Learn how to create safe schools for Trans students

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Safe Schools for Trans Students

Eli Erlick & Danie D., Trans Student Educational Resources, transstudent.org

Safe Schools for Trans Students is an interactive workshop for those enrolled in and working with schools, colleges, and universities who want to make education a better place for trans students. In this workshop, we’ll be collaborating with you to address problems that arise in education and how we can fix these situations. We will be addressing the following questions among others: What is educational justice? What rights do trans students have? What legislation is there supporting trans students? Attendees of this workshop will come away with a greater knowledge of how schools can become healthy learning environments for trans students.

T*Campers to present at conference

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

T*Camp - A Retreat for Trans* & Gender Questioning College Students

BCash, UC Irvine

Adrienne Adams, Occidental College

Sebastián Ochoa-Kaup, San Francisco State University
Deejay Brown, UC Irvine

In January 2012, the first college Trans* retreat in the nation brought together 64 T-Campers from 17 colleges and universities for three days of community-building, dialogue, and personal growth. By 2015, T*Camp drew over 100 applications to attend. This session will introduce the goals and development of T*Camp, provide an overview of the retreat activities, and explore its impact on student participants and facilitators alike.

Trans* Asian American / Pacific Islander space at conference

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Trans* AA/PI… Bringing Trans*ness Back Home

Avery Nguyen, QTPOC Facilitator,  UC Santa Cruz

Tam Welch, Cantú Queer Center & Women’s Center, UC  Santa Cruz

This workshop  provides a space for folx who simultaneously identify as trans* and as Asian-American/Pacific Islander. As trans* AA/PI, what does it mean to navigate various cultural spaces? How do we decide family, chosen or otherwise, and what does home mean to us? Here we will share personal experiences and tips, strategies, and resources on how to cross language and cultural barriers. Join our discussion.

Closed Space: The program is only open to people who self-identity as both Trans* and Asian American / Pacific Islander.

Trans & Queer Resiliency and Poetry workshop

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Trans & Queer Resiliency and Poetry

Megan M. Benton, UCLA

Telling your story through poetry gives you the access to heal yourself and others around you. This workshop will give you a space to connect with other writers and start writing poetry that is shaped by your lived experience. Come write the pain away, come write about your celebration and come tell stories that are often unheard.

Closed Space: This workshop space is for people who self-identity as trans or queer.

Ways K-12 educators can create safe and trans-inclusive schools

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Providing Safe and Inclusive Schools for Trans*Gender Students

Giorgio Jovani di Salvatore, MAED, ABSNP, LEP, CMIS

American Board of School Neuropsychology

National Association of School Psychologists

Alvord Unified School District (Riverside, CA)

As legislation changes to improve the civil liberties and protections of trans*gender students in schools, so must those directly involved in the education of students. This program will review the basic development of gender identify, psychosocial issues affecting trans*gender students, applicable legal protections, the responsibilities of those working in educational settings, resources available to youth in our community, and understanding how to build a safe space in schools.

Gender anxieties in parents, clinicians, & the state

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Gender Anxieties: On Risk, Rejection and the Impulse to Regulate

Tey Meadow, Harvard University, http://www.teymeadowphd.com

How much of the way we interact with transgender people runs on an economy of anxiety? In this talk, sociologist Tey Meadow will discuss her forthcoming book, an in-depth study of the first generation of parents actively and publicly affirming transgender identities in their children. She will discuss the kinds of anxieties gender transitions incite for parents, for clinicians and the state, and what makes some families more vulnerable than others to violence, harassment and state intrusion. She will offer some thoughts about the ways gender anxieties, even among trans allies, have lead to new forms of risk-management and regulation.

Taming the Hulk workshop addresses messages around masculinity

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Taming the Hulk: Temperance for the Trans*Masculine Journey

Skye Bigari, COM|PASSionate REVOLT

Traci Medeiros-Bagan, COM|PASSionate REVOLT Healing
www.compassionaterevolt.com

How does the transmasculine individual sort out the stories we hear about what it means to be a man, the stories we tell ourselves about what it means to be a man and the men that we actually see ourselves to be? Society’s narratives about men and masculinity affect our self esteem, body image, the way we take care of ourselves, what we expect out of our relationships, how we let our families treat us, what careers we go into, the trust we put in medicine to alter our internal and external bodies and ultimately our core identity. Through interactive dialogue and exploratory activities, together we will gain insight about how expectations surrounding masculinity before, during and “after” transition affect the development of an authentic and fully realized self.

How to design trans writing spaces

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Designing Transgender Writing Spaces

Molly Segale, UC Santa Cruz

This workshop will discuss the challenges and opportunities in designing writing spaces for transgender students. Composition and creative writing classes often rely on student experiences as course material, yet trans and queer students must navigate institutionalized transphobia and heterosexism when engaged in class assignments. Learn research on these writing spaces and join a larger discussion of transgender needs in the classroom. Topics will include safe space, political activism, and intersectional identities. Presenter will draw on experiences as composition lecturer and Transgender Program Coordinator at UC Santa Cruz.

