Featured This Week: Max!!! :D

Hello my Loves, 

Here's a Featured Friend I just had to have on my blog right now, 

He officially came out to me like two or three weeks ago and I am so proud of him.

He's an amazing artist, he's really good at sign language, and he's a free spirit. 

He expresses himself however he feels and is a sweetheart. 

Here's Max!

(All this info he gave me word for word)

Name: Maximus Theodore Francis Diers

Pronouns: he/him and his pronouns

School: Boston Arts Academy

Likes: I like vegan baking, human rights, vegan cooking, painting, reading, coffee, knitting, the environment, sleeping, running, writing, animal rights, playing with babies, camping, biking, stilt walking, feminism, good music and American Sign Language.

Dislikes: I dislike racist losers, homophobic weirdos, transphobic idiots, beginning new relationships, sexist dummies, oil pastel, rice based vegan cheese, snow, wedgies, social interactions, applying to college, explaining my gender, waking up in the morning, and finishing a comic or show and having to wait for the next episode/season

About me: To tell you a little more about me, I am a Leo. I think I’m very funny, though others may not agree. In the LGBTQ department, it gets a little more ‘confusing’ and not as easy to label or define like a horoscope sign. I guess I could be called a (mostly) straight trans male. But to me the word ‘trans’ feels really weird, because even though I’ve known I was in the wrong body since I was 10, I’ve just always just been a guy. What I struggled with was what defines a woman or a man, and where I stand. I enjoy wearing skirts and makeup sometimes, but I also might wake up and pull on some baggy ‘masculine’ outfit. The hardest part for me was not realizing how important gender is to people, and coming out to one of my best friends when I was about 11 or 12. It went extremely badly, so after some research I realized I should keep it to myself. I don’t suggest this, because for years I was incredibly depressed and suicidal. I came out again, starting freshman year of high school as an out and proud boy. People would make it a game to find out my ‘real’ name, and my Spanish teacher refused to allow me to address myself as male in Spanish. At the end of Sophmore year I was sick of it, especially since all of my queer friends either dropped out or switched schools, so I was all by myself in this giant scary ocean. Junior year I gave up, and identified as a girl. I quickly found myself mentally declining. I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly like thinking about ways I could hurt or kill myself all the time. I managed to stay away from cutting, but there were many occasions when I punched a wall and either cut or badly bruised my hands. I began to realize this wasn’t okay, and worried my family would find out and it would hurt them. So I tried to connect with the LGBTQ community and found True Colors. I made new friends, and finally decided to come back out. So yeah. That’s me. In the future, I think if I ever were to do something to my body to change it, I would probably chop of my breasts. But I don’t know if I will ever change my name officially. Mostly because I haven't figured out what Max is short for. So far the list is Maximus, Maxwell or Maximilian/Maximillian.

Hispanic Black Gay Coalition's New Leaders Institute Presents: COLORS OF LOVE

Hello Beautiful People, 

I don't think I've ever mentioned it, but I am part of the Hispanic Black Gay Coalition's New Leader's Institute. 

Basically we're a group of queer youth of color who do trainings and organize events. 

This Saturday is our last event as a group, and y'all should attend,

Here's the info:

COLORS OF LOVE

A celebration of Queer Love & Relationships

March 21st, 2015, This Saturday!

Colors Of Love is a FREE mini-conference for LGBTQ+ POC (people of color)

And allies aged 18+ designed to promote a conversation around love and relationships beyond heteronormativity* and compulsory monogamy*

WORKSHOPS:

Deconstructing Sex Education: Queer Sex 101-

The Educational Resources and Health Resources Coordinators from Boston
University's Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism will lead a
workshop surrounding the myths regarding queer sex. Come talk about safer
sex methods, STI prevention, stigma around queer sex, and the various
intersections of identity in relation to queer sex.

This workshop will be in the first block, from 12:35 to 1:35pm

Reclaiming Our Sex-

This workshop will explore various aspects of what safer sex and sexuality
mean for people who identify as Trans. We aim to empower those who wish to
learn how to love themselves and how to encourage others to explore their
bodies in an open, respectful, non-judgmental space in conversation with
other Trans-identified people. In this workshop, we set out on our journey
by taking a deeper look at our Trans bodies, our gender identities, and
the way they shape our sexual identities and color our experience of
ourselves as sexual beings. We will explore how to map the journey to
pleasure for ndividuals as well as partners, while acknowledging both the
challenges and joys of the process.

