booking for fall 2009!

[sassafrasolivia.livejournal.com]

I'm posting here because in previous posts and comments their was a fair amount of interest in my book from folks in this community and I know a lot of folks here are really connected to LGBTQ groups at colleges and/or local community groups.

 

40% of homeless youth in the United States identify as LGBTQ. My name is Sassafras Lowrey and I am a queer author, artist, and activist and I am getting in contact with you to let you know about my anthology “Kicked Out” which brings together the voices of current and former homeless LGBTQ youth to address the growing epidemic and tell the forgotten stories of some of our community’s youngest and most vulnerable members. 

This anthology which will be released from Homofactus Press in October, brings together the stories of over 20 diverse contributors to share stories of survival while weaving together descriptions of abuse with poignant accounts of the sanctuary of community, and the power of creating chosen families.  The foreword has been written by Judy Shepard (mother of Matthew Shepard) and included in the anthology are the nuanced perspectives of leading organizations such as The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and The National Alliance to End Homelessness as well as regional agencies like Sylvia’s Place, The Circus Project and Family Builders and has been endorsed by PFLAG-National and authors like Lynne Breedlove.

I am in the midst of finalizing a national tour coinciding with the release of Kicked Out in October and in connection with National Coming Out month and would love to make your school, or community center  a stop on that tour. My appearance  can take many forms ranging from participation in Coming Out Day festivities, lecturing on the epidemic of queer youth homelessness and my personal experience of being kicked out of my semi-rural Oregon home, a reading from “Kicked Out” and my forthcoming book “GSA to Marriage: Stories of a Life Lived Queerly,” and/or teaching one of my popular Queer Storytelling workshop.

An experienced speaker I have appeared at schools, conferences, and for community groups across the country including The Portland Zine Symposium, NYAC’s (National Youth Advocacy Coalition) conference in Washington DC,  Sylvia’s Place emergency LGBT youth shelter in Manhattan, as well as colleges and Universities like Bard, Portland State University, Swarthmore, and CUNY.

A complete bio and press kit can be downloaded from my website www.PoMoFreakshow.com . Rates and detailed workshop and reading descriptions are available upon request. You can also learn more about the anthology itself at: www.KickedOutAnthology.com

Sick of the Tribune-Review's transphobia and homophobia

[moogiewoogie.livejournal.com]

I have had it with this stupid paper.  I am so angry, I want to scream.

As some of you may remember, a few months ago, the Tribune Review published an article about me without my permission.  In that article, they not only included my gender status, they also included my hometown, outing me to pretty much anyone who knows me and reads the Tribune Review.  After contacting the paper repeatedly, I was told that it was journalist privilege for them to publish anything considered "public" news.  I agree, even though it's obviously a gray-area.  We don't publish stories about the victims of crimes for example, so why out an intersexed person who doesn't want to be out...especially when they're speaking at an event that is about a human-rights law because they were fired from a previous job for being intersexed.  To me, it was backhanded and may have jeopardized my career.

Well, this week, they went one step further by publishing a ridiculous article about HB 300, a bill in Pennsylvania that would protect GLBT people on a statewide level and provide transpeople with equal accomadation in housing, employment, and public services.  The article which first appeared in the Valley Dispatch but was reposted to the Trib, is basically an echo chamber for extremist bigotry and includes comments from all the usual suspects.  They even busted out talking points from the American Family Association and a lawmaker who goes off on a gay-hating rant about keeping marriage non-inclusive:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/news/butler/s_620395.html

Warning: Happy funtime bigotry inside, now with 35% more riboflavin!

I'm one little, angry voice in all of this and some might even see me as delusional, but I am sick of this.  The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and all of its subsidiaries have proven to me twice now that they are homophobic, transphobic, and bigoted.  In the past, they've also proven that they are a horribly racist organization as well:

http://www.popehat.com/2008/06/23/mike-seate-of-the-pittsburgh-tribune-review-doesnt-approve-of-your-familys-skin-color/

I wish I could organize some sort of protest against the paper.  It's rather popular in some middling-to-larger places in the state and is rather influential to people who are unfortunate enough to have the Trib or one of its sister papers as the only publication in their town. :(

Post-operative fitness in transwomen

[zoeimogen.livejournal.com]

Does anyone have any experience of getting properly fit post-operatively they'd be willing to share? I'm trying to get fit again for the first time in nearly 4 years - I'm currently almost exactly 2 years post-op. However, I'm finding it much, much harder than before and quite significantly more than could be explained by age and differeing Gender. 3 years ago I was able to run a mile and a half (2.4km) in just under 11 minutes without too much difficulty but now I'm struggling to get my time consistently under 16 minutes. (A woman my age should eaisly be able to get that time to 13 minutes or less) It this an inevitable result of transition and lack of testosterone compared to cis-gendered women or just some problem specific to myself?

Newbie

[darkgrayhues.livejournal.com]

I accidentally deleted my old post o_o Sorry!

I identify as a lesbian and I like women, but for a long time I've felt uncomfortable in my female body, and recently realized that being transgender and possibly transitioning is something I'd like to pursue. Anyway, I'm just getting it out there and asking for some pointers, opinions, and help from the trans community.