Category: Non-binary

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History LGBTQ Non-binary Organization Our Center Political Transgender UNR

UNR Queer Grad Collective

Credit: https://www.instagram.com/qgc_unr/

The Queer Grad Collective (QGC) is an officially-sanctioned Graduate Student Association (GSA) University of Reno (UNR) social club.  I met via Zoom this week with M (she/her/they/them) to learn more about them and the club’s origins.

M is a grad student pursuing a Masters in Fine Arts in creative writing, particularly in the genre of science fiction.  They hail from the fine state of Washington. Two years ago, M met Cas (she/her/he/him/they/them) on Lex, a text-centered social app that connects queer lovers and friends (I had to look that one up).  Cas, a Ph.D. candidate in the Environmental Science realm, had posted that there were no queer resources for graduate students at UNR. M and Cas met virtually and quickly came up with a constitution, found a network of students and faculty to support the group, and brought the school on board to found the QGC.

QGC’s mission is to make and create a safe community for queer graduates and people throughout the campus.  They have long-term plans to engage in activism, but for now, they are a social organization.

The group meets currently every other Friday from 11-noon.  They started two years ago in a virtual environment, then moved to in-person, then back on-line.  M said that they generally have about ten to fifteen people attend each meeting.

Right now, they are planning an end-of-semester afternoon picnic bash at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park in Reno sometime in the first two weeks of May. 

M said to join the mailing list or log into Discord (I haven’t figured either of these things out yet) to get the details on the event.

Being a social group, their primary objective is connecting people on campus. They have an Instagram @qgc_unr. And they maintain this elusive listserve that I have yet to find.

M said that their marketing strategy thus far has been

  • Put up flyers at UNR campus bulletin boards
  • Use the QLAB listserve
  • Bulk emails to UNR department
  • Maintain an Instagram presence
  • Set up tables at the GSA club fair and other events
  • Partner with other student organizations, both graduate and undergraduate

They have plans to connect with Our Center in the near future.

When I asked M what they are particularly proud of being involved with at QGC, they said that they are just proud that QGC still exists.  M said that it has been tough in the last two years under COVID-19 restrictions to meet people in a town new to them and get to know each other virtually.

Nonetheless, QGC has partnered with the Associated Students of the University of Nevada (ASUN), the student government of UNR, to host a Q&A for students. They’ve hosted a joint holiday party. They’ve partnered with the undergraduate Queer Student Union (QSU) on a gender-affirming closet exchange and plan to host a mentorship program with them next year. They’ve also partnered with QLAB; the local chapter of Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM); and UNR Pride.

When I asked about plans for the future, M said they had no hard plans right now because of the lingering uncertainty of COVID.  M did tell me about their undergraduate queer center in Washington, which had its own dedicated space, held book clubs, support groups, and bitch and stitches. Though M didn’t specifically say that was the goal, we did discuss how it would be great to have a place where all the LGBTQ organizations could meet and hold space.

Like me, M is excited to attend their first Pride in Nevada and see how the Biggest Little City does it.  When I asked what is one of M’s favorite queer spaces or events in Reno, they told me the Holland Project. I had never heard about it before; M says it’s an all-ages venue with a really cool art space and art classes.  M looks forward to going to a show there soon.

When I asked M what they want people to know about QGC, they said they want people to know that QGC is working to foster the first explicit community on the UNR campus for queer graduate students.  QGC is achieving this through community building activities and hopes to continue in the future with social activism and engagement.

Interview with M Sawan, Co-Founder
M Sawan, Interviewee. Credit: LinkedIn
Categories
Health History LGBTQ Non-binary Organization Political Transgender

Transgender Allies Group

Credit: TAG website

The Transgender Allies Group (TAG) is an advocacy group for transgender people in Nevada. They go to the Nevada state legislature and lobby to have bills passed and sometimes terminated.

TAG has been around since 2010. A bathroom bill brought TAG into existence. At the time, Nevada was considered one of the lowest states for LGBTQ welcomeness. As a result of massive legislation in this state over the years, Nevada, in 2020, was ranked number ONE by USA Today as the most LGBTQ-friendly state in the nation. The rankings looked at legislation, number of hate crimes, and LGBTQ population per state.

