Zine - fat queers of color - call for submissions

http://ucsdcrossculturalcenter.tumblr.com/post/18462814628/calling-for-submissions-chubby-queers-of-color

UCSD Cross-Cultural Center

Submit   The vision of the Cross-Cultural Center (CCC) is to empower UCSD to recognize, challenge, and take proactive approaches to diversity for the campus and the San Diego community. We strive for meaningful dialogues and context across all cultures, particularly those of underrepresented or underprivileged backgrounds. We offer supportive and educational services through art, programs, workshops, and outreach, and we welcome creative venues for enhancing social consciousness and equity. 

“Calling for Submissions! “Chubby Queers of Color!”

Hi folks! My name is Anthony and for my Student Initiated Project (SIP) through the Cross-Cultural Center, I am working on putting together a Zine that reflects the experiences of Queer folks of Color who identify as, but not limited to, Chubby, Thick, Fat, and/or Big. I am currently in the process of looking for submissions from the community about your experiences as a ‘Chubby’ Queer person of Color. The purpose of the zine is way to bring together narratives, spoken word, art, poems, self-portraits, pictures, quotes, etc. that have helped you in your process and development as a Chubby Queer person of Color.

You can submit your contributions to anthony.sip.2012@gmail.com

Also, if you have any questions or want any more information about the project, please email me at the above email address. Thank you!

-Anthony Del Real

Beit Ahavah - Queen Esther’s Drag Ball & Dance Party - Northampton - March 10

Facebook event:  http://www.facebook.com/events/279402615462427/

Home | About Us | Events | School | Groups | Social Action | Membership | Support Beit Ahavah
The holiday of Purim celebrates the courage of Persia’s Queen Esther, who, at risk to her life, revealed herself as a Jew to her husband, the king, in order to save her community from destruction. Jewish author Anita Diamant calls Purim “the universal Jewish holiday of release, springtime, laughter, and excess." It is a time to celebrate and liberate everything that is usually oppressed. Jews have celebrated Purim for hundreds of years with parties, carnivals, and parades; a drag ball is the perfect addition. Guests are encouraged to come dressed in drag or a liberating costume.	Queen Esther's Drag Ball - Purim 2012 Fourth Annual  QUEEN ESTHER'S DRAG BALL Saturday, March 10, 2012 7:30-10:30 p.m. Diva's, 492 Pleasant St., Northampton, MA Ages: 21 and over with ID Tickets: $20 $15 for students with ID Email or call Beit Ahavah for tickets: info@beitahavah.org, 413-587-3770 Tickets also available at the door  Purim was never a drag, until now! It’s almost Purim, which means it’s time to dig out your diamond tiara and your dancing shoes! Please join us for the best Purim celebration in the Valley. Show off your finery. Dance, schmooze, and nosh on hamantashen. Dress in drag or just dress up. Live entertainment includes a performance by our own drag queen, Betty B, and local singer Felicia Sloin, performing her Queen Esther’s Rap. We will also mark the passage of the Transgender Rights Bill by presenting the Queen Esther Human Rights Award to Tynan Power, honoring his dedication to transgender rights in the Pioneer Valley and beyond. Tynan Power is a transgender Muslim writer, educator, and activist, and he founded the lay-led, LGBT-inclusive Pioneer Valley Progressive Muslims. He is also, along with his partner, a member of Beit Ahavah. Power has been involved in the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) since its inception, and testified before the state legislature on behalf of transgender rights. Ty was also instrumental in organizing “An Act of Faith: Western Massachusetts Interfaith Service for Transgender Rights,” held in Northampton in 2009. Spearheaded by Beit Ahavah's Rabbi Riqi Kosovske, the event raised essential support for the eventual passage of the transgender rights bill. Power's passionate commitment to education, advocacy, peace, and interfaith community-building has increased awareness of transgender rights throughout the Pioneer Valley and its communities of faith. The holiday of Purim celebrates the courage of Persia’s Queen Esther. At risk to her life, Esther revealed herself as a Jew to her husband, the king Achashverus, in order to save her Jewish community from destruction at the hands of the King’s malicious adviser, Haman. The holiday celebrates the courage of fighting oppression, and encourages social action, creative expression, and celebration. Jews have celebrated Purim for hundreds of years with parties, carnivals, gifts of food to the poor, gift baskets to friends, and retellings of the Purim story amidst joyful revelry and parades; a drag ball is the perfect addition. Guests are encouraged to come dressed in drag, come in costume, or come as they are. Purchase tickets by emailing info@beitahavah.org or calling 413-587-3770 This page last updated: 2012 February 13 (fz)
© Copyright 2012, Beit Ahavah Beit Ahavah - 130 Pine Street, Florence, MA  01062 413.587-3770 - beitahavah@crocker.com

A healthy response to Georgia’s harmful “Strong4Life” campaign

As you may know, there’s an extremely negative and harmful campaign in Georgia called "Strong4Life” (http://strong4life.com/default.aspx) that’s against childhood “obesity” 

and is shaming fat children and their parents. 

