Soy Quien Soy: Trans* Empowerment Collective

mocosyamores: wearenomadique: Crossing Over tells the...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:01:21 -0500

wearenomadique:

Crossing Over tells the particular and complex story of the transgender Latin immigrant community in Los Angeles through three of its most distinctive members.

Brenda came to the United States from Mexico over ten years ago to escape mental and physical abuse, and after initially struggling to survive in the U.S. by any means possible, eventually sought asylum and was allowed to stay. Brenda works as a community advocate and HIV support-group leader, but it is her vivacious personality and light that truly makes her a matriarch among her community.

Abigail is newer to the US than Brenda, and though she too has sought asylum, she is still figuring out how to get by. She works as a nightclub dancer and quinceñara planner in order to put herself through community college. While she dreams of eventually becoming a lawyer to fight for the rights of people like her, she must battle what seem like insurmountable demons to achieve her goals—depression, addiction, and poverty.

Francis has worked for a decade as a housekeeper and caretaker for the same family in Los Angeles, and is on the brink of the final asylum hearing that will determine whether she can remain in the United States.

Each subject lives a very different facet of the trans-Latina experience, and yet the message that their stories convey is unified and clear—that this is a community that has faced inconceivable abuses and yet have risen to create an environment of love, leadership, and support, and for these reasons deserve to live in this country.

Watch the trailer below:

Crossing Over is currently in the stages of post-production. Look for the finished product September 2013. Katrina Sorrentino, from Nomadique, is the Producer for Crossing Over. This post was written by Alex Pitz, who is the Associate Producer and screenwriter for Crossing Over.

Photos taken by Isabel Castro

Mi madres y hermanas. Te quiero.

"‎To all the girls whose thighs touch, with stretchmarks laid like gold across their backside, with..."

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:01:09 -0500

“‎To all the girls whose thighs touch, with stretchmarks laid like gold across their backside, with bellies too full for any inadequate hands, thank Goddess for your abundance.”

- Kim Katrin Crosby (via hellokarissa)

See you tomorrow, SQS'ers!

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:59:51 -0500

We hope that in this rainy weather you are staying warm and dry!

Please join us tomorrow evening at 7:30pm, in Efebina’s Cafe (usually in the back room—you’ll see Van, he has green hair). Remember that our meetings are free and open to all. This means open to all queer, trans*, poc, and/or allies, friends, supporters, etc.

And it’s the perfect weather for cafe con leche!

Please signal boost! RAICES is a great organization working in...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:55:45 -0500

Please signal boost!

RAICES is a great organization working in the Cicero/Berwyn/Chicago communities to educate about homophobia and trans*phobia.

Please help us spread the word by sharing this with your friends, contacts, and local organizations. This is a great opportunity to share experiences /and/ get paid for it. Thank you!

"Actually, it was the first time that I had been to the friggin’ Stonewall. The Stonewall wasn’t a..."

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:01:16 -0500

“

Actually, it was the first time that I had been to the friggin’ Stonewall. The Stonewall wasn’t a bar for drag queens. Everybody keeps saying it was. The drag queen spot was the Washington Square Bar, at Third Street and Broadway. This is where I get into arguments with people. They say, “Oh, no, it was a drag queen bar, it was a black bar.” No, Washington Square Bar was the drag queen bar.

If you were a drag queen, you could get into the Stonewall if they knew you. And only a certain number of drag queens were allowed into the Stonewall at that time. I wasn’t in full drag that night anyway. I was dressed very pleasantly. When I dressed up, I always tried to pretend that I was a white woman. I always like to say that, but really I’m Puerto Rican and Venezuelan.

[…]

I don’t know if it was the customers or if it was the police, but that night everything just clicked. Everybody was like, “Why the fuck are we doing all this for? Why should be chastised? Why do we have to pay the Mafia all this kind of money to drink in a lousy fuckin’ bar? And still be harassed by the police?” It didn’t make any sense. The people at them bars, especially at the Stonewall, were involved in other movements. And everybody was like, “We got to do our thing. We’re gonna go for it!”

[…]

Suddenly, the nickels, dimes, pennies, and quarters started flying. I threw quarters, and pennies, and whatnot. “You already got the payoff, and here’s some more!”

”

- Sylvia Rivera, Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights, 2002 (via mochente)

translatinxs: “Tengo derecho a ser como siento que soy” No soy...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:01:21 -0500

translatinxs:

“Tengo derecho a ser como siento que soy”

No soy tu chiste - Daniel Arzola 2012

Art from Van! “Trans* is you: definitions, labels, ideas,...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:30:45 -0500

Art from Van!