Some TAG wins here in our good ‘ole Nevada:

  • One of the easiest states to get ones birth certificate changed
  • It is very easy to change ones’ gender marker
  • No longer have to publish your name in the newspaper when you do a name change
  • No longer have to prove to the DMV that a 3rd party verifies who you are
  • One of the few states that has an X gender on drivers’ licenses

When I spoke with Sherrie Scaffidi, the president of TAG (see here and here for more on Sherrie) she said one of the reasons they have been so successful is that TAG has good rapport with the Nevada State Senators.  Nevada has four open LGBTQ legislators. Sherrie said it has been easy to get them on board with getting various bills sponsored, supported, or killed.

The TAG board is currently comprised of two transgender women, two transgender men, and one cis gay man.  These folks are the president, secretary, treasurer, and two directors.

The meetings are held via Zoom on the fourth Thursday of every month in conjunction with Northern Nevada’s Carson City chapter of PFLAG, for which Sherrie is also the president. For anyone who is not familiar with PFLAG, they are the first and largest organization for LGBTQ people, their parents and families, and allies.

TAG has about 12 active members, but Sherrie knows that they touch the lives of many, many more in Nevada. It’s unknown exactly how many people, though, because TAG does not maintain a listserve in order to preserve anonymity of those seeking assistance.  TAG often deals with people who are not ready to come out.  Sherrie estimates they affect 50 to 100 people personally and one-on-one per year in helping with transitioning legal tasks like name changes.  

When a bill gets passed specific to the transgender community, TAG doesn’t know how exactly many people they are going to touch. Nevada is estimated to have approximately 12,600 transgender people in 2022.

They have a great name-change roadmap and forms on their website and a ton of resources, but the website is definitely out of date, so I know some of it is not useful any more.

They need to update their woefully out-of-date website and develop a business presence on LinkedIn. They do have a twitter @TAGNevada which is very active, and I applaud that.

TAG needs to work on their marketing and outreach. Because they don’t collect listserves, they don’t have much of an outreach strategy. Mostly, it’s just Sherrie putting her personal contact information out everywhere she can. They get some contacts through PFLAG.

Although not a social group, TAG hosts a Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Church in Reno every November.

TAG’s most current issue is advocating for the LGBTQ community in the Nevada prison system.  Transgender inmates are being put in the wrong gender population.  A transgender woman’s legal documents may confirm that she is female, but because she has male genitalia, she is often placed with the men’s population.  These inmates are often denied their hormones.  TAG is bringing new legislation in the latest session to address these injustices.

Sherrie wants you to know that TAG can help with anything having to do with gender transitioning.  And if you show them something they have never seen before and don’t have an answer to, they want to help you figure it out.

Sherrie helped me in 2021 to develop a powerpoint presentation for my organization on terminology and etiquette related to transitioning and transgender employees.

Follow them on twitter. Follow me on twitter.

Credit: TAG Website. Signing of Senate Bill 201, protecting LGBTQ youth from dangerous “conversion therapy.” From left to right: Eliza Cafferata (Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood), Sherrie Scaffidi (TAG), Tick Segerblom (Senator), Governor Brian Sandoval, Holly Welborn (ACLU-NV), Tyrone Thompson (Assemblyman), David Parks (Senator, Sponsor), Brooke Maylath (TAG), Stacey Shinn (PLAN), Brad Combs (Intern), Ashley Clift-Jennings (TAG).
Categories
Health LGBTQ Non-binary Organization Outdoors Place Sports

Mesa Rim Climbing Gym is not Super Gay. But they are Gay-Friendly.

Credit: https://mesarim.com/reno/#

Nothing really gay happened while I was at Mesa Rim Climbing Center tonight.

I called for a climbing partner and was met by Samuel, a tall climber who designated himself bi when I asked.

They fly a Gay Pride flag from the rafters, next to the American and Nevada state flags. Their binary bathrooms signs also announce that they are allow non-binary users.

