Register for Beyond Tolerance!

NYQueer’s Beyond Tolerance Conference for Youth

FRIDAY, May 9th

Vanguard High School -317 E 67th St  (btwn 1st and 2nd ave)

4:30-8:30pm

Join us for an afternoon conference focused on issues of gender and sexuality.  Attend workshops and meet with people from local organizations to find out more about the resources in our area.  Check out the workshop descriptions below and then  REGISTER HERE.

Afternoon Schedule:

4:30pm – 5:20pm: Expo-style tabling & snacks (community groups and student groups)

5:30pm – 6:20pm: Session I workshops

6:30pm – 7:20pm: Session II workshops

7:30pm – 8:30pm: Open Mic / “mini-ball”

Session 1

AG = Aggressive + What? – The Door

This workshop is geared towards youth of color who identify as AGs or feel that they are masculine of center women. The workshop will provide a space where masculine identified lesbians or queer women can share experiences about how they internalize masculinity. This workshop will talk about stereotypes, expectations, and the impact they have. This workshop will also explore how AGs can replicate hetero-misogyny/ machismo in relationships. This workshop will also provide a space where young people can learn some tools and coping skills on how to undo internalize misogyny.  

The Trevor Project Lifeguard Workshop – The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project Lifeguard Workshop is an opportunity for middle and high school queer youth to discuss mental health, suicide and ways to deal with stress and anxiety in a safe environment.  Workshop participants will learn about the services The Trevor Project provides, and how to gt help for themselves or a friend.

You Are You: Online Identity & LGBTQ Empowerment – Cipher Project

Are you a catfish or a troll? How many followers do you have? What’s the story behind your selfies? What’s the history behind your hashtags? In this interactive workshop, you will explore the idea of queer empowerment, mentorship, and possibility modeling through social media and Internet use. Deconstruct your on and offline self/selves and behaviors while interrogating what it means for LGBTQ youth to exist in both off and online worlds during safe and unsafe moments.

Queer artist and educator Shantell Martin draws on everything and writes to the masses, often asking us “Who are You? You are Who?”  As a group, we’ll attempt to respond to Martin’s questions beginning by dissecting what it means to “follow” and be “followed”; reviewing a brief history of youth organizing in social movements; exploring histories, work, and online presences of current LGBTQ “change makers”; investigating the internet as a youth cultural phenomenon and space to transgress; identifying it as a space for queer young folks to make meaning; and embracing it as a tool for personal, professional, social growth and advancement.

#queerempowerment #youthempowerment #mentorship #possibilitymodeling #personalbranding #teaching #learning #activism #communitybuilding #communityeducation

Finding Me: You Don’t Have to Stand Anywhere – Hetrick Martin Institute

To educate about the broad spectrum of trans identities and trigger self-awareness for gender non-conforming youth of color

This workshop will include the prompt question “if you could wake up tomorrow and be anyone else in the world, who would you be?” and the deconstruction of binary through the use of the Transgender Umbrella. Our objective is to empower other youth to understand that you can “stand OUT”!

* We want to instill the message that being yourself requires no one’s approval and that how you identify is YOUR BUSINESS!

Fitting into a category is not mandatory.

Be comfortable within yourself and love yourself and all that you are!

Queering the Movement – New York State Youth Leadership Council

Queer and undocumented youth, or “UndocuQueers”, have been a dynamic part of the immigrant rights’ movement. UndocuQueers have been at the forefront of the movement, taking leadership positions, and bridging queer and immigrant communities. This workshop will seek to highlight the experiences of UndocuQueers and the problems they face.

Love on Film – LGBTQ Movies by Teens for Teens –  Scenarios USA 

Scenarios USA youth will screen two of our short films, written by youth and directed by Hollywood directors.

Man in the Mirror, written by high school junior Treviny Colon (NYC) and directed by Joel Schumaker, tells the story of a high school basketball player whose identity is questioned by his peers. He must make a decision about how far he will go to prove he’s just “one of the boys.”

Who I Am, written by high school student Whitney Peters (Miami) and directed by Jesse Peretz, is a love story between two young women at the crossroads of race and class. The film addresses stereotypes, racism, and homophobia.

After the screenings,  a Scenarios USA youth will host a Q and A and discussion of the themes in the film (societal definitions of gender, living on the down low, racial and sexual identity, etc.).

Welcoming –  Brooklyn Community Pride Center

This group will focus on the importance of creating a welcoming space and ways to potentially create that anywhere you go. We’ll have role plays, discussion, and share some fun icebreakers. Members will be introduced or refreshed on “door openers” and “door slammers,” conversation starters, etc.

Building Community Support for Youth Survivors of Dating Violence – New York City Anti-Violence Project

Gender Justice and School Pushout- Girls for Gender Equity

 

Session 2

Queer Role Models in the Classroom –  Rachel Cholst 

This workshop is primarily intended for LGBTQ-identified educators. For many queer educators, part of our practice involves acting as queer role models for our students. While there are many rewards in doing so, there are some challenges as well. How can we best support our students as they enter adulthood and the queer community?

The first half of this workshop will be a Quaker-style meeting in which participants will share their experiences (the good, the bad, the hilarious) as LGBTQ educators. In the second half of the workshop, participants will use the experiences shared to create an action plan to further support our LGBTQ-identified students.

Know Your Rights– Fierce  Our Know Your Rights Trainings are an opportunity for Youth to learn about their rights when having encounters with the NYPD. This training covers what to do if you are stopped by the NYPD. We provide youth with resources to take with them to support educating other youth.

Why is there homophobia (“fear” of “the same”) in schools?– Bronx Academy of Lettters

The Basics of Transitioning  –  Hetrick Martin Institute

This workshop will discuss personal disclosure to family, friends, community members, schools, and religious associations. It will also share experiences about the diversity in gender presentation and how we can collect affirming clothing and accessories as we step into our transition. This workshop will include role plays for youth to reflect on their experiences with disclosing their gender to family, kinship family, and other community members.

Defining LGBTQ+ and Breaking Myths About Who We Are! – Grand Street Settlement

The LGBTQ+ is a peer-facilitated group that focuses on LGBTQ+. Join us for an interactive workshop discussion around stigma and stereotypes. This workshop will provide information on gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and biological sex. This workshop will be tons of fun and informative. We hope to see you here!

Defending Your Rights: LGBTQ Self-Defense – Center for Anti-Violence

What are your self-defense rights, and what responsibilities go along with these rights?  In this interactive workshop, participants will explore ways to be safer at school, on the street, and in relationships. Learn basic verbal and physical self-defense techniques, including blocks and strikes, as well as ways to be more aware of your surroundings, and what to do when faced with a potentially dangerous or violent situation.

Music is Revolutionary – Rude Mechanical Orchestra

In this hands-on workshop members from the Rude Mechanical Orchestra will explore the idea that music making can be a powerful act of protest to achieve an activist goal or simply communicate a radical point of view. Participants will be invited to create their own protest chant focused on an issue that is important to