-This workshop will be in the second block, from 1:45 to 2:45pm

Asexuality & Relationships-

This workshop will equip participants who are unfamiliar with asexuality
with some basic definitions and terms. We will then open up for a broader
discussion about what relationships, dating, intimacy, romance, and
pleasure mean to us all - and what new perspectives we might gain by
thinking about them in the context of asexuality. We invite all to join in
a conversation about topics such as: how to navigate mixed-orientation
relationships and dating, how asexuality might deepen our ideas about
consent, how historical and current constraints around sexuality based on
race, gender, and ability intersect with asexual identities, and what
asexual inclusivity looks like in the context of participants' communities

-This workshop will be in the second block, from 1:45 to 2:45pm

Decolonizing Love-

TBA...

PANEL:

A panel of LGBTQIA POC community members discuss their experiences in 'non normative' relationships and answer questions

FREEBIES:

Free HIV/STI Testing

Free Catered Lunch 

Free Raffles All Day

Register now! 

Here's the link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1jvRCm3UQ-x7ccS8YZZYhNfwcrpTw99eDboo5CDhM-Ww/viewform

** "Heteronormativity: is the cultural bias in favor of heterosexual relationships of a sexual nature, and against same-gender or queer relationships of a sexual nature."

So basically what that means is that society is structured in a way that assumes people are straight and constantly emphasizes that being straight is what's normal, like if you watch a romantic comedy, its usually a straight couple you see on screen.

Or how media and commercials are more directed to straight people (Example: A man and woman going on vacation, a woman making dinner for her two kids and husband)

Only now are we starting to see more diversity, there's definitely room for improvement.

Compulsary Monogamy: "Compulsory monogamy is the simple idea that in our culture, monogamy is somewhat less than optional."

So what this means is that in our society, monogamy (being with only one person) is kinda forced upon us. 

Its totally righteous if you want to find your soulmate, and you feel that could only be one person.

Other people are polyamorous 

(Polyamory is often defined as the practice of engaging in multiple romantic or sexual relationships with the consent of all the people involved. )

And its hard to be in a society that perpetuates a certain path for you, that you need to get engaged, married, and have kids in order to be happy, 
Polyamorous people can be happy with multiple partners. 

However, people should not use the idea of compulsory monogamy to coerce their partner(s) into relationships they don't want to participate in. That isn't right, And that isn't love. Monogamy is not a bad thing. 

Do what is right for you!

All types of love should be celebrated!

Info from: civilliberty.about.com, http://www.pepperminty.com/writing/compulsorymonogamy.pdf

HIV Prevention: A Rehearsal

Hey Y'all, 

There's this righteous workshop happening this Sunday March 8, 2015,

Its happening from 4-8pm,

Food will be provided, 

The Community Church of Boston, 2nd floor

565 Boylston Street

Boston, MA 02116

Come check it out!

Its being led by my friends Kaamila and V and several others and we are going to use theater to discuss HIV prevention techniques and strategies!

We'll answer questions like:

How do you actually bring up condoms with a sexual partner?

What do you wish was covered in Sex Ed, especially for LGBTQ+ Youth?

What do you do when you find out a friend is having risky sex?

Sound fun?

Look at the flyer!

I'm going to be there, I want to see you there too! ;D

Email TheaterHealthStudy@gmail.com to sign up!

If you want to go but have no clue how to get there, 

I can help you out, 

I can meet up with you, 

Draw you a map, 

I got your back!

Just let me know what you need!

Featured This Week: Steph!!! :D

Hey Hey Hey Amigxs!

Do you know what time it is?
That's right!
Its time for the Featured Friend!

I met this weeks friend last spring.
She always keeps it 100, doesn't hold back when she wants to say something,
And she is really talented.
She can sing and act and she's really fun to work with.
(Right now we're working on a character in our musical, I'm so lucky I have her as a writing partner seriouslyyyy!)

This is Stephanie!

(All this info she gave me word for word)

Name: Stephanie Sanchez

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

School: Chelsea High School

Likes: Really good food, Glee, Orphan Black, Tatiana Maslany, Lea Michele, Theatre, extraordinary mozzarella sticks, 12+ hours of sleep, netflix, traveling, helping others, making care packages, Theatre, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Spoken Word, EmersonTHEATRE, finding new music, CONCERTS, and last but not least my internet buddies 💖

Dislikes: People telling me that POC can be racist, People hating on or disrespecting Lea Michele, people misgendering my friends, Fake people, Being Disrespected, Cooked onions and probably a billion, trillion other things.