With the leadership of Marilyn Wann, Ragen Chastain, and Shannon “Atchka” Russell, a group has formed to create a response campaign -- "Stand4EveryBody" (http://stand4everybody.com/ ; site provided by our friends at More Of Me To Love).   

Marilyn created a poster of herself and invited others to do the same.  Dozens of people, pairs and groups have submitted their photos and text and had their posters created and published; many more posters are in process.  And we're still taking submissions!  We’re calling these posters “Standards”.  
(The image that accompanies this post is my and my partner Julia McCrossin*’s Standard – we stand for love that comes in all shapes, sizes and genders.)  
See all the current Standards posters here:  http://istandagainstweightbullying.tumblr.com/


Some Standards will become bus shelter posters in Atlanta!  And we'll have billboards!  We gathered 1,010 donors (from all over the country and world) and raised $21,721.20, including a $5,000 matching grant from More Of Me To Love.  Then we solicited submissions and votes from our supporters, voting for up to three of seven designs.  Here's the winner (and good news about Disney's anti-fat exhibit "Habit Heroes"):
http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/disney-and-georgia-billboard-updates/  

*Julia is a Fat Studies scholar who co-chairs that area of the Popular Culture Association and serves on the editorial board of the new Fat Studies Journal.  Inspired by the "Stand4EveryBody" campaign, she's written two amazing, heartbreaking pieces -- the first about just one of her many damaging experiences as a fat child (when she was in junior high school in Maryland, her school partnered with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in an attempt to get her and several other students the school had selected to lose weight); the second about "the rest of the (fat) story", in which she shares more of her lifelong experience with fat shaming (which includes depression and a suicide attempt) and how it intersected with the development of her fat and queer identities, including her gender identity and expression.  
http://ponderousboundaries.blogspot.com/2012/01/stand4kids.html
http://ponderousboundaries.blogspot.com/2012/02/rest-of-fat-story.html
Today at 41, Julia is happy, healthy, and a wonderful partner – but still healing from these traumas and being affected by current fat shaming.    

There are many ways to be part of the response campaign -- including your own ideas, which we welcome.  Please learn about both campaigns, connect with ours, and find out how you can join us in this vital work.  Whatever your experience of fatness, I hope you can see that shaming children or anyone else is harmful, not helpful – and certainly not healthful.  Stand with us -- for all children, youth and adults.  Help us tell Strong4Life and everyone else that we’re not going to stand for this kind of thing any longer.  However well-intentioned it may be, it's bullying, it's abuse, and it needs to stop -- and we can stop it.


Facebook communities:

“Stop Strong4Life's Fat Shaming Campaign” (more than 600 members and growing)

http://www.facebook.com/groups/344255848935079/
"I Stand Against Weight Bullying" (almost 600 members)
https://www.facebook.com/IStandAgainstWeightBullying

Tumblr (where you can see the Standards posters)

http://istandagainstweightbullying.tumblr.com/

I also want to raise up an impressive piece by one of my transgender colleagues, Joelle Ruby Ryan.  We don’t have an “epidemic” of “obesity”.  We have an epidemic of fat hate.  And it doesn’t just harm and kill fat children, youth and adults – it harms everyone. 

http://transmeditations.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/blog-71-the-fat-hate-epidemic/

Communing With Our Trans Kindred - A Conversation for the Black Church

Communing With Our Trans Kindred - A Conversation for the Black Church is Saturday March 24th in Philadelphia!  

AND THE REGISTRATION PRICE HAS BEEN REDUCED:  http://hub.transfaithonline.org/events/philadelphia_pa_in_march_2012/price/

Chris Paige (of TransFaith Online and the new Interfaith Working Group) writes:

"I am so excited about this ground-breaking event, which creates an opportunity for African American Church communities to gain more understanding about Black transgender experiences. We know where to find transgender and LGBT activists. But for this event we need your help reaching out to folks who are not already in those circles.

We need help making this Spirit filled worship opportunity known to mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, pastors who mean well, and others who may need a helping hand on the journey to understanding.

-- Could you make a personal invitation to someone you know who would benefit from this?

-- Could you think of pastors, deacons, church mothers or other folks immersed in Black Church community and make sure they hear about this event?

-- Could you pass this along to others who may be supportive and ask them to do likewise?

-- Would you take a moment to pray for this opportunity to reach the people who are most in need of this kind of opportunity?

Details can also be found here (including an article and postcard in pdf form): 

Communing With Our Trans Kindred — A Conversation for the Black Church

http://hub.transfaithonline.org/events/philadelphia_pa_in_march_2012/transkindred/

or

http://hub.transfaithonline.org/events/philadelphia_pa_in_march_2012/

Thanks so much!

