Workshops 

Saturday, May 3,  Montezuma Hall, SDSU

Registration [8:00am-8:45am]

Blessing [8:45am-9:05am]

Opening [9:20am-10:20am]

Session 1 - Our Story [10:30am-11:30am]

1
Queer Chicano Genealogies: Shifts towards a Jotería Consciousness

Gibran Guido, Michael Nava  Omar O. Gonzalez
Templo Mayor - Floor 2, Room 231
The panelists will discuss their own academic and professional work and how it has influenced their areas of studies. Each presenter will discuss their work and also speak to the contribution to the collection, "Queer in Aztlán: Chicano Male Recollections of Consciousness and Coming Out." The anthology explores issues of queer youth identity, sexuality, masculinity, homophobia, sexism, and violence in Mexican and American culture, presents a complex view of queer Chicanos/Mexicanos, and contests dominant sexual norms. It challenges current scholarship in Chicana/Chicano studies to expand beyond the traditional confines of male sexuality. Lastly, the panelists will discuss the potential and literary work that contributes to the emerging area of scholarship known as Jotería Studies.

2
QPOCC Spirituality

Reverand Garold Green
Aztlan Floor - 2 Room 230A
This presentation will focus on how a healthy sense of self, a strong connection to ones higher power, or understanding of purpose can defuse some of the myths and relgious dogma that is present in our lives on a daily bases. As the world is ever changing and self acceptance is becoming more of the norm there are still those in spiriutal centers who feel alone and isolated. Thus, it is the goal of this presentation to let QPOC know that there are inclusive ministries available to them.

3
White-passing Privilege

Arcelito & Erika Williams
Park Boulevard - Floor 1, Room 141
Realness alert! This workshop is for anyone who has experienced white passing privilege or has been directly affected by the existence of white passing privilege. AKA everyone at this conference. The format of this workshop is discussion based in which the facilitators will encourage sharing of personal truths, perspectives, and experiences. This is a space where emotions will NOT be policed and triggers will be identified and acknowledged. People will be checked and experience push back when they are attempting to impose their privilege on others. Come to learn, come to share, come to make a difference in our community. With love, Arcelito and Erika.

4

I Affirm You: Queer Asian Existence!

Amber T. Furuya
Pride Suite - Floor 1, Room 132  
This workshop is queer asian centric because that shit doesn't typically exist in ANY space. So here we are!!! We will discuss the importance of finding our history and why it’s so fucking difficult to locate. We will connect with it, ingest it, create it and preserve it. We will take back our history as a way to DISRUPT social constructs built around white supremacy, colonization, patriarchy and all that other oppressive bullshit. We will think of ways to be disruptive by being visible, in whatever ways visible means to you. Everyone is welcome to this workshop, apply the themes and ideas to your own roots and find ways to be disruptive!

5

Unscrambling the facts: transgender health and U.S. public policy

Anand Kalra
Tehuanco - Floor 2, Room 211 
Transgender people face several systemic barriers to health and wellness in this country. However, recent changes in federal and state law have radically altered the health care landscape for trans people. This session will engage participants in a robust conversation about the effects of the Affordable Care Act and local and state health care laws on the real lives of transgender people. Participants will learn basics of transgender health, health insurance, and how to talk to friends and family about this critical issue.

6

TransVisible: Bamby Salcedo's Story

Bamby Salcedo
Theatre - Floor 2
A documentary film on the life of renowned Trans Latina Activist and leader, Bamby Salcedo. Turning personal challenges and barriers into the basis of her activism, Bamby has become an effective and beloved advocate and role modle for multiple communities including the Trans, Latina, immigrant, youth and LGBT communities.

7

Mental Health First Aid for LGBTQ People

Hector Martinez
Metztli - Floor 2, Room 230B
The workshop will be an educational and historical course on treatment of sexual minorities and will introduce participants to an action plan that will give them tools to promote resiliency and self-care intended to prevent depression, stress and anxiety.

8

Thinking Beyond America

Anzio Jacobs
Visionary Suite - 3rd Floor, Room 353
This Workshop will focus on African realities and the stories America does not hear. The bloodstains of black lesbians on sidewalks, the does that chase brown gay boys dow n the streets where white men live. It will focs on the realtiies of "the motherland" and a country (South Africa) post apartheid where some are more free than others. In this workshop we will reisit the comforts of America, and think broader than the dream of milk and honey painted in the laws that marry white gay men and kill peole of colour. it will also look at current an futrue plans for the development of LGBTQIA rights in Afria and what that means for the internantional LGBTQIA movement from the perspective of a South African activist.

