Join the Conversation with Zoey Luna & Her Mother Ofelia at the 2nd Asterisk Trans* Conferenceisk

California's School Success and Opportunity Act (AB1266), a law ensuring equal access to activities and facilities for transgender students in K-12, is meant to help young trans students such as Zoey Luna. When Zoey came out in middle school, her mother Ofelia Barba went on her own journey of understanding and fierce advocacy for her child. Zoey and Ofelia will share their story during a Saturday workshop session at the 2nd Asterisk Trans* Conference on February 27, 2016 at UC Riverside. Please bring your questions to share, because this is not a formal presentation but a conversation.

Willy Wilkinson To Present Trans Cultural Competency Workshops at 2nd Asterisk Trans* Conference

Willy Wilkinson's new book on cultural competencies.

Seasoned public health consultant and cultural competency trainer Willy Wilkinson will provide practical tools and resources at the 2nd Asterisk Trans* Conference to help community health providers, social workers, educators, and other trans advocates create trans-affirming environments and services. He will present two workshops, one on trans cultural competency knowledge and one on case studies to develop best practices.

Willy Wilkinson, MPH is an award-winning transgender writer and public health consultant who has been advocating for marginalized populations since the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. A dynamic and engaging speaker who is recognized widely for his expertise in transgender issues, Willy has trained and provided consultation services for hundreds of community health organizations, businesses, and educational institutions on how to provide equal access for LGBT populations.

Willy earned a Masters in Public Health in Community Health Education from UC Berkeley, and a BA in Women’s Studies from UC Santa Cruz. Willy is the recipient of a National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Excellence in Writing Award, and the Transgender Law Center Vanguard Award, and is recognized on the Trans 100. He is the author of the new book Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency. Learn more at www.willywilkinson.com.

Kay Ulanday Barrett To Perform and Speak at 2nd Asterisk Trans* Conference

Kay Ulanday Barrett

Poet, performer, and educator Kay Ulanday Barrett will bring his spoken word artistry to the opening of the 2^nd Asterisk Trans* Conference on Friday, February 26, 2016 at UC Riverside. Kay will return on Saturday to share a keynote talk for those registered for the conference.

A Campus Pride Hot List artist, Trans Justice Funding Project Panelist, Trans 100 Honoree, and PBS News Hour featured poet, Kay Ulanday Barrett is navigating life as a disabled pin@y-amerikan transgender queer in the U.S. with struggle, resistance, and laughter. Kay has featured on colleges & stages globally; Princeton University, U Penn, UC Berkeley, Musee Pour Rire in Montreal, Brooklyn Museum, and The Chicago Historical Society. Kay’s bold work continues to excite and challenge audiences. A seasoned speaker, Kay has facilitated workshops, presented keynotes, and contributed to panels with various social justice collaborators. Kay’s ideas have featured in PBS News Hour, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, KPFA Radio, and WBAI Radio.

Honors include: 18 Million Rising Filipino American History Month Hero, Chicago’s LGBTQ 30 under 30 awards, Finalist for The Gwendolyn Brooks Open-Mic Award, Windy City Times Pride Literary Poetry Prize. Their contributions are found in Poor Magazine, Kicked Out Anthology, Trans Bodies/Trans Selves, Windy City Queer: Dispatches from the Third Coast, Make/Shift, Filipino American Psychology, Asian Americans For Progress, The Advocate, Fusion.net, and Bitch Magazine. Kay turns art into action and is dedicated to remixing recipes.

See their online wobble on twitter/tumblr/instagram as brownroundboi and on the website, kaybarrett.net

Jennicet Gutiérrez Keynote To Open 2nd Asterisk Trans* Conference

Jennicet Gutiérrez of Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement

Jennicet Gutiérrez, who interrupted a White House gay pride event with a call to end detainment and deportation of LGBTQ immigrants in June 2015, will open the 2^nd Asterisk Trans* Conference on Friday, February 25, 2016 at UC Riverside.

She and other trans and queer immigrants, undocumented and allies, youth leaders and parents helped found Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement in 2014. Familia’s working vision is “to the liberation of every LGBTQ Latin@ and to a radically and collective revolution to empower and free our culture, art, history and families from oppression. We seek to abolish the systems that imprison, kill and marginalize our people. We are here to help re-vision a new world founded on the principles of self-relization and self-determination.”

Jennicet will speak about her own journey to activism and the current sitiation for undocumented LGBTQ immigrants. According to a 2014 Fusion investigation, “U.S. immigration officials detain an average of 75 transgender detainees each night. Even though transgender immigrants make up just one out of every 500 detainees, they account for one out of five confirmed sexual abuse cases in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention.”

Friday’s events are free and open to the public. Saturday’s events are open to all who register online. Learn more here.

Call for Programs & Registration Now Open for 2nd Asterisk Trans* Conference

The Call for Programs and online Registration is now open for the 2nd Asterisk Trans* Conference, set for February 26-27, 2016 at the University of California, Riverside.

Join us for a college conference to build community for trans* people and allies, to address trans* health and well-being, and to provide education and resources for trans* youth advocates. Organized by Asterisk of UCR and the LGBT Resource Center, with support from The California Endowment, the conference welcomed over 350 participants in 2015. People of all gender identities and expressions are welcome to attend.

The Friday night conference opening is free and open to the public, featuring Jennicet Gutiérrez of Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement and spoken word performances by Jade Phoenix & Kay Ulanday Barrett. Saturday's events require registration, and include a keynote by Kay Ulanday Barrett and story-telling by Jade Hambaro, Chella Coleman, and Ryka Aoki.

Willy Wilkinson will provide cultural competency training for trans* youth advocates, and Zoey Luna and her mother Ofelia will share their family story. A full program of workshops, as well as lunch and hospitality, will be provided on Saturday.

Registration is $20/individual or $10/UCR participants, with reduced registrations and waived registrations available. Eighteen campuses completed a Group Registration, allowing an unlimited number of students, faculty, and staff to register with no additional fee payment. If your campus wants to do a $200 Group Registration allowing unlimited attendance from your college or university, please contact nancy.tubbs@ucr.edu.

Any person submitting a workshop proposal can register with waived fees, even if the program is not accepted. Deadline to submit a proposal online is November 15, 2015.

Those submitting the online registration form are then redirected to an anonymous, very short, and very helpful demographic survey. Please take the time to do this survey! The final registration step for those paying $20 or $10 individual fees is to mail in check payment.

Check out the conference FAQs for more conference information.

Asterisk Trans* Conference returning to UC Riverside in 2016

Overview - The First Asterisk Trans* Conference

Some numbers from the inaugural Asterisk Trans* Conference, hosted by UC Riverside in 2015 and featuring  Bamby Salcedo, Ollie Schminkey, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Dr. Tey Meadow, Marsha Aizumi, and D'Lo:

• 416 people registered, 355 people attended
• 50 college campuses represented
• 23 workshops presented

According to an anonymous demographic survey completed by 375 people:

• 50% of participants are trans or genderqueer
• 61% are people of color
• 59% are undergraduate students, 14% are community members, 13% are graduate students, 11% are staff, and 3% are faculty