Chris"

HBGC - Lesbians of Color Symposium - March 3rd

Inaugural Lesbians of Color Symposium

Event: 

Saturday, March 3, 2012 - 9:30am - 6:00pm

In celebration of Women’s History Month, please join the Hispanic Black Gay Coalition (HBGC) and fellow lesbians/queer identified women for Boston’s Inaugural Lesbians of Color Symposium.  We invite you to participate in a series of workshops designed to solidify our culture and strengthen our presence within the LGBTQ community.  Allies are welcome! 

Special Guests Include:

• Mandy Cater - Social Justice Activist and Co-Founder of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) and Southerns On New Ground (SONG).  
• Ryan Holmes & Genesis Tramaine - Founders of bklyn boihood.  bklyn boihood is a collective that creates visibility and builds community within masculine of center bois, lesbians, queers, trans-identified, studs, doms, butches and AGs of color through online media, events, workshops and collaborative projects.
• Alyssa Asomani, Founder & Editor of STUD Magazine. Stud Magazine is an online based magazine founded in Toronto with an aim to redifine the term stud and introduce non gender conforming people to mainstream media.

Workshop Topics Include:

• Health and Wellness
• Gender Expression/Identity
• Spirituality
• Self Advocacy/Social Activism
• Relationships …and more  

Review the listing of full workshop descriptions by clicking here.

Location: Harvard Law School  1545 Mass Ave  Cambridge, MA 

Registration Fee: $25.00  REGISTER ONLINE BY CLICKING HERE

Mass. NOW event "I Heart Equal Rights" - NEXT TUESDAY

Mass. NOW's event "I Heart Equal Rights" is NEXT TUESDAY, February 28th here in Boston (just a week from today).

Mass. NOW is the MA chapter of the National Organization for Women, and this year's event will celebrate the passage of the MA Trans Equal Rights Bill and honor the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition's Executive Director Gunner Scott.  This is a fundraiser for Mass. NOW and includes light refreshments and a silent auction.

For more information -- and to get this image or a red, pink and purple version for your very own:

http://www.facebook.com/events/368961406462585/

http://iheartequalrights.eventbrite.com/

http://www.massnow.org/i-heart-equal-rights/

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=tgfwrecab&v=001E6oef0cghO_tnfQb5Aa1vMie9pGlzckDHHf1YjQAIZZFIqWvV60JW8t3iraW1W60rNxtIYu8WX60-TIC2ehJH4Flz6T-r1wkUVAO7YafJwI%3D

Trans panel event - 1st Parish UU Milton MA - NEXT WEDNESDAY

This just in from my colleague Jamez Terry, who is one of the panelists:

"Common Hearth: Understanding Transgender Identity, Practicing Radical Hospitality     


Wednesday, February 15, 7:30pm in the Parish Hall                                                                                        

This interactive panel discussion will explore transgender identities and experiences, particularly in relation to faith and church community. Together we will consider ways that First Parish can be more welcoming and inclusive of the trans people in our midst. Panelists include Red Durkin, a Brooklyn-based trans advocate and widely acclaimed comedienne; Alex Kapitan, Congregational Justice Administrator for LGBT Ministries at the Unitarian Universalist Association; and Jamez Terry, founder and organizer of the nationally touring Tranny Roadshow. This all-star group brings a wealth of experience and perspective to share. Don't miss this opportunity to grow more fully into our identity as radical welcomers! Childcare is available by advance request to assistantmin@fpmilton.org."

Femme 2012 conference - call for workshops, papers & much more

I don't know much about this, but I saw it in MTPC's newsletter (http://www.icontact-archive.com/a3pl2DehLErMRaYi3ELGrbnrAzlpgpde?w=2)
and appreciated that it was explicitly and strongly inclusive of "fat folks".  For some reason this doesn't say it, but the con is August 17th through 19th in Baltimore MD.  As a femme myself, and a not so included one, I am quite tempted -- but I probably already have enough cons etc. this year (I know, and it's only February!).

Call for Workshops, Papers, Panels, Films, Performance, and Visual Art

Femme2012: Pulling the Pieces Together

A multi-threaded conference and forum for those who think about, talk about, and create Femme as a queer gender and identity. Following our Femme2006, 2008, and 2010 conferences in San Francisco, Chicago, and Oakland, where hundreds of femmes and allies gathered for workshops, panels, films, visual art galleries, and performances, we again invite femmes of all kinds and their allies to continue the conversation by participating in Femme 2012 as presenters and participants. Links to our online submission forms are here.

Submissions of all kinds are welcome, particularly submissions by femmes. We are committed to having our presenters reflect as many different voices from within our Femme community(ies) as possible. We aim to prioritize and centralize the experiences of historically marginalized groups, including but not limited to people of color, working-class people, fat folks, trans and gender-non-conforming people, elders, youth, previously incarcerated individuals, people without documentation, and people with dis/abilities. The submission deadline is April 15, 2012. For information about specific submissions requirements and to submit your proposal, please visitwww.femme2012.com.