“Trans* is you: definitions, labels, ideas, concepts… all up to you and no one else. Felt like making something affirming. Also, hold on.”

See the rest of his work here or flip through the Van’s art tag on our page.

Meeting April 18th

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:01:11 -0500

Hello fabulous SQS’ers!

We miss you, so we’re having a meeting this week! Please join us at Efebina’s Cafe, April 18th, at 7:30pm for QTPOC awesomeness. Meetings are free and open to everyone, allies included.

We aim to provide a safe space for QTPOC and their allies to be authentic and connected. We exchange resources with each other and provide support and empowerment.

So please spread the word, bring a friend, and we’ll see you there!

Love and solidarity,

Van and Ivonne

fuckyeahangelito: juliosalgado83: cos ain’t nobody got time to...

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 23:06:05 -0500

fuckyeahangelito:

juliosalgado83:

cos ain’t nobody got time to be saved

LOVE THIS, Julio!

meyllendjneres: In honor of International Women’s Day, here are...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 11:21:17 -0500

meyllendjneres:

In honor of International Women’s Day, here are some women who inspire me.

First up: Trans Women Edition

Laura Jane Grace

Agnes Torres

Carmen Carrera

CeCe McDonald

Harmony Santana

Janet Mock

Marsha P. Johnson

Sylvia Rivera

Hello SQS’ers! A few folks have expressed interest in...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 23:48:01 -0500

Hello SQS’ers!

A few folks have expressed interest in seeing Van’s artwork! So we’ve put together this post for everyone to make things easier.

You can check out the archive of Van’s trans* web comic here, hosted at xQsi Magazine, a Latin@ LGBTQ multimedia publication.

A few comics are cross-posted over at TransToons and FYqueerlatinxs.

For more recent work, you can flip through the tumblr page right here. Van uploads everything onto here and the facebook page (which are automatically linked to twitter).

Thank you everyone! Be sure to leave him comments wherever you see his artwork at. :)

Take care!

Chicago Scholarship Opportunity: Fiesta del Sol Scholarship

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:23:30 -0500

Fiesta del Sol Scholarship—FREE MONEY

Hi,

If you are
-of Latino/Hispanic descent
-have plans to enroll in an accredited college or university in an undergraduate, degree or certificate program for minimal of 6 semester or 8 quarter hours
-a cumulative GPA of a 2.5 or higher on a 4 pt. scale or equivalent
AND
-live on the southwest side of Chicago within the following boundaries: between 16th and 79th streets, and between Cicero Ave. (4800 West) and Canal (500 West)
-be a volunteer in a Fiesta del Sol committee
-sponsored by member institution of Gamalielt of Metro Chicago

APPLY FOR THE FIESTA DEL SOL SCHOLARSHIP—-READ THE ATTACHMENT

2013-FDS-Scholarship-Application.pdf

Hello SQS’ers! It’s a sunny day here in Chicago and we hope you are having a fabulous...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:49:23 -0500

Hello SQS’ers!

It’s a sunny day here in Chicago and we hope you are having a fabulous week so far. Spring is right around the corner!

Reminder that we are meeting next week: March 21st, 2013 at 7:30pm to 9:00pm. We meet in Efebina’s Cafe, which is a LGBTQ owned, safe space. All of our meetings are confidential and peer-led. Likewise, all of our meetings are free and open to everyone—you need not be trans*/qpoc identified to attend. Allies are encouraged to attend and participate. We all operate from a foundation of respect.

Our meetings are always different. Since we haven’t seen each other in a while and Van is coming back from surgery, we’ll spend some time catching up with everyone and settling in. We will be addressing a slight change to our name, putting it up to a vote after we discuss it.

At every meeting we exchange information on HRT, where to get trans* friendly medical care, trans*/queer events going on in the city, and any other resources that have opened up. Members are free to share as much as they want.

So, we hope to see you there next week! Please spread the word and bring a friend. We love meeting new folks!

With love and in solidarity,

Van & Ivonne

"So if you – the oppressed – hurt someone’s feelings, you’re just like the oppressor, right? Wrong...."

