Just confirming that as usual, I had a good time at First Event a week
ago Shabbat.
Special thanks to Bobbi Taylor for co-presenting ICTE’s Interfaith Trans
& Allied Discussion Session with me and schlepping the MTPC table materials
and myself and journalist Becky Garrison; Chris Miller for presenting MTPC’s Know Your Rights & The State
of Trans Equal Rights Movement (which alas, I missed); Alishia Ouellette, Maxwell
Ng and friends for tabling for MTPC; Konnor Crewe, FE 2013 Workshop
Coordinator; Joelle Ruby Ryan for her Beauty Bias: Exploring Weightism,
Looksism and Body Image in the Trans Community and more; and Raven Kaldera for his
Transgender Spirituality and more.
For more about the 3 workshops I attended and the 6 others I most wanted
to attend, read on…
The 3 workshops I
attended:
Beauty Bias: Exploring Weightism, Looksism and
Body Image in the Trans Community
Dr. Joelle Ruby
Ryan
Do you have a
positive body image? Have you ever been judged by another trans person about
your appearance or weight? Could your self-esteem use a little boost? Then
please come and join us for this facilitated discussion and sharing circle! The
workshop leader will begin by sharing her own story, and provide examples of
looksism and weightism in the trans community. She will also link these issues
to gendered presentations/expressions and notions of “passing.” Then she will
open up for others to share and reflect on these important topics. The goal of
the workshop is to question society’s beauty standards and promote healthy
self-esteem for people of all appearances, weights, shapes and sizes! (Saturday
11:30am-12:50am Salon B)
Dr. Joelle Ruby
Ryan is a Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of New Hampshire
(UNH). She is a member of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women and
the Chair of the Transgender Policy and Climate Committee (T-PACC). She also
co-directs the annual Gender Identities Awareness (GIA) in November and the Transecting
Society Conference in April. She is the founder of TransGender New Hampshire
(TG-NH) and sits on their Steering Committee. She is also a member of the
Trans-Feminine Working Group for the Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference. In
addition to trans issues, her areas of professional and academic interest
include: feminism, asexuality, sex worker rights, media studies and production,
fat studies, weightism and body image.
Interfaith Trans & Allied Discussion Session
Gather with other trans and
allied people of faith for a gently facilitated discussion session, shaped by
attendees’ needs. Share experiences, information, inspiration and support.
Learn how to connect with local and national trans faith community and
work. (Saturday 2:30-3:50pm Independence)
Mycroft Masada Holmes is an
interfaith transgender leader based in hir native Boston, Massachusetts; Chair
of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition’s Interfaith Committee,
board member of Congregation Am Tikva. Mycroft is also a thin ally in the
movement for fat social justice, and a writer and artist. Bobbi Taylor is a
transgender activist living and working in the Boston area. In addition to
being a housewife, husband, and father, as well as a member of various
committees of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, Bobbi has a
background in Zen Buddhism, evangelical Christianity, and Paganism.
Transgender Spirituality
We have been symbols of the
sacred two-in-one for thousands of years. Come hear the ancient stories about
us, and rediscover our sacred nature. For transgendered people of all stripes,
and anyone who is just interested in more direct ways of spiritually balancing
male and female. By the author of “Hermaphrodeities: The Transgender Spirituality
Workbook”. (Saturday 4:00-4:50pm Constitution)
Raven Kaldera is a queer FTM
transgendered intersexual shaman. He is the author of too many books to list
here, including “Hermaphrodeities: The Transgender Spirituality Workbook” and
and “Double Edge: The Intersection of Transgender and BDSM”. He and his partner
and co-presenter Joshua Tenpenny have been teaching and presenting workshops
regularly for many years to the transgender, BDSM, Neo-Pagan, Sex/Spirituality,
and other communities. ‘Tis an ill wind that blows no minds. Website: www.ravenkaldera.org
The 6 other workshops I most wanted to attend:
Sunday Worship Service
Sarah Carpenter-Vascik
A nondenominational worship
service, open to all who wish to attend. Communion will be served. Service
begins at 9:15 and will conclude before 10:00 a.m. on Sunday.
Reverend Sarah Carpenter was raised
in a conservative Republican, Pre-Vatican II Catholic household and has known
she was an M to F transsexual from age 5. It was only through counseling that
she transitioned and began living as herself. Reverend Sarah Carpenter was
ordained in 1996 with a Bachelors Degree in Religion and Philosophy. She
received a Masters Degree in Biblical Studies in 2000 and was awarded a
Doctorate in New Testament Theology in 2006.
Transitioning with a Third Gender Identity
Let’s
think clearly about what physical transition means when it intersects with
identity. Wondering whether to physically transition but held back because you
don’t have a solidly male or female identity? That doesn’t have to be a
barrier. Let’s talk about the ambivalencies of shapeshifting your flesh when
your identity is all over the place. Come with questions! (Saturday 2:30-3:50pm Constitution)
Raven
Kaldera is a queer FTM transgendered intersexual shaman. See the complete bio
above.