About me: — Heyo, I'm Steph! I'm seventeen, afro-latina and pansexual. I'm a lil ray of Boston sunshine and I'm absolute theatre trash. I wish I was joking. I'm the biggest theatre snob on the planet and it's extremely embarrassing. I'm a true homie when it comes to my friends, I think that they're all so regal and deserve the absolute BEST in the entire world. I get really emotional over everything and often thing that my friends hate me, haha. I tend to do way to much, tire myself out, and not get enough sleep to make up for all of it. I love to travel, especially when the trip will provide some enlightenment on myself  and I can help others while I'm at it. Sometimes I come off really harsh but I often don't meant to be so blunt. Honestly, I'm just some goofy teen who likes to talk about controversial topics, insanely deep conversations at 3 am and is praying to God that my friends and I don't get shot because of our skin color.

LGBTQ+ Black History Month Day 28: Ruth Ellis

It may be the last official day of LGBTQ+ Black History month, but never stop recognizing, never stop researching, and never stop celebrating the lives of the people who made a difference, our people.

This is our history, don't forget. 

And keep them in mind when it comes to our future,

We can change things for the better.

Alright, onto the last but not least, LGBTQ+ Black historical icon:

Day 28, Ruth Ellis

Ruth Ellis

Born July 23, 1899- October 5, 2000

Activist 

"Ruth Ellis, who lived to be 101, was credited with being the oldest known lesbian and LGBT civil rights activist.

Ellis was born in Springfield, Illinois, at the end of the 19th century—the youngest of four children and the only girl. Her parents were born in Tennessee during the last years of slavery. Ellis’s father was the first African-American mail carrier in Springfield.

Ellis attended Springfield High School at a time when very few African-Americans enrolled in secondary education. She was aware of her sexual orientation by the time she was 16. Ellis remembered her high school gym teacher as her first female attraction.

In the early 1920’s, Ellis met Ceciline “Babe” Franklin. They became friends and lovers for more than 35 years.  

When Ellis moved to Detroit in the 1930’s, Babe joined her. The couple bought a house and Ellis started a printing business. She was the first woman in Michigan to own and operate a printing company.

Their house became the local hangout for African-American gays and lesbians. Known as the “gay spot,” Ellis opened her home for parties and dances, and never turned down a gay or lesbian friend who needed a place to stay.    

In the latter part of her life, Ellis became a well-known figure in the GLBT community, first locally, then nationally.  She attended events and programs across the country, often as a speaker or special guest. She enjoyed dancing and socializing, even in her old age.

In 1999, Ellis's life was made the subject of the documentary “Living With Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100,” directed by Yvonne Welbon. The film was screened at film festivals worldwide, and won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the San Francisco International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 1999.

Ellis lived in three centuries; she passed away in 2000. The Ruth Ellis Center honors her life and is dedicated to serving homeless LGBT youth and young adults."

"The only way we can get anyplace is by being together....

Gay people have to get in there just like anybody else. We have to work. 

We need more businesses. 

Scientists, chemists, things like that.

 If we could get more gay people in our politics, 

I think it would help a lot....And be honest and caring. Try to love people. 

Have a happy life if you can in this world."

-Ruth Ellis

Info from: lgbthistory.com

LGBTQ+ Black History Month Day 27: Barbara Jordan

Day 27, Barbara Jordan 

Barbara Jordan

Born  February 21, 1936- January 17, 1996

Politician, Civil Rights Leader

"Barbara Jordan was born in the Fifth Ward of Houston, Texas to a Black Baptist minister, Benjamin Jordan, and a domestic worker, Arlyne Jordan. She attended Roberson Elementary and Phyllis Wheatley High School.

While at Wheatley, she was a member of the Honor Society and excelled in debating. She graduated in 1952 in the upper five percent of her class. She wanted to study political science at the University of Texas-Austin, but was discouraged because the school was still segregated.

She attended Texas Southern University and pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Barbara was a national champion debater, defeating her opponents from such schools as Yale and Brown and tying Harvard University.

In 1956, she graduated magna cum laude from Texas Southern with a double major in political science and history. She expressed an interest in attending Harvard University School of Law, but opted to go to Boston University and graduated in 1959.

Ms. Jordan taught political science at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama for one year before returning to Houston in 1960 to take the bar examination and set up a private law practice.

She ran for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives in 1962 and 1964, but lost both times.... however, she made history when she was elected to the newly drawn Texas Senate seat in 1966, thereby becoming the first Black to serve in that body since 1883. She was an oddity at that time, as the first Black woman in that state's legislature.