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:01:01 -0600

“So if you – the oppressed – hurt someone’s feelings, you’re just like the oppressor, right? Wrong. Oppression is not about hurt feelings. It is about the rights and opportunities that are not afforded to you because you belong to a certain group of people. When you use a racist slur you imply that non-whiteness is a bad thing, and thus publicly reinforce a system that denies POC the rights and opportunities of white people. Calling a white person a racist fuckhead doesn’t do any of that. Yes, it’s not very nice. And how effective it is as a tactic is definitely up for debate (that’s a whole other blog post). But it’s not oppression.”

- » The Revolution Will Not Be Polite: The Issue of Nice versus Good Social Justice League (via mmmajestic)

(via youngbadmanbrown)

HIV infection cured in infant through very early treatment

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:01:06 -0600

HIV infection cured in infant through very early treatment:

shortformblog:

soupsoup:

A baby girl in Mississippi who was born with HIV has been cured after very early treatment with standard drug therapy, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday, in a potentially ground-breaking case that could offer insights on how to eradicate HIV infection in its youngest victims.

The child’s story is the first account of an infant achieving a so-called functional cure, a rare event in which a person achieves remission without the need for drugs and standard blood tests show no signs that the virus is making copies of itself.

Huge story that could potentially redefine the fight against AIDS.

President Barack Obama: Protect the Human Rights of Transgender Youth

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:01:14 -0600

President Barack Obama: Protect the Human Rights of Transgender Youth

Hello SQS'ers!

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:57:43 -0600

We are pleased to announce our March meeting!

March 21st, 2013

7:30pm to 9pm

Efebina’s Cafe in Pilsen (back room)

Our meetings are free and open to all. You need not be qtpoc identified to attend, allies are encouraged to join us. We all operate on a foundation of respect and support.

If you’re looking for queer/trans*/poc support in Chicago, please stop by for a meeting. We exchange resources like where to go to name changes, swap stories and experiences, and provide a safe space for folks to be themselves.

Please spread the word! See you then!

In solidarity,

Van and Ivonne

takebackthespectrum: Jose Ignacio Romussi Murphy - Rain bo

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:00:57 -0600

takebackthespectrum:

Jose Ignacio Romussi Murphy - Rain bo

jensenacklessauce: I hope you can read the text! I created...

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 21:54:47 -0600

jensenacklessauce:

I hope you can read the text!

I created this after seeing one too many diagrams explaining possible changes on T that featured white, thin trans* masculine bodies. That is not me. I am brown and fat—where is my representation? All too often the images that get circulated within the community (and outside) feature the same body over and over again. Too rarely do I see myself represented, even in larger resources/organizations.

So creating this is my attempt at adding to that representation of fat, tpoc bodies. This is an affirmation—we exist.

I continuously work to acknowledge the privilege I have being on T—both being on T and the changes it brings.

I emphasize that these are changes I have personally seen. Other trans* masculine Latin@s I’ve spoken with note some shared experiences. I always had a lot of body hair, T just enhanced it. I also had PCOS before starting T, and that has affected my experience.

Also, I do have to say that on T, it hasn’t all be great. The mood swings were difficult. When I say I feel anger differently I mean I am faster to get upset and don’t cry if I am pushed, as I did before. That doesn’t mean I punch things or lash out violently; I just feel anger in a way that’s more intense than before.

I’ll make a separate post for this later but be advised: you can encounter serious medical side effects due to being on T. My food allergies changed while being on T (doctor’s can’t say it’s a direct cause-effect but it happened). I became more sensitive to sunlight and temperatures and experience more rashes (benadryl is my friend).

In addition I experienced scarring on my liver, non-cancerous lumps, and swelling of the liver. A cut in dosage cleared most of it up but we’re going to cut it again to ease up and let my liver heal completely.

I also became a cancer survivor. Uterine cancer was found and the combination of birth control that I was on for years before starting T, plus T, have been identified as the causes. When I read Hudson’s Guide I never thought either of those things would happen, but they are real. Therefore, it is imperative that you keep in check with a doctor while you are on T. (And why I keep working for more access to trans* medical care, to more education about HRT to providers, etc.etc.)

So. Here we are. All of our bodies are beautiful and gorgeous. But all of our bodies need to be represented. Here’s my part at that.

[Feel free to share this, but please give credit. Also, visit the two sites at the bottom for more of my work.]

"The true focus of revolutionary change is never merely the oppressive situations which we seek to..."

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 14:01:15 -0600

“The true focus of revolutionary change is never merely the oppressive situations which we seek to escape, but that piece of the oppressor which is planted deep within us.”

- Audre Lorde (via pisthelimit)