Trans Chorus of L.A. To Perform Friday at 3rd Asterisk Trans* Conference

The Trans Chorus of L.A. will perform at UC Riverside in HUB 302 at 8:30pm to open the 3rd Asterisk Trans* Conference. This event is free and open to all.

The Trans Chorus of Los Angeles is the largest group of trans, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and intersex people anywhere in the world who gather together regularly to create music. The mission of TCLA is to empower trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people to discover, love and use their voices to increase visibility and raise awareness and understanding of trans issues.

The TCLA provides a safe space for anyone who believes TCLA is the chorus for them by allowing and encouraging trans and gender non-conforming people to express themselves fully through song. TCLA then performs publicly and changes the hearts and minds of cisgender people and the community at large.

Learn more at http://transchorusla.org 

Deaf LGBTQ/Social Justice Activist Drago Renteria To Open 3rd Asterisk Trans* Conference

Deaf LGBTQ/social custice activist Drago Renteria will open the 3rd Asterisk Trans* Conference with a keynote address on February 24, 2017 at UC Riverside. Friday's opening in HUB 302 is free and open to all. ASL interpretation will be provided for all conference speakers, performers, and workshops.

Drago Renteria is a Deaf, Chicano, heteroqueer transman who is passionate about making a difference. He has been out, proud and visible for over three decades and has worked to create awareness and social change in the various communities that he is a member of. He is founder of the Deaf Queer Resource Center and has presented on LGBTQ issues nationwide. Among the boards he has served on include FTM International, the Transgender Law Center, and the Youth Gender Project. Drago is listed in the inaugural Trans 100 and most recently named one of 13 Trans Latinx Activists Who Are Changing the World. Drago is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and did part of his undergraduate work at Gallaudet University. He is a professional photographer and lives in San Francisco's Mission District with his partner of 16 years, Jennifer, and their magical furkid, Magnus.

Isa Noyola of Transgender Law Center To Speak Saturday at Conference

Isa Noyola, Director of Programs at the Transgender Law Center, will deliver a keynote on Saturday of the 3rd Asterisk Trans* Conference.

Isa Noyola is a translatina activist, a national leader in LGBT immigrant rights movement, and the director of programs at Transgender Law Center. She works extensively for the release of transgender women from ICE detention and an end to all deportations. She is a part of the #Not1more campaign team and sits on the advisory boards of TAJA coalition, El/La para Translatinas , and Familia:Trans, Queer Liberation movement.

She has organized the first ever national trans anti-violence convening that brought together over 100 activists, mostly trans women of color, to address the epidemic of violence trans communities are facing. Isa is passionate about building the leadership of transgender communities, especially TWOC who experience high levels of discrimination and violence. Isa believes that a stronger and more vibrant transgender community is possible when we abolish oppressive systems that criminalize all of our communities especially trans and queer communities of color.

J Mase III & Vita E Bring #BlackTransMagick To Conference

J Mase III and Vita E will bring #BlackTransMagic to the 3rd Asterisk Trans* Conference when they perform during Saturday's closing.

In a world filled with white supremacy and transphobia at every turn, to be a Black trans person is an act of defiance and pure magickal manifestation. J Mase III & Vita E., aka #BlackTransMagick, will take you on a journey through poetry, movement and drums in this brand new show inspired by their lives and the world around them. Part performance duo part thought leaders, when these two are not on stage they make up the administrative team for awQward, the first trans & queer people of color talent agency.

J Mase III is a Black/trans/queer poet based in Seattle by way of NYC. A blogger for the Huffington Post he is author of “If I Should Die Under the Knife, Tell My Kidney I was the Fiercest Poet Around” as well as "And Then I Got Fired: One Transqueer's Reflections on Grief, Unemployment and Inappropriate Jokes About Death." As an educator, J Mase has worked with thousands of community members in the US, the UK and Canada on the needs of LGBTQIA youth and adults in spaces such as k-12 schools, universities, faith communities and restricted care facilities among others. He is the founder of the international performance tour Cupid Ain’t @#$%!: An Anti-Valentine’s Day Poetry Movement and of awQward, the first ever trans & queer people of color specific talent agency. You can find him on Facebook, twitter and awQwardtalent.com.

Originally from Cleveland, OH, Vita E has obtained her bachelor's degree in Percussion Performance from Baldwin Wallace University, and has been playing percussion for 12 years, as well as teaching percussion at multiple age groups, from Pre-K to University level. 

She is the founder of TWOC Poetry, a brand/YouTube channel she created to increase proper media representation and knowledge for marginalized groups, focusing primarily on experiences as a trans woman of color. Her series, "Tea (T)ime," touches on subjects from racism to respectability politics, and everything between and outside. 

Vita E's talents have taken her across the country in a very short span of time, performing at Campus Pride in North Carolina, competing as a finalist in "Capturing Fire Queer Poetry Slam" in DC, and doing work with Black Lives Matter in the Midwest. She has recently formed a duo with J Mase III, known as #BlackTransMagick. When she is not performing, she spends a great deal of her time as the Social Media/Communications Coordinator for awQward Talent Agency, the first agency of its kind to specifically uplift the work of trans and queer artists of color.

Workshop Schedule Includes 23 Options

All workshops are scheduled for Saturday, February 25 in the HUB. Click here to read the workshop descriptions. Conference attendees may also "claim a space" during the lunch hour.

Session 1 - 11:15am - 12:15pm

Linguistics of Gender Neutral Language

“Raising Zoey” Film Screening

Sexual Violence Affecting and Within the Trans Community

Trans & Queer Asian Pacific Islander Caucus Closed Space

Trans & Queer Latinx/Chicanx Caucus Closed Space

Session 2 - 1:45pm - 2:45pm

A Conversation with Zoey Luna and Her Mother Ofelia

Honoring the T in LGBTQ History

Name and Gender Marker Change Clinic

Name, Reclaim, Love: Navigating Dysphoria through Self-Love Closed Space

Trans Care 911: Prehospital Emergency Care for Trans People

What do we do now? Supporting a trans* person after a traumatic event

Session 3 - 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Cis Partners of Trans Folx Closed Space

Even My Drums are Revolutionary

Introduction to Nonbinary Identities

Neurodiversity and Disability in the Transgender Community

PrEP & Medical Considerations for Transgender Health

Psychotherapy 101: A Q&A session about finding trans* affirming mental health care

Session 4 - 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Health Providers Panel: Accessing Trans-Friendly Health Care

Let's Talk About Sex: What You Want to Know, What You Need to Know. Closed Space

Socially Engaged Queer & Trans Creative Projects

Spiritual Reclamation: On the Borderlands of Faith and Ethnicity Closed Space

Transforming Eating Disorder Recovery: Education, Empowerment, Advocacy

What's the Quota when Questioning?

Registration Updates for 3rd Asterisk Trans* Conference

Over 275 people from 40+ campuses are registered so far for the 3rd Asterisk Trans* Conference, hosted by UC Riverside on February 24-25, 2017. It's not too late to register! Do so by Friday, February 10 and be guaranteed a conference T-shirt and box lunch. We will continue with late online registration (no t-shirt) and on-site registration. Group Registration will cover folks who register online only.

Visit the registration page for more information or go directly to the online registration form.