fair attendees subject to change.

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Dean Spade

Dean Spade

Title of discussion: Fight to Win! Critical Trans Resistance in Scary Times

Time: 1:30–3 p.m.

Location: Building 7

Co-Sponsors: Center for Leadership and Service

Dean Spade is an associate professor at the Seattle University School of Law. In 2002, he founded the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a non-profit collective that provides free legal help to low-income people and people of color who are trans, intersex and/or gender non-conforming and works to build trans resistance rooted in racial and economic justice. He is the author of Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the Limits of Law (Duke University Press 2015).

In this talk, Dean Spade will raise questions about how increased mainstream visibility of trans people relates to on-the-ground struggles for trans survival. How do we build a trans resistance politics that centers opposition to war, imperialism, immigration enforcement and criminalization? How do we move beyond symbolic acts of resistance and actually help meet each other’s most basic needs for housing, child care, health care, safety, and connection? This talk will explore how contemporary movements are developing transformative approaches and practices to address these questions in the face of worsening conditions of wealth concentration, state violence, and climate chaos.

Learn more about Dean Spade.

Friday, October 13, 2017

Syd Emmanuel Arrojo

Syd Emmanuel Arrojo

Title of discussion: Butterfly: Una Transformacion, Una Ascencion

Time: 9–10:30 a.m. (Doors open at 8:30 a.m.)

Location: Building 25, Floor 6, Academic Success Centers

Syd Emmanuel Arrojo~La Espiritista~ (Artist/Performer/Poet/Writer) is a Latinx American Seattle based artist originally from New Jersey. They are a multi-talented artist that expresses their creative nature through many forms of rhythm some including Spoken Word Art, Creative Writing, Colorful Sketches, Singing, and Wooden Instruments.

Learn more about Syd Emmanuel Arrojo.