My, how does one have time to actually find time for a quality education while attending UCD even if one is a 5th year student?
Let's look at just the beginning of the 5th year in the life of Laura Mitchell, Women's Studies major, revolutionary and leader/spokeswomyn/generally busy student.
We are excited to announce that the LGBTRC is planning its first Queer Leadership Retreat to take place from January 22-24th 2010! Some of the objectives of the Queer Leadership Retreat include:
- Empowering LGBTIQ students
- Building community
- Providing a safe space for students to develop leadership skills
- Developing strategies for consciousness-raising within
our various communities
- Setting community goals
- Educating ourselves and raising awareness about issues
w/in the community
The retreat will include workshops and team-building activities, as well as academic resources and an alumni panel. The retreat will provide a unique opportunity for students to network, learn, and share their own knowledge and experiences. We hope that you can take part in planning the retreat and/or by attending either as a facilitator or participant.
Bisexual Awareness Week
Beyond the Binary is an LGBT Resource Center annual awareness week dedicated to educating about and celebrating non-monosexual, and many other intersecting, identities. Events during this week include a social visibility kickoff, keynote speaker, panels and workshops, Safe-Zone training, and a Bi Visibility Project closed non-monosexual discussion. For more information, please contact Laura Mitchell at lmitchell@ucdavis.edu.
Beyond the Binary 2010 Schedule of Events:
Monday, January 25th
• Bi 101: 12-1PM @ The LGBTRC
This workshop will go over the basics of bisexuality and nonmonosexuality and will include a review of terms, an overview of basic issues, and a facilitated discussion. This will be a safe space for getting those questions answered!
• Art Reception: 3-7PM @ The King Lounge (MU)
This exhibit will bring together artists from across the community to celebrate our many experiences in a provoking and empowering collection of perspectives. Artists will be present during the reception to discuss their work and food & drinks will be provided.
Tuesday, January 26th
• Safe Zone: 12-3PM @ The Mee Room (MU)
Safe Zone is a three-hour training designed to raise awareness and discuss ways to make the spaces we live and work in more welcoming and safe for LGBTQ people. After completing the training, you have the option of receiving a sign to designate your space as a Safe Zone.
To register e-mail slatkinson@ucdavis.edu or call 530.752.2452.
• Keynote Speaker, Sonia-Melitta Diaz Montoya: 6-7:30PM @ The King Lounge (MU)
Sonia-Melitta Montoya is a proud bi queer femme womyn of color, fierce Xicana womynist, first generation/transfer college graduate, daughter/granddaughter of mine-mill smelter & farm workers' and labor union organizers, and a survivor. She will give a talk on her intersections of identity and how her experiences have shaped her love, passion, and commitment working with underrepresented/marginalized communities to dismantle all forms of oppressions.
Wednesday, January 27th
• Biphobia Makes me Blue: 11AM-12PM @ The Garrison Room (MU)
This workshop will start with an introductory group discussion, then will divide into two groups: nonmonosexuals and allies. The nonmonosexual group will focus on understanding and challenging internalized biphobia. The allies will further discuss what it means to be an ally to nonmonosexual people.
• That’s So Bleep: 1-2PM @ The LGBTRC
This program is designed to raise awareness of the relationship between hate speech, prejudice, and oppression. The program analyzes the roots of hate speech and strives to dissolve the bigotry evident in the 21st century in order to unify and rebuild communities through words and actions.
• What It Is That We Do: 4PM-5PM @ Garrison Room
Looking "beyond the binary" gives us a chance to learn about other forms of sexuality. For many people, BDSM - bondage, discipline, dominance/submission, and sadomasochism - offers a different and compelling way to express love, lust and affection. Through consciously and carefully playing with power, control, and even pain, some lovers find themselves closer and more fulfilled. Come learn about the practices, language, hearts and minds of happily self-proclaimed "perverts" and see if you find out something surprising!
Thursday, January 28th
• BIPOC (Bi People of Color) Workshop: 11AM-12PM @ The Moss Room (MU)
Come and join us for a workshop full of celebration, affirmation, and appreciation of bisexual people of color! This workshop will include a facilitated discussion about the issues that effect bisexual, nonmonosexual, queer communities of color.
• Non-Traditional Relationship/Family Structure: 4-5PM @ The Garrison Room (MU)
Just like homo- and heterosexuality are only two of a vast number of sexual orientations, so also are "coupled" and "single" only two of a vast number of ways to relate to loved ones. Monogamy doesn't work for everyone, and many people have chosen to negotiate different kinds of commitments with their loved ones, including open (non-monogamous) relationships and polyamory (being openly, consensually in love with more than one partner at the same time). Please join us for a discussion about the many ways that people come together and make families of every kind imaginable!
• Student Performance Night: 7-9PM @ The King Lounge (MU)
Enjoy a combination of student and professional performances celebrating bi identity! Performance art will be embraced as a form of resistance and resilience. Expect a range of artistic forms, such as music, dance, theater, literature, and the visual arts. Food & drinks will be provided.
Friday, January 29th
• Crafternoon: 3-5PM @ The LGBTRC
This week’s Crafternoon will look beyond the binary system of the family tree to create art that acknowledges the many diverse forms of family and the families we build around us. Crafternoons is a weekly social and crafting event; new craft projects are taught each week and all supplies are provided.
• BiVis Closed Meeting: 5-7PM in the Righteous Babes Lounge (WRRC)
This discussion is a safe space for people who identify with nonmonosexual identities such as pansexual, bisexual, omnisexual, fluid, or questioning to share our experiences and thoughts. We have been meeting for two years! What do we want the next year to look like?