Consent, safe sex, and affirming your gender

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

May I Kiss You?: Sexual Communication and Consent

Dulce Garcia, Empowering With Conviction

Sex? Intimacy? Doing it? Hooking Up?  Whatever you call it, the truth is that many of us are LOVERS but sex is only fun when everyone involved agrees on what they’re going to do. But how do you know if you can’t talk about it? Come learn how to communicate with your partner(s) about what you like, how you like it, and where you like it! In this fun and interactive workshop we will discuss and practice how to identify, ask for, and negotiate the kind of sex you want. Learn skills and resources for having a positive sex life that includes consent, safe sex, and healthy communication that affirms your gender during intimacy.

Advocating for oneself when finding gates & gatekeepers

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Gates and Gatekeepers

Dr. Kristen Vierregger, Metamorphosis Clinic, www.metamedcenter.com

Traci Medeiros-Bagan, COM|PASSionate REVOLT Healing, www.compassionaterevolthealing.com

Kaeti Gugiu, Kaeti Gugiu Therapy, kaetigugiu.com

This program seeks to de-mystify the process of therapy, requesting letters and accessing medical care for transition via the experiences of providers working in an affirming care model. Participants will learn about their rights and gain skills in advocating for themselves when seeking any medical care. Each provider will give an introduction explaining their role and current practices and then participants will be able to ask questions to support their individual journeys.

Closed Space: This workshop space is for people who self-identity as trans or gender questioning.

Trans Media 101 for journalists presented at conference

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Trans Media 201 – Beyond the Basics

Eli Erlick & Danie D., Trans Student Educational Resources, transstudent.org

Trans Media 201 is geared towards those involved in media and writing ranging from professional journalists to personal blogging. In this workshop, we’ll be working with you to address and deconstruct cissexist language that is often used in telling trans narratives and providing trans-friendly alternatives. With videos, examples, and group discussions, attendees of this workshop will come away with a greater knowledge of how media interacts with the trans community.

New Trans training models presented at conference

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Why I Am Done With "Trans* 101": How To Push Past the Standard Model of Training

Minerva M, UC Santa Cruz

The widely accepted model of "basic trans training" for schools, workplaces, and pop feminism internet essays does a disservice to the vast majority of trans people. Too often, those facilitating these workshops sacrifice complexity and social context in the name of "meeting people where they are at." This workshop will examine what the standard model is lacking, and explore how we could make our teaching models more effective and more inclusive. It will suggest ways in which we could  ask more of our audience, while also enabling them to make safer spaces wherever they go. We will conclude by collaboratively developing a conceptual framework that will allow us to better teach the multiplicity of experiences lived by trans individuals in our society.

TRANSForming Eating Disorder Recovery workshop offered

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

TRANSForming Eating Disorder Recovery: Education, Empowerment, Advocacy

Dagan VanDemark, T-FFED: Trans Folx Fighting Eating Disorders, www.transfolxfightingeds.org

Dan Maldonado & Rajah Jones, CSUN

This interactive workshop deconstructs the overrepresentation of eating disorders in our trans and gender-diverse communities, focusing on risk factors (personal and intersectional structural factors, trauma, internalized transphobia, the ways in which gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia inform each other, etc.), accessing care, and engendering representation in media and research. Participants will undermine eating disorder myths, discuss healthy coping skills, increase their capacity to advocate for gender-literate care and learn about community-focused healing initiatives.

Working to improve the lives of trans women of color

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Have You Got Your T?: Working on Improving the Lives of TWOC
Lexi Adsit, International Trans Women of Color Network Gathering
Luna Merbruja, International Trans Women of Color Network Gathering

This workshop will be a space for community to learn about the International Transgender Women of Color Network Gathering that took place at the Allied Media Conference in June 2014. We aspire to use this space as a tool for community engagement and planning to improve the lives of Transgender Women of Color. We will be providing and brainstorming concrete actions and strategies to be in solidarity with TWOC.

Workshop offered on Navigating the Kink Community While Being Trans

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Navigating the Kink Community While Being Transgender

Ash Preston, UC Riverside

This workshop provides an introductory understanding of the intersectionality of being transgender and kinky. While gaining a basic understanding of the kink community, participants will learn about the conversation skills and safety tips needed for either entering or continuing in the kink community with confidence.

Closed Space: This workshop space is for people who self-identity as trans or gender questioning.

Name & Gender Marker Change Clinic offered at Asterisk Trans* Conference

Offered on Saturday, February 28 to conference attendees:

Name and Gender Marker Change Clinic

Félix Vargas, Transgender Health Program Patient Advocate 

Queen Victoria Ortega, Trans* Empower Program Case Manager

Transgender Health Program, St. John's Well Child and Family Center

Come meet with the St. John's Well Child and Family Center's Transgender Health Program team to complete your name and/or gender marker change paperwork. The team will provide you with the necessary forms, walk you through the court filing process and provide you with helpful tips and updates. We will also be sharing information about the St. John's Well Child and Family Center Transgender Health Program and Trans* Empower Program.

Closed Space: The clinic is only open to Trans and GNC folks seeking assistance with completing their paperwork, or learning more about the process. This space is not open to allies.

Miss Major on Role Models

Miss Major speaks out on trans role models back in the day and today. She'll be speaking at the Asterisk Trans* Conference on Saturday, February 28 at UC Riverside. Register online now!