Mycroft Masada is a nonbinary trans and queer Jewish leader with 30 years of experience who moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland (Montgomery County near Washington DC) from their lifelong home of Boston in 2014. A TransEpiscopal Steering Committee member and former Congregation Am Tikva board member, Mycroft is particularly called to pursue LGBTQ+ and fat justice, and is an advocate, organizer, consultant, educator, trainer, writer and artist. They are married to Julia McCrossin, the mas(s)culine fatshion blogger, and with her they co-parent a dogter. Their central online home is MasadArts.blogspot.com.


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Saturday, February 20, 2016

Germantown Community Forum on LGBTQ Equity and Safety (#NoH8Gtown)

The event flyer -- this eagle is the symbol of Seneca Valley High.

Today PFLAG Germantown (MD) -- a community group of Metro DC PFLAG – held the Germantown Community Forum on LGBTQ Equity and Safety with and at Seneca Valley High School (the public high school of Germantown; part of the Montgomery County MD public school system) from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., and we attended.  This event was partly in response to the October murder of Zella Ziona, a 21-year-old black transgender woman; Germantown was Zella’s hometown, she attended Seneca Valley High, and she was killed in Gaithersburg (my partner Julia’s hometown and our current home).

Here is the webpage, and here is the Facebook eventtheir text is “In an effort to make Germantown a safe space for all residents, PFLAG Germantown, a community group of Metro DC PFLAG, and Seneca Valley High School invite you to participate in an open forum to explore issues that affect the LGBTQ community. The purpose of the forum is to discuss inclusion, equity, acceptance, and tolerance for LGBTQ residents of Germantown and the surrounding areas. There will be a panel of local leaders to address various viewpoints of these issues, followed by small group discussions where community members can engage in reflection and planning of ways that we can make Germantown a safe and welcoming community.”

And it made a good start at doing what it said on its tin.  The panelists were my colleagues Michelle McLeod of Honorary Nieces and Nephews, Karen Holmes of Metro DC PFLAG, and Rev. Miller Hoffman of Open Door MCC; joined by Gerri Carpenter, parent of a transgender son and lesbian daughter.  The moderator was John Bartkowiak of PFLAG Germantown.

After the panel, we attendees each chose a small group discussion topic, and went to a classroom – Julia and I chose Faith & The LGBTQ Community, facilitated by Rev. Miller, with Rev. Anne Holmes of Seneca Valley UCC.  There was also Institutionalized Homophobia with Michelle, Parents and Teens : How to Talk About Sexuality with Gerri as well as Jean Bertelmann of PFLAG Germantown, and Trans-Awareness with Karen and John, and Mental and Physical Health Concerns with Bianca Palmisano of Metro DC PFLAG, Policing with Sergeant Jessica Hawkins of the DC Metropolitan Police LGBT Liaison Unit and Officer Rose Borisow of the Montgomery County Police Department. 

After the small group discussions, we all came back together for discussion and questions and answers.

The event was open to the public, and had meal-worthy food donated by Wegmans and &Pizza.

Unfortunately there were very few attendees, especially outside of Seneca Valley High people, but that made some sense under the circumstances.  And the event did display an unusual level of nuance and potential – for one thing, there was far more, and more diverse, trans content that one would expect.   

The cafeteria where most of the event took place was far too hot, but in fairness the weather today was very Springy instead of Wintry (and I have a cold).  A more addressable concern is that the breakout rooms were set up mostly with those combination chair-and-desks that do not accommodate many fat and/or disabled people – this is an issue not only when hosting events, but for the school’s students and other usual users as well. 

More information can be had by contacting J.C. Fellows at Joanna.C.Fellows@mcpsmd.net.  The hashtag is #NoH8Gtown.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Rockville United Church's LGBTQ Outreach Group meeting


Today my partner Julia McCrossin and I spoke at the monthly meeting of Rockville United Church’s Outreach Group, and it was a great experience.  Among other things, the group is preparing to continue guiding the church through updating their Statement of Faith to include “gender identity and expression”.

We first connected with RUC last fall, when they became the excellent host of the 5th annual Montgomery County MD Transgender Day of Remembrance last November.  We went on to spend most of Christmas Day at the lovely home of some RUC leaders, and attended RUC’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. / Justice / LGBTQ Sunday on January 17th -- the guest speaker was Rev. Allyson Dylan Robinson, and the focus was on trans issues.

RUC is truly committed to moving forward with internal and external LGBTQ+ work, and we are looking forward to staying connected with them.

TransFaith's Being Brave Together launches

My copy of the brand-new TransFaith Being Brave Together binder, along with the flamingo pen I got at the airport (I flew in and out of Fort Lauderdale).

February has already been an unusually trans-faithful(l) month -- even for me.

After accepting an invitation to be a founding member of TransFaith’s new National Council, I co-facilitated our first Being Brave Together retreat with TF Community Engagement Consultant Louis Mitchell, this past weekend in Miami.  TF Executive Director Chris Paige was the logistical host (thank you!!), and attendees included both local and long-distance trans and allied leaders as well as some TF board members (thank you all!!!).

We’re planning our next BBT retreat to be in Philadelphia in April. Want to be involved in that or others this year? Let us know at http://www.transfaithonline.org/connect/being_brave_together/!