NorthEast Two-Spirit Society, Somjen Frazer, a Researcher and Evaluation Consultant, local NY Native and Non-Native community based organizations, and the New York State Department of Health are working on the first-ever New York State Needs Assessment for the Native Two-Spirit community.

Currently, we are organizing a series of focus groups throughout New York State. At these focus groups, participants will be asked to share their stories, experiences and input on what they hope for our community.

[download flyer]

Here is a list of the locations, dates and time for upcoming focus groups:
Buffalo, NY
Friday, February 12, 2010
5:30pm to 8:30pm

Location:
Native American Community Services of Erie & Niagara Counties, Inc. (NACS)
1005 Grant Street
Buffalo, New York  14207

Partnering organizations – American Indian Community House, Pride Center of Western NY & Native American Community Services of Erie & Niagara Counties, Inc.

Email: harlan@ne2ss.org for more info or to RSVP

Rochester, NY
Saturday, February 13, 2010
2:30pm to 6:30pm

Location:
Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley
875 East Main Street, Suite #500
Rochester, NY  14605

Partnering organizations – Rochester Two-Spirit Society & Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley

Email: harlan@ne2ss.org for more info or to RSVP

Syracuse, NY
Saturday, February 27, 2010
3:00pm to 7:00pm

Location:
American Indian Community House – Syracuse site
120 E Washington St., Suite #400
Syracuse, NY 13202

Partnering organizations – American Indian Community House

Email: harlan@ne2ss.org for more info or to RSVP

New York City, NY
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
5:30pm to 8:30pm

Location:
American Indian Community House
11 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10004

Partnering organizations – American Indian Community House

Email: harlan@ne2ss.org for more info or to RSVP

Long Island, NY
Saturday, March 13, 2010
3:00pm to 7:00pm

Location:
The Long Island GLBT Community Center
34 Park Avenue
Bay Shore, NY 11706

Partnering organizations – The Long Island GLBT Community Center

Email: harlan@ne2ss.org for more info or to RSVP

NEW YORK – The NorthEast Two-Spirit Society (NE2SS) and Kris Hayashi, Executive Director of Audre Lorde Project were forcefully ejected from this year’s annual Heritage of Pride March in New York City yesterday.

Just before 2PM, Lieutenant Connoly of the Midtown Taskforce demanded that the People of Color Contingent leave the parade. The reason given was that a delay of 6 blocks existed between the People of Color contingent and the contingent in front of them.  NYPD raised the issue of the gap once and POC contingent marshals were in the process of closing the gap.   Kris Hayashi, Executive Director of Audre Lorde Project (ALP), and Loyda Colon also of ALP explained to Lieutenant Connoly, that they were in the process of closing the gap and Lieutenant Connoly refused to listen.  Lieutenant Connoly then insisted that the POC contingent leave the parade, and attempted to arrest both Colon and Hayashi. Lieutenant Connoly then ejected Harlan Pruden, the driver of NE2SS’ support vehicle and co-founder of NE2SS, other members of NE2SS (who led the People of Color Contingent), and Hayashi from the parade. Hayashi was physically dragged off the parade route.

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Come show your PRIDE & SUPPORT once again as we march down 5th Avenue in the NYC Pride Parade

Join us Sunday, June 28, 2009
Meet us at 56th street between 5th and 6th Ave.
(by the Abercrombie and Fitch flagship store)
at 11am

EVERYONE WELCOME!!!

For more details, contact Harlan at 646.351.7360 or at harlan@ne2ss.org

At a recent NE2Ss meeting, it was unanimously agreed upon that NE2SS should be an Outreach Partner for the Two Spirits: Sexuality, Gender, and the Murder of Fred Martinez Film.

The Fred Martinez Project and the documentary film Two Spirits received the 2008 Monette-Horwitz Distinguished Achievement Award for outstanding activism, research, and scholarship to combat homophobia.

The U.S. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in Washington has joined the Fred Martinez Project as an outreach partner. The department will host screenings of Two Spirits around the country as a part of their ongoing national diversity programs.

For more information please visit www.twospirits.org.

Take a short survey on LGBT health and human services issues at: www.nylgbtsurvey.org.

Be a part of a historic effort to research and document the needs of LGBT New Yorkers to ensure those needs don’t go unaddressed by government and health and human service providers. The information you provide will go toward fighting for policy changes and funding to make services to LGBT people in New York equitable and LGBT-friendly.

This survey is open to all LGBT New Yorkers ages 18 and over.

Enter for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card with your completed survey! Information provided for the raffle will be confidential and not linked to your survey responses.

For more information or to receive paper surveys, e-mail Somjen Frazer consulting@somjenfrazer.com.

This survey is a project of the Empire State Pride Agenda, the NYS LGBT Health and Human Services Network, and Somjen Frazer Consulting.

