Event
Trans Awareness Week Trans Awareness Week (TAW) November 16th-20th In Eugene will be a full week of educational movies, workshops and panels held at various times and at various locations in Eugene. (complete schedule to be announced soon). Trans Awareness Week is all about the gender spectrum, gender identity and gender expression which all humans have. Trans Awareness Week will culminate on Friday, November, 20th with the National Transgender Day of Remembrance events which will include speakers, speak out and a candlelight vigil. Transgender Day of Remembrance has been held every year at many locations throughout the United States since 1999. According to the Liminalis, and the Trans Murder Monitoring Project, every third day somewhere in the world a transgender person is murdered. The National Transgender Day of Remembrance honors those who have died by homicide at the hand of ignorance and prejudice while attempting to pursue the American Dream of freedom and equality. Trans Awareness Week will also serve to embrace and celebrate diversity and to promote universal human rights which is the birthright of all persons. “Those Who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual, those who are transgender, transsexual or intersex are full and equal member of the human family, and entitled to be treated as such.” Schedule This engaging and interactive workshop will provide an overview of the conceptualization of gender as a core identity; gender dissonance from a holistic transsexual viewpoint, as well as the socio-cultural implications of gender with all its biases, and politics. This workshop will talk about the experience of growing up in a dichotomous culture without an archetypal schema for “Trans” persons. It will cover definitions and terminology associated with Transgenderism. It will speak to legal issues, daily challenges, bias, and family issues encountered by transgendered people and their Intimate partners, Family, Friends, and Allies ( IPFFA). While sometimes poignant this workshop can be quite light as we examine these issues. It should be considered suitable for the public, direct service providers, faculty, and students alike. There will be many handouts, visual aids, video clips a Q & A period, or time permitting a panel discussion It will be facilitated by Allison Elise Cleveland MA Executive Director for The Gender Center Inc. with Guest presenters Anastasia Usinowcz, from Sexual Assault Support Services and Akasha Vitelli, gender & sexuality specialist. Tuesday November 17th While female-to-male transgender visibility has recently exploded in this country, conversations about trans issues in the lesbian community often run into resistance from the many queer women who view transitioning as a "trend" or as an anti-feminist act that taps into male privilege. BOY I AM is a feature-length documentary that begins to break down that barrier and promote dialogue about trans issues through a look at the experiences of three young transitioning FTMs in New York City—Nicco, Norie and Keegan—as they go through major junctures in their transitions, as well as through the voices of lesbians, activists, and theorists who raise and address the questions that many people have but few openly discuss. Is transitioning a trend? Is it healthy? Anti-feminist? What does it mean for a young person in the lesbian community to become male, both for themselves and for the community? And how are these questions affected by race and class? The film’s historical framework insists on a coherent, patient, and inclusive discussion that concentrates on a range of gendered experience. Situating these struggles and stories in the context of queer and feminist struggles, BOY I AM presents an empowering chronicle of queer resistance that challenges all viewers to rethink their concepts of activism and identity. 72 minutes. Wednesday November 18th With a fearless look at a highly charged subject, Straightlaced unearths how popular pressures around gender and sexuality are confining American teens. Their stories reflect a diversity of experiences, demonstrating how gender role expectations and homophobia are interwoven, and illustrating the different ways that these expectations connect with culture, race and class. From girls confronting media messages about culture and body image to boys who are sexually active just to prove that they are not gay, this fascinating array of students opens up with brave, intimate honesty about the toll that deeply held stereotypes and ridged gender policing have on all our lives. Straightlaced include the perspectives of teens who self identify as straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning and represent all points of the gender spectrum. With courage and unexpected humor, they open up their lives to the camera; choosing between “male” and “female” deodorant; deciding whether to go along with anti-gay taunts in the locker room; having the courage to take ballet; avoiding the restroom so they won’t get beaten up; or mourning the suicide of a classmate. It quickly becomes clear that about everything that teens do requires thinking about gender and sexuality. Coming of age today has become increasing complex and challenging; Straightlaced offers both teens and adults a way out of anxiety, fear and violence and points the way toward a more inclusive, empowering culture. 67minutes Wednesday November 18th Facilitated by Jenn Burleton, Executive Director of Transactive in Portland, Oregon; this basic and yet in depth interactive workshop will focus on Children, Youth & Gender. Does your child experience their sense of being a boy or a girl in a way that is not typical or expected? Are they unhappy or depressed when they can't play with toys or dress in clothing that is commonly associated with a gender other than the one they are assumed to be. If the answer to these questions is "yes", then your child may be gender non-conforming or transgender. The most important thing for you, your family and friends to know is that there is nothing wrong with your child. Furthermore, there is nothing you or your family did or did not do that would have caused this. There is compelling scientific and clinical evidence that the foundation for every person's gender identity is formed prior to birth and that it most likely is the result of a complex series of hormonal and chemical influences on brain development. Some research points to a genetic component that may influence the formation of gender identity independent of anatomical development. This workshop with Jenn and her staff will provide an excellent opportunity for an in depth conversation about children and adolescents and their emerging sense of self, and gender. Thursday November 19th Switch, A community in transition is a documentary about a progressive, multicultural community and the response of the community to a member’s changing gender expression. The basic premise of this film is that it is not the individual that transitions, but the community. Many transgendered and transsexual people are not making a switch from ONE to ANOTHER ONE, but rather switching their position on a continuum for a different position. The switch, culturally, is for the people around them not necessarily for themselves. Not the binary “off” and “on” of a light switch, or the dualistic nature of the concepts of male and female, but switch as in the subtle substitution of one for another … switch this for that. Exchange. A transgendered person could argue nothing is switching for them, only a curtain pulled back to reveal a different, more true self. They are not changing anything, but aligning for themselves what has always been true Friday November 20th (Complete program for the Transgender Day of Remembrance forthcoming) For more information allison@thegendercenter.org 541-870-5202 Please visit the City of Eugene Human Rights Commission web site for updates on more Transgender Awareness Week activities! http://www.eugene-or.gov/hrcactivities <<-- back to Schedule |
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