Her brief record in the Texas State Senate is viewed as somewhat of a phenomenon. On March 21, 1967 she became the first Black elected official to preside over that body; she was the first Black state senator to chair a major committee, Labor and Management Relations, and the first freshman senator ever named to the Texas Legislative Council.

When the Texas legislature convened in special session in March, 1972, Senator Jordan was unanimously elected president pro tempore. In June of that year, she was honored by being named Governor for a Day. Shortly, thereafter she decided to run for Congress and was elected, in Nov. 1972, from the newly drawn Eighteenth Congressional District in Houston.

Both as a state senator and as a U.S. Congressman, Jordan sponsored bills that championed the cause of poor, Black, and disadvantaged people. One of the most important bills as senator was the Workman's Compensation Act, which increased the maximum benefits paid to injured workers. As a congresswoman, she sponsored legislation to broaden the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to cover Mexican Americans in Texas and other southwestern states and to extend its authority to those states where minorities had been denied the right to vote or had had their rights restricted by unfair registration practices, such as literacy tests.

She gained national prominence for the position she took and the statement she made at the 1974 impeachment hearing of President Richard Nixon. In casting a "yes" vote, Jordan stated,"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total." Having become a national celebrity, Ms. Jordan was chosen as a keynote speaker for the Democratic National Convention in 1976, and again in 1992. She was the first Black selected to keynote a major political convention.

President Jimmy Carter considered her for attorney general and U.N. Ambassador but she chose to remain in Congress. She was seriously thinking about challenging Sen. John Tower for re-election in 1978, but became ill and retired from politics.

She became a Professor of Public Affairs at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs. She was very close to President Johnson, often visiting him at the White House as a state Senator. In 1987, she became an eloquent voice against Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork. She served as an unpaid adviser on ethics for former Gov. Ann Richards of Texas and was praised for her work on the Clinton panel on Immigration Reform.

Barbara Jordan died of complications from pneumonia on January 17, 1996."

"What the people want is simple: they want an America as good as its promise."

-Barbara Jordan

Info from: beejae.com

LGBTQ+ Black History Month Day 26: Kylar Broadus

Day 26, Kylar Broadus

Kylar Broadus

I can't find his birthday y'all...

 Professor, Attorney, Activist and Public Speaker

"Kylar W. Broadus is a professor, attorney, activist and public speaker from Missouri. He is an associate professor of business law at Lincoln University of Missouri, a historically black college where he previously served as chair of the business department. Kylar has maintained a general practice of law in Columbia, Missouri since 1997.  In 2011, Kylar was awarded the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Sue J. Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement and the Pioneer Award at the Transfaith of Color Conference presented by the Freedom Center of Social Justice.  He was featured in BlackEnterprise.com and previously in Diversity, Inc.  In 2010, Kylar founded Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC), the only national civil rights organization dedicated to the needs of Trans People of Color.

In 2010, Kylar was appointed as a Division Director of the Section on Individual Rights and responsibilities an American Bar Association Committee and Co-Chair for the Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.  He has spoken at numerous law schools throughout the country including most recently the University of Mississippi, Washington University, St. Louis University, Tulane, Harvard, Temple, University of Missouri-Columbia, and Georgetown as well as numerous colleges and conferences. In addition, he authored the essay “The Evolution of Employment Discrimination Protections for Transgender People”, published in “Transgender Rights”, the first of its kind by Currah, Juang, Minter 2006. He is published in the Temple Law Journal and numerous other publications. He is currently in the film “Still Black: A Portrait of Black Transmen.”

He currently serves on the board of the National Black Justice Coalition and was board chair from 2007 to 2010.   He has served on the board of directors of the National Stonewall Democrats from 1998 until 2002, and served as the interim secretary from January to May 2001. He served three terms on the City of Columbia’s Human Rights Commission and two terms on the board of the statewide GLBT advocacy group, PROMO: For the Personal Rights of Missourians with the last year being as Vice-President. Broadus is a founding board member of a national think tank, The Transgender Law and Policy Institute.

In August 2005, Broadus along with two other panelists were the first to present information before the American Bar Association regarding Transgender clients. In 2004, he spoke at the Regional Affirmative Action Conference on Transgender Issues and Affirmative Action.

In January of 2003, Broadus was called before the American Association of Law Schools on transgender issues. Kylar speaks and lobbies on the national, state and local levels in the areas of transgender and sexual orientation law and advocacy.  He has also been featured on local and national television and radio and offers diversity and leadership trainings throughout the United States to schools, colleges, employers, government agencies and businesses."

"When we command respect, we get respect!"

-Kylar Broadus

Info from: transgenderlawcenter.org