LUNCH [11:30am-12:40pm]

Session 2 - Our Life [12:50pm-1:50pm]

1
Blaq Self Care

Verise Johnson & Andre Molette
Pride Suite - Floor 1, Room 132
As a Blaq Queer activist being burned out is dangerous! Our workshop will introduce participants to the concept of self-care from a Blaq consciousness & thought. We will explore the interconnectedness of social justice work as a black activist and how self-care can be accomplished in a healthy way.

2

Intersectional Experiences in Polyamory

MarIna
Templo Mayor - 2nd Floor, Room 231
This conversational-style workshop will focus on the experiences of queer polyamorous people of color. The set of panelists will discuss their identities and experiences as polyamorous individuals followed by a Q&A session with participants.

3

Mashrou3 Zehyr: Mashrou3 Leila, Pinkwashing and Queer Consumption

Yasmeen Zahzah
Metztli - Floor 2, Room 230B
In working to deconstruct neoliberal perpetuations of colonial projects, it is essential to examine the myriad ways in which neoliberalism presents itself. Considering the extent to which media influence has become a radically salient means through which ulterior motives are regularly disseminated, it is irrefutable that in examining media and pop culture, one can come closer to highlighting and eventually transgressing imperialistic undercurrents. This workshop intends to provide an overview of the legacy of colonization in the Arab world and its present-day relationship to pinkwashing, homonationalism and US/Israeli colonial projects. A majority of the themes mentioned will be analyzed in a multi-layered presentation, discussion and dissection of Lebanese band Mashrou3 Leila: How often are essentialized, constructed identities projected onto bodies of color at the expense of indigenous, non-western traditions and contexts? How are queer artists of color consumed as well as appropriated by western media? How are their identities conflated and subverted to further colonial projects? Though a majority of these questions maintain extensive amounts of history, particularities and contexts that may never be answered, the ultimate goal of this workshop is to simply start a discussion and listen to some music.

4

Who We Are When When We Say We Are: A Workshop on Writing the Self

Jerrica Escoto
Legacy Suite - Floor 3, Room 372
This is an hour-long writing workshop that will engage participants to bring the Self to life through writing.  The workshop will include small writing exercises, relevant content on the healing aspect of writing, and a mini open-mic for shares at the end. 

5

Fostering Activism through community transformation

Eliseo  Rivas
Park Boulevard - Floor 1, Room 141
This workshop is about using tangible tools to organize our communities collectively and coalitionally. Collectivity to note non-hierarchical organizing and coalitional to note the difference within our communities. Questions this workshop will answer are: How do we hold an effective, non-hierarchical meeting? How do we keep people accountable while also acknowledging self-care? How do we continue to build our organizations? This workshop will draw from the Industrial Workers of the World, Zapatista Philosophy, and the experience of people attending this workshop to address these questions. This workshop welcomes various styles of organizing and encourages its constituents to share what tools they use in their communities.

6

Beyond Single Identiy Politics

Riku Matsuda
Aztlan - Floor 2, Room 230A              
This workshop will explore issues of identity, power and privilege in organizing and movement work.  Join other T*PoC to build a more intersectional, multi-ethnic and multi-issue movement!

7

La Familia DeColores

Visionary Suite - Floor 3, Room 353
The purpose of this workshop is to showcase real-life stories of Latin@ parents coming to terms with their children coming out as queer. DeColores Queer OC was created in 2010 in response to the lack of language and cultural barriers within PFLAG (we are not baggin on this group cause it does amazing work, but we needed to create another space that would cater to Latin@ needs). This workshop will consist of a parent panel (mostly mothers) who will share various sides of family acceptance.

Session 3 - Our Future [2:05pm-3:05pm]

1

Microaggressions

Hilda Franco, Maggie Munoz & Jack Yang,
Pride Suite - Floor 1, Room 132
Microagressive behaviors are a common practice in our society, in which individuals implicitly and subtly insult racial and sexual minorities. This workshop aims to be a practical session in helping individuals acquire tools and resources to combat and respond to acts of microagression in the classroom and workplace. Findings of a replicated survey based on “That’s so Gay,” a study published in 2013 on heterosexual male undergraduates and their perception of sexual orientation microagression on campus will be presented. In addition to the findings, an activity will be facilitated on how students can respond to microagressive behaviors in regards to sexual orientation and race. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss how microagression has been practiced in their institutions and work environments.