Intersex Awareness Week
Intersex Awareness Week is one of the four educational weeks the LGBT Resource Center plans annually. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Maribel Gomez at buggomez@ucdavis.edu. See below for the schedule of events for Intersex Awareness Week 2010.
Monday, February 22nd
Intersex 101 - East Conference Room (MU), 5:30-6:30PM
A basic introduction to the history and importance of intersex issues. Answers to frequently asked questions regarding the intersex community. No background knowledge is necessary - everyone is welcome.
Tuesday, February 23rd
"XXY" Film Screening - Young 198, 6-8PM
Alex is a 15-year-old intersex person form Buenos Aires who lives secluded with her parents in a fishing village in Uruguay. At birth, her parents decided not to have her operated on in order for her to choose her own gender, meanwhile raiser her as a girl. Her parents keep her hidden away at a coastal town amongst the dunes of the shoreline, buying time before they must decide on a life-threatening operation. Refreshments provided.
Wednesday, February 24th
That's So Bleep - LGBTRC (University House Annex), 12-1 PM
This program is designed to raise awareness of the relationship between hate speech, prejudice, and oppression. The program analyzes the roots of hate speech and strives to dissolve the bigotry evident in the 21st century in order to unify and rebuild communities through words and actions.
Thursday, February 25th
Re-defining Body Image for All Genders, LGBTRC, 12-1PM
- A collaboration of both Intersex Awareness Week and Celebrate your Body Week -
Bring your lunch and join us for an informal discussion, co-facilitated by Jezzie Fulmen and Lindsey Brooks from CAPS. Together, we will redefine the historical definition of body image by discussing what body image means for you and celebrating the diversity of body types.
"Yellow is for Hermaphrodites: Mani's Story" Film Screening LGBTRC, 4-6PM
A documentary film that traces the life of the intersex activist Mani Mitchell. Frances Grant wrote in the New Zealand Herald: "The documentary's strength comes from the fact that it is nearly all told in Mani's own words. Strong and articulate, she traces the momentous changes in her life that led to self-acceptance and lack of fear in drawing attention to her ambiguous appearance...[it] is a courageous and unsentimental account of a person who has confronted and overcome extraordinary pressures and exclusion." Refreshments provided.
Safe Zone, 7-10PM (please register for location details)
Safe Zone is a three-hour training designed to raise awareness and discuss ways to make the spaces we live and work in more welcoming and safe for LGBTQ people. After completing the training, you have the option of receiving a sign to designate your space as a Safe Zone. To register email slatkinson@ucdavis.edu or call 530.752.2452.
February 4 -Repost Press Release: Study-In Students Set Library Agenda, Chancellor Forced to Follow
February 24 - 26 -Joe Goode Performance Group - 29 Effeminate Gestures
Friday, February 26th - Students Reclaim UC Davis Library By Holding Teach-Ins, Lectures, Film Screenings In Weekend-Long Protest
Every Friday - Crafternoons, LGBTRC, 3-5PM
This week's Crafternoon we will have an affirmation and decorating activity using eggs! Crafternoons is a weekly crafting and social event on Friday afternoons from 3-5pm at the LGBTRC; supplies and abundant crafting knowledge provided, you bring the creativity. New craft projects taught each week, everyone is welcome!
Closed Session, Righteous Babes Lounge, WRRC, North Hall 5:30PM-6:30PM
A safe space for intersex-identified people to have discussion and find support.
Ongoing student activities:
Internship Program
Interested in joining the LGBT Resource Center Staff?
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center Community Intern Job Description
2010-2011 (Academic Year)
Job Description
• Serve as a community liaison for the diverse Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Questioning (LGBTIQQ) community.
• Work to create an open, safe, inclusive space and community that promotes learning, discovery, and scholarship about gender and sexual identities.
• Work collaboratively with other community centers (WRRC, SRRC, CCC, etc).
• Serve as liaison to students, student organizations, faculty, Ethnic Studies Departments, administrators, and staff to maintain communication and flow of information.
• Work with various campus student interns and leaders (ie: Culture Day Interns, ASUCD, Gender and Sexuality Commission, SRRC Interns, PAC’s, MIP Interns, etc.).
• Serve as a representative to promote the mission and goals of the LGBT Resource Center.
• Outreach to campus and community groups through tabling, planning programs, conducting training, etc.
• Assess, address, educate about, and advocate for the issues and needs of underrepresented and underserved communities.
• Implement and deliver programs on various community issues and topics that support the mission and goals of the LGBT Resource Center and promote retention of LGBT students.
• Write reports on programs and activities.
• Work with the career staff, other interns, and volunteers in planning, implementation, publicity, and evaluation of LGBT Resource Center programs.
• Opportunities to attend national, regional, and state-wide conferences/meetings.
Crafternoons
Crafternoons is a weekly social and crafting event that runs from 2:30 – 5:00 p.m. on Fridays. New craft projects are taught each week, and all supplies are provided. We encourage folks to stop in and check out the event. Crafternoons are a great way to meet people and de-stress at the end of the week! For more information, contact Laura Mitchell.
March 1 - LGBT Resource Center Vandalization press conference
center intern Laura Mitchell came to the lectern and announced that some students present, possibly closeted gays and lesbians, were uncomfortable with the news cameras, which were rolling as she said, "The media needs to leave – right now," Mitchell said. "We're respectfully asking you to pack up and go."
March 4 - Get arrested
How does she find the time to get a quality education in Women's Studies?
UPDATE: Webutante has a post that dovetails nicely.