V.
Eugenides Hardy is an FTM transsexual artist and radical queer Christian who
finds fulfillment in spiritual service. He is dedicated to helping
transgendered, queer, and otherwise sexually unusual people to feel good about
themselves and their place in the Universe.
Bella
Kaldera is an MTF transsexual who lives on a small farm in Hubbardston, MA. She
loves target practice, watercolors, and heritage skills, and can often be found
holding forth on a wide variety of subjects.
I Don’t Want to Have Sex: Understanding Asexual Identity
Dr. Joelle Ruby Ryan
In
this workshop, we will discuss the often ignored and misunderstood phenomenon
of asexuality. In a hyper-sexual society such as ours, asexuality is an enigma
to many people. In this workshop, we will explore the following questions: What
does it mean to be asexual? What are the myths associated with asexuality? Why
is there so much stigma and prejudice directed against asexuals? How can we
build support and understanding for asexual people in the GLBT Community? In
addition, we will reflect on people who are both asexual and transgender and
challenges faced by asexual people in relationships. (Saturday
4:00-4:50pm Salon D)
Dr. Joelle
Ruby Ryan is a Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of New Hampshire
(UNH). See her complete bio above.
Know Your Rights & The State of Trans Equal Rights Movement
Do
you have the right to be served in a restaurant, rent a hotel room, or be
treated at an emergency room? Can your employer not promote you because you
transitioned on the job? Transgender communities deal with a myriad of issues
created by flawed policies, ignorance, and the binary gender system. This
workshop will provide a summary of the legal protections afforded to cross
dressers, transgender, transsexual, and genderqueer people at the local, state
and federal levels. We’ll also consider the work that still needs to be done,
and discuss the ways in which ongoing education and policy efforts are
essential to making sure that positive laws and policies make a real difference
in peoples’ lives. (Saturday 1:00-2:20pm Constitution)
Founded in
2001, the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) is dedicated to
ending discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression.
Chris Miller is the chair of MTPC’s training committee and a steering committee
member. For the past seven years he has been a self-employed multicultural
consultant conducting trainings and providing executive coaching addressing
issues of privilege/oppression in the workplace. See their Web Site and
a Bio
for Chris Miller.
What if God is Transgender?
As transgender people we can often have a difficult relationship
with the organized religion in which we were raised–or a difficult time finding
loving affirming religious community as adults. What if we enlarged the
discussion? What if we drew together the best of what faith and spirituality have
to offer us? What if we decided to create our own relationship to the Divine,
own understanding of God? To experience God in a much more personal, yet
universal way? Interested the journey? Workshop will be a guided discussion
introducing participants to a new, comforting, inspiring way to approach All
That Is. (Friday 4:00-4:50pm
Independence)
Reverend Moonhawk River Stone, M.S., LMHC, is an Interfaith
Minister, psychotherapist, consultant, educator, writer and keynote speaker in
private practice in the Albany, NY area. In his psychotherapy private practice
he works with transgender clients of all ages and with their families. His
consulting and educational work take him all over the country into
corporations, colleges, K-12 schools, clinical and professional conferences.
Mr. Stone is an advocate and activist for transgender human and civil rights
and works to develop transgender health care policy and transgender employment
policy. He is active in working on issues related to eliminating Gender Identity
Disorder’s continuing presence in the DSM and in the areas of Aging and
Disability, Spirituality and Interfaith. Stone has over 25 years of non profit
LGBT board of director experience, most notably with Trans Youth Family Allies
(TYFA), The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, New York Association for
Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA), GLSEN-NYCR, the Empire State Pride Agenda. He
has over 25 years conference organizing experience. Stone is a member of the
LGBT National Aging Roundtable and of Out & Equal’s Transgender Advisory
Committee. Formerly he served as Co-Chair of the Ending Disparities Committee
at National Coalition for LGBT Health and as Chair of the Transgender Health
Care Committee at the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. See his Web Site and his Vimeo or YouTube videos.
Naming Ceremony
For those who have decided on a new name, Rev. Weekley conducts a
rite of passage ceremony to honor this very special milestone. Held Sunday morning, 10:15-11:15am.
Reverend David Weekley, author of “In From the Wilderness:
Sherman, (She-r-Man)” , represents a unique perspective in the trans masculine
community due to his early transition in the 70s. Reverend Weekley is the only
out trans* minister in the United Methodist denomination in the United States,
having come out to his congregation in 2009 after serving the United Methodist
Church for 30 years. He also offers an interesting historical perspective on
phalloplasty surgery due to being one of the first people to undergo
phalloplasty in 1974. Reverend Weekley is studying for a PhD. at Boston
University Theological Seminary and comes to us after recently having moved
3000 miles across the country from Portland Oregon. See his Web Site.