2

Queering Fitness as a Revolutionary Tool

Patrico Manuel, Kayla De Los Reyes
Templo Mayor - Floor 2, Room 231
QPOC are strong. We dare to survive in a society that in many ways tries to defeat us. In this social, economic, and political war, our bodies are literally the battlefield. This workshop will emphasize reclaiming our physical selves through scientific, non-binary, culturally appropriate fitness training. We will define obstacles to our access to fitness, explore the power dynamics involved, and then queer the **** out of fitness with a body revolution!

3

Progress Built on Pride: Connecting Campus & Community Growth

Peterson Pham, Timothy Truong & Lucy Ngo
Aztlan - Floor 2, Room 230A
Utilizing the experiences of Viet Rainbow of Orange County (VROC) in Westminster, this workshop will allow our QPOC community members to view the lived realities of Viet LGBTs in Orange County, giving space for these constituents to share their lived experiences, and to also deliver tactics that we together employed in order to have LGBTQ inclusion and visibility in our cultural POC communities. The visibility of our images and the detection of our voices are essential: our existence is truly resistance when we, as a QPOC community, recognize our inhabitance of a world where we were "never meant to survive”. To foster activism in youth and future generations (and to create allies), we must remember that our personal is always political, and that we, as a community, are not complete without each other.

4

Queer Comida, Remidos, y comidad

Maribel Gomez
Metztli - Floor 2, Room 230B           
This interactive workshop will discuss the comida (food) and remeios (home remedies), how we can reclaim food and health, honor the story and ceremony of our people, and analyze the importance of folk healing and reconnecting to our traditional foods as Queer Xican@s

5

The Spaces Between: Our Stories are Between the Letters

Ruthie Inacay, Yasmn Saadatzadeh & Monica Gambilado
Tehuanco - Floor 2, Room 211
This workshop is designed to tell the stories of Queer People of Color. Often in research, academics, and media, the conversations around the LGBT community are limited to representations of white dominant culture infused with binary ideals. The reality is that the queer community is made of Asians, African Americans, Pacific Islanders, Latinos, & other sexual minorities. They are the invisible part. The letters define the majority, but the spaces between tell the stories of disparities, resilience, diversity, and multiplicities of identities that connect us in a profound way. This workshop explores heterosexism, bias, and the binary through a unique experiential lens. It exposes how the binary encompasses so much of our thoughts and behaviors and reveals to the group and individual how these heteronormative constructs affect our decisions on a daily basis. It affects mental health workers, social justice advocates, groups, individuals, and the queer community of color.

6

QPOC Collective: Let's Make This a Thing!

Amber T. Furuya & Thomas Negron
Park Boulevard - Floor 1, Room 141
We are ready to organize! This workshop will pull together people interested in starting a QPOC Collective on their campus to support whichever campus is hosting the Queer People of Color Conference, it's an annual thing y'all…and it is A LOT of work. We are creating a network where we can help with fundraising, workshops, entertainment, and speakers. We will share how we got involved and build bridges with other student orgs which has generated more support and visibility for QPOC students on our campus. We will also talk about how and why we reached out to the QPOC community off campus and why this is important for queer people of color. Let's get connected and community.

7

inVISIBLE - Southwest Asian/North Afrikan (Middle Eastern) Queer Stories

Visionary Suite - Floor 3, Room 353
This workshop will incorporate transcriptions and letters from queer Southwest Asian/North Afrikan [Middle Eastern] people. Folks attending this workshop are encouraged to participate in an interactive discussion and learn about these diverse and complex communities. Photography, video or audio recording is prohibited durring this workshop.

Session 4 - Closed Caucus [3:20pm-4:10pm]

1
Middle East/North Africa
Metztli - Floor 2, Room 230B

2
Trans* & Gender Nonconforming
Aztlan - Floor 2, Room 230A

3
Latin@/Chican@
Templo Mayor -  Floor 2, Room 231

4
Black/African
Tehuanco - Floor 2, Room 211

5
Asian/Pacific Islander
Pride Suite - Floor 1, Room 132

6
Mixed Ethnicities
Park Boulevard - Floor 1, Room 141

7
Anti-Racist White Privilege
Visionary Suite - Floor 3, Room 353

Closing [4:20pm-500pm]