MISSION The POC Programming Track is intended to provide a safer space for trans and gender variant people of color attending the Gender Odyssey conference to explore the intersections of gender and race and the complexities of our identities.
This programming track is intended for individuals who identify as trans/gender variant and as a person of color. POC (people of color) is a term with many-different interpretations. We do not want to impose our own ideas of race on an individuals’ identity. That being said, we often develop workshops that are designed exclusively for a specific audience. This is to allow for a deeper exploration of a specific topic or experience that might not otherwise be achieved. These sessions are a result of feedback and input provided by Gender Odyssey attendees and will be indicated at the bottom of each session description.
POC Opening Reception
Welcome to Gender Odyssey’s exclusive programming track for trans and gender variant people of color! Get the weekend started off just right by getting to know each other in a cozy, comfortable environment. Come for coffee, pastries, and beverages and find out what’s up for the weekend.
What drew you to this conference? What are you hoping to find? Is it for personal or social reasons? Professional? Let’s meet each other and get started on sharing our stories.
Authenticity
How do you stay in your skin? What helps you be your truest self? How do you integrate your past with your present and still stay sane? What happens to you when you are your most authentic self? What happens to those around you? Let’s share our stories in a non-judgmental way—in a way that comes from our hearts.
Note: Open only to POC.
Disclosure
Facilitator to be Determined
How do you do it? If that isn’t the most understated question ever! The hows, whens, and even ifs of disclosing our gender status/history to another person are potentially as unique as each person, place, and/or time this question of disclosure arises. Do you disclose to everyone? No one? Only family? In your neighborhood or on the job? How do you share your gender history with some people but not with others? Does the level of disclosure in your life impact your ability to be fully engaged? In what ways? Share your experiences and insights. Learn from the stories of others. There’s no right or wrong here, just ideas for navigating a complex issue.
Note: Open only to POC.
Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval Into Opportunity
Peggy Holman
All change begins with disturbance. Our internal journey to claim our authentic gender identity is nothing short of disturbing, if not for us personally then certainly for our friends, families, and society. Even within trans communities, our respective journeys often do not bring us together but can cause defensiveness and friction.
When we come to Gender Odyssey our hope is to find kinship in our similarities but too often we become tripped up by our differences in race and class, whether we’ve physically transitioned or not, and our views on femininity and masculinity, to name a few. As a community, we can arrive with a blend of past/present victimization combined with our current/future efforts at empowerment. It should come as no surprise that we encounter sometimes-volatile disruptions as we share our experiences.
Our success in creating community becomes more likely when we clarify a vision that energizes and helps us turn difficult, conflicted issues into transformative leaps of commitment and achievement. By doing so, we engage the natural forces of emergent change. Without disruption, there’d be no need to change.
By developing a healthy relationship with disturbance, we can turn resistance and denial into curiosity and creativity. Disruption brings out strong emotions – being compassionate is critical. At root, compassion means to suffer with. Compassion reminds us that we’re all in it together. Join Peggy Holman and conference organizers as we spread our wings and step into our leadership potential.
Engaging Emergence Revisited: Turning Upheaval Into Opportunity
Peggy Holman
We invite all people of color who attended the POC-track opening session by Peggy Holman to attend this additional session open to all Gender Odyssey attendees. If you missed the first session, by all means join us in room 608. Our goal is to help hold the space for others to learn about compassionately embracing discord and disruption as part of powerful social change.
How Do You Measure Up?
This workshop is designed for transmen of color to share their experiences and discuss the sexual stereotypes we encounter on our journey through manhood. We will discuss our personal perception of self and how it affects our self-esteem, comfort with our bodies, and sexual intimacy. How do we measure up to male-born men? We will discuss topics including sex, intimacy, dating, and more. Learn and share tips on presenting and projecting the image that best represents who you are.
Note: Open only to transmen of color.
Just Us
This workshop is designed to create a space specifically for anyone on the gender spectrum who identifies as African, African-American, or any part of the African Diaspora. You’ve imagined this space, you’ve asked for this space, now let’s show up and get real. Let’s engage each other openly and freely in this two-part discussion.
Note: Open only to those whose identities align with the above description.
Just Us: Reconnecting
This workshop is designed to create a space specifically for anyone on the gender spectrum who identifies as African, African-American, or any part of the African Diaspora. This is a continuation of our discussion begun earlier in the conference. Let’s reconnect and reflect and expand on ideas brought up in the first session and then let’s take it to the next level.
Note: Open only to those whose identities align with the above description.
Navigating Family in Communities of Color
In many ethnic minority communities, our families are an important source of strength. Perhaps we always knew they would love and support us no matter what, until we began to consider transition. We may feel we have to move away from home, family, and friends, or wait for a parent to die, before exploring or beginning a transition. Is the risk of losing family and community too high a price for the pursuit of our personal authenticity? How do our race, our communities, and our families affect the choices we make regarding gender?
Note: Open only to POC.
POC Open Space
No session is scheduled for this time slot. Use this space for individual conversations, impromptu discussions, contemplation of your previous and/or next session, or simply time to rest.
Rituals and Rites of Passage
Many of us have experienced certain rites of passage growing up and into adulthood, but our gender identity prevented us from having a true connection to them, or perhaps these experiences are ones we can’t currently share because of our gender history. Do you have rituals now that keep you grounded? What are the visions and dreams that map your journey? How do you find your right path as you explore new rites of passage such as starting a family, choosing a line of work, or establishing yourself in community? Come to this session and share/create the ways you move along your true path.
Note: Open only to POC.
POC Program Evaluation
Would you like to shape future POC programming for Gender Odyssey? Offer your opinion of certain sessions or share this year’s overall experience? We want to hear from you! Talk with conference organizers in this reflective session and help grow the POC track for future years.