A lot of the young folks could have been gay or trans or just needed haircuts. They kept a stash of LaCroix under the stairs. Just a strong low-key gay-friendly vibe. But nothing super-gay.

I asked the front desk if there was anything super-gay to know about the place or any big gay events they may hold periodically and they looked confused. But they were very nice.

It’s a great center. Very clean, which is difficult with all that chalk and sweat and young people who use their gear outdoors a lot.

They have a super-dope virtual tour of the location you can check out on their website.

Some of the location highlights include:

  • top-rope and lead belay
  • bouldering for days
  • a yoga studio
  • cardio equipment
  • a full set of weightlifting and cross-training equipment
  • hang-boards on hang-boards on hang-boards
  • a snack section
  • a gear and merch section
  • I think I saw a birthday room
  • an upstairs lounge (no nasty climber couches, but tables and stuff)
  • group and one-on-one climbing classes
  • workshops
  • team climbing
  • a rooftop deck with grill
  • co-ed sauna and binary locker rooms that include non-binary
  • They also have kids stuff, for the gays with shorties

The website shows that Mesa Rim operates 6 locations here, in California and they are opening one of them in Texas this fall. They say their “… founders dreamed of creating an inclusive space where people of all walks of life and abilities could venture out of their comfort zones in pursuit of a remarkable movement experience.” Righteous.

Check out the vid I made tonight.

Credit: Erica Pionke

Categories
LGBTQ Non-binary Our Center Place Transgender

Our Center – The Leader of the Pack: Stacey Spain

Credit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-spain-aa161029/

Stacey Spain is the new fearless leader at Our Center in Reno. She has brought life to the Our Center Facebook page, requiring her volunteers to post twice per day to keep patrons of Our Center always thinking about the programs that will bring them in to Our Center and then back, again and again.

She was hired in December of 2021 as the very first paid employee of the organization, but brings with her an extensive background in public service, including grant writing and work in arts programming. She is currently working 30 hours per week at Our Center.

When I visited her last week, she had just finished another meeting with a community organization who was interested in using the space. Stacey said that she fully believes that community spaces are meant to be used and not to sit vacant and empty in between meetings. She is working on bringing in various organizations beyond the LGBTQ panorama, including Girls Scouts, a Women of Color book club, the Northern Nevada Democratic Socialists of America, and 12-step recovery groups.

Of course, the standard events that fall under the Pride flag are still present at Our Center, like PFLAG, transgender youth support groups, and senior programs. Stacey said that the programming focus right now is the senior, youth and transgender demographics. But from the discussion that I had with her, I could tell that she also had an affinity for family events.

She lit up when she talked about the services that Our Center provides to those in need like a small food pantry and sleeping bags. She talked excitedly about health programs she would like to see promoted at Our Center, like HIV testing. She would also like to start a scholarship program for queer kids. She was quite proud of the cozy lending LGBTQ library that takes up a nook in the office space.

Stacey explained to me that she answer to the Our Center Board of Directors which is currently 5 members and meets monthly. She also said that there are several Our Center committees that do a lot of work, which include programming, fundraising (including the Northern Nevada Pride Celebration that happens each year in Wingfield Park on the fourth weekend of July) and governance.

She told me of a story of a mother who had come in to the office with her child after her child had told her that they wanted to transition to female. The mother was visibly scared, confused, and heavy-hearted. Stacey was able to take the mother into a private room and discuss services and support for the mother, while a transgendered woman who had been serendipitously volunteering in the office that day was able to spend some time in the office talking to the child. Stacey said it was the perfect situation.

Several weeks later, Stacey saw the two together at an Our Center group function and they all looked much more adjusted and lighter.

She ran into the child in the office just recently with a big bow in her hair and a beautiful smile on her face. Stacey said it warmed her heart.

When I asked Stacey what her favorite program was at Our Center, she told me that it was probably the “We Are Family Movie and Game Night.” She loves when the LGBTQ parents get together and their children can see that they are not the only ones with LGBTQ parents. She told me that she, too, has a family which has been involved in the family events at Our Center.

