A diverse and full program has been confirmed for the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance's (NQAPIA) 3-day conference, "Transgress, Transform, Transcend," which will take place August 14th - 16th 2009 in Seattle at the University of Washington. Ben de Guzman, Conference Program committee chair and NQAPIA Co-Director, remarked, "With the conference just about a month away, excitement is mounting. This conference will showcase the leading lights in Asian American/ Pacific Islander (AAPI) and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) communities. Come to Seattle and be a part of the history we're making!"
Each day of the conference will be opened by a keynote address given by keynote speakers Mia Mingus (Co-Executive Director of SPARK Reproductive Justice Now), Dakota (Seattle Youth Poetry Slam Series Finalist), and Vega Subramaniam and Mala Nagarajan (plaintiffs in a Washington state lawsuit for marriage equality).
A full schedule of plenaries, workshops, caucuses and social activities will follow the keynote speeches. Speakers and presenters include: Miriam Yeung (Executive Director of National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum), Darlene Nipper (Deputy Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force), Kris Hayashi (Executive Director of Audre Lorde Project), musical artist Danny Morito Katz, and performance group Good Asian Drivers, and API Equality (Los Angeles and San Francisco-based coalitions promoting marriage equality).
Asian and Pacific Islander Lesbian, Bisexual Women and Transgender Network (APLBTN) will coordinate a slate of programming and strategy sessions for AAPI women and trans-identified individuals. A national convening for Southeast Asians is being planned by a coalition of organizations led by SEAQUEL (Southeast Asian Queer Empowerment and Leadership) of Providence, RI. Caucuses will provide facilitated discussions focusing on particular ethnicities (South Asian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, etc.), geographic regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, etc.) and other specialized constituencies (e.g. faith-based). Some topics include:
· Roundtable Discussion on Building Queer API Youth Organizations
· Gender Identity and Expression in API Communities
· Sexual Liberation
· LGBTQ and API Equality in the Workplace
· The Emerging Movement of LBTs in China
· Confronting Homophobia in API Christian Communities
· API Women and Our Bodies
· API LGBTQ Communities and Health
The complete list of caucus gatherings, workshops, and keynote sessions is available at www.nqapia.com/nc-2009.html
On the evening of August 15, 2009, the gala event "Trans*Fusion" will showcase some of the talents with in the Asian Pacific Islander LGBTQ communities. Like the rest of the conference, this gala is an all-ages event. Tickets for the gala are available for purchase at Brown Paper Tickets (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/71298)
Conference registration is available online at: http://www.nqapia.org/nc-2009-home.html.
NQAPIA is pleased to work in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (PNWQAPIA) to put on this conference, and is seeking sponsorships, donations, and volunteers. To contribute to Transgress, Transform, Transcend, email conference coordinator Norma Timbang at nc-coordinator@nqapia.org