From the left, Crisosto Apache, Matthew Reed and Travis Goldtooth of the Two Spirit Society of Denver drum during a blessing Sunday at the National Conference on GLBT Equality.( Brian Brainerd, The Denver Post )

By Jessica Fender
The Denver Post

“We’ll say ‘I can’t,’ cause we can’t say ‘I do,’ ” four bouffant-clad drag queens doo-wopped to a familiar tune on stage at Denver’s Grand Hyatt. “Locked out of the chapel of love.”

A national gathering of 2,000 gay and lesbian activists wrapped on a high note Sunday with the comedic crooning of The Kinsey Sicks quartet, an appearance by U.S. Rep Jared Polis and more than one joke about disgraced spiritual leader Ted Haggard.

The lighthearted end to four days of community-outreach training provided a much-needed shot in the arm for a group that suffered ballot-initiative disappointments in California and other states, said conference organizer Sue Hyde.

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Gay and transgender Native Americans find acceptance in tradition
by John Rosengren
Utne Reader
January-February 2009

Image by Mike Dvorak

He checks his plaid skirt, stockings, and deep-cut white blouse. When another man’s eyes fall on his cleavage, Richard squeezes his breasts together and answers the silent inquiry: “They’re real!”

Beyond the bathroom doors, men and women dance around a drum in more traditional costume—feathers, fox pelts, moccasins, beads, and bells. They’re all here for the 20th annual International Two Spirit Gathering, a celebration of and for those who feel they carry both male and female spirits.

In late August 2008, some 85 Native lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people from three dozen tribes in Canada and the United States traveled to the Audubon Center of the North Woods, 90 miles north of Minneapolis.

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Research reveals strong cultural acceptance in the past

By Paul Galinski | reporter@prpeak.com
Published: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 4:19 PM CST

Research shows historically, diffuse gender identification was a celebrated component of first nations culture, according to a Powell River researcher. However, Western contact swayed the positive recognition and has contributed to two-spirited people being ostracized as homosexual people, he added.

Michael Thoms, who has a doctorate in history and teaches history at Vancouver Island University’s (VIU) Powell River campus, said one of his specialties is ethno-history, “which is a fancy way of saying specialized in fields of first nations cultural, ecological and social relationships,” he said.

“For 15 years I’ve been a researcher for a group called two-spirited people of the first nations, and also for the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network.

“One of the problems, as we know, is first nations people are marginalized in society,” Thoms said. “They experience issues with poverty, poor self-esteem, lack of advanced education and these kinds of things. One group within first nations society that is particularly vulnerable are those that we in the West would call gay or lesbian.”

Thoms said first nations people have a tradition that predates contact with the West.

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On Saturday, September 13, 2008, Kent Lebsock and Harlan Pruden traveled to the Plimoth Plantation (that’s right:  the site of the “Rock”) to  make a presentation  at the first annual “Out at Plimoth Plantation.”  This all-day event was billed as a gathering specifically for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals, families and friends to enjoy the two living history museums.  Contrary to the mission of the original Plantation founded by the Pilgrims, the idea was to create an atmosphere of acceptance and tolerance, celebrating diversity.

The event was planned and conceived by Paula Peters, a person of the Wampanoag nation who also does double duty as the marketing director for the Plantation.  Additionally, Kent and Harlan were warmly welcomed by Linda Coombs (pictured above with Kent and Harlan), who is the director of the Wampanoag Indigenous Program, and John McDonagh, the Plantation’s executive director and the entire village of Wampanoag people working in the village, his team ensure that the entire site is historically accurate.  The Plantation is not a state park and is privately owned and operated.  It includes many different interactive media tools in a sincere effort to abolish the myth and get at the truth about the English and Wampanoag and other Indigenous nations’ experiences subsequent to 1620.  The Wampanoag village consists of people of that nation interacting with visitors to explain their history and way-of-life in a setting including traditional engineering, construction, gardening and social interaction.  It is truly inspiring as a method of reminding us who we are as well as where we might be going.

Continue reading and see photos!

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/coquille_tribe_will_sanction_s.html
by Bill Graves, The Oregonian

COOS BAY — Kitzen and Jeni Branting have been in a committed lesbian relationship since high school and plan to get legally married in Oregon next spring.

Yes, in Oregon.

True, voters amended the state Constitution constitution in 2004 to allow marriage only between only a man and a woman. And Congress outlawed gay marriage more than a decade ago.

But Kitzen Branting, 25, is a member of the Coquille Indian Tribe on the southern Oregon coast.

As a federally recognized sovereign nation, the tribe is not bound by the Oregon’s Constitution. The tribe recently adopted a law that recognizes same-sex marriage and extends to gay and lesbian partners, at least one of whom must be a Coquille, all tribal benefits of marriage.

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