If you have questions, please contact Ms. Stacey at the office. Her email is stacey@ourcenterreno.org.

Categories
Event LGBTQ Non-binary Our Center Place Transgender

Our Center LGBTQ(+!) Community-Based Programs

Picture of progressive pride flag with BIPOC and Trans chevron, but also with interlaced circle for Intersex.
Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inclusive_Progressive_Pride_flag.png

We are going to keep talking about Our Center, because there is so much that it does and provides for the LGBTQ community. They post daily on their Facebook page about all the programs and events they run 5 to 6 days a week.

Our Center has been in existence as an organization since 2009. Before they had a brick and mortar location, they were hosting programs for the LGBTQ community. Programs create the fellowship that make up the heart of the Our Center community.

Our Center’s primary focus for programming are youth, senior and transgender folks. After talking to Stacey Spain, the first and only person on the Our Center payroll and just hired in December 2021, I picked up that she also has a desire to really engage LGBTQ families in Northern Nevada.

Stacey also told me of her many plans to start health-based programs like HIV testing and clincs. She wants to bring some programs out into the community, like attending plays on the town. She wants to make sure to have programs that involve all groups, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).

Our Center provides services and resources to homeless youth and others in need. They have a small food pantry and sleeping bags if needed. They also refer those in need to other social services in Northern Nevada.

Stacey handed me the list of events that are happening in March 2022. Strap in, because you are about to get the full-month social calendar.

Inclusive Flag. Credit: https://www.reddit.com/r/vexillologycirclejerk/comments/o09amq/a_more_inclusive_pride_flag/

First Tuesday of every month (March 1) 6-8pm – We Are Family Movie and Game Night for parents who are LGBTQ and their children

First Wednesday of every month (March 2) 6pm – Our Center Board Meeting (open to all)

Weekly on Wednesdays (March 2 and thereafter) —

  • 2-3pm – Senior coffee time
  • 2-4pm – Social services assistance
  • 6:30-7:30 – Alcoholics Anonymous meeting

First Thursday of every month (March 3) 6-7:30pm – Silver Dollar Court

Weekly on Thursdays (March 3 and thereafter) —

  • 5-6pm – Transgender Youth Support Group (call 775-600-4467 @Hillary or Sam for approval before attending)
  • 6-7:30 – Girl Scout Troop 258 – ages 5-18 (contact enterpeace72@yahoo.com to join group)

First Friday of every month (March 4) 7-9pm – Queer Karaoke

Weekly on Fridays (March 4 and thereafter) —

  • 2-4pm – Social services assistance
  • 7-8pm – Narcotics Anonymous meeting

Weekly on Saturdays (March 5 and thereafter) 10:15am-12:30pm – Womens’ Al-Anon

Sundays – Closed

Mondays – Our Center only open by appointment

Second Tuesday of every month (March 8) 6-7pm – Asexual support and fellowship group

Second and Fourth Tuesdays of every month (March 8 & 22) 6-7pm – Gay/Straight Alliance Consortium

Second Fridays (March 11) 3-5pm – Movie Night

Second and Fourth Saturdays of every month (March 12 & 26) 11am-1pm – Knitting Group

Third Tuesdays of every month (March 15) —

Third Wednesday of every month (March 16) 6-8pm – Northern Nevada Black Cultural Awareness Society Board Meeting

Third Thursdays of every month (March 17) 6-7:30pm – Transparenting – Parents/caregivers/supporters of transgender and gender variant youth

Friday, March 18 – Outing to Reno Little Theater to see “Bull in a China Shop”

Third Fridays of every month (March 18) —

  • 3-6pm – BINGO
  • 6-6:30 – Out and About Seniors Group

Monday, March 21, 6pm – Volunteer Meeting

Tuesday, March 22 —

  • 6-7:30pm – LGBTQ Veterans Peer Support (Nevada Department of Veterans)
  • 7-8pm – Gay Prom Planning

Fourth Thursday of every month (March 24) 6-7:30pm – PFLAG

My call to action today is to ask you to plan to attend at least one event this month to support and grow the Our Center community. Maybe I’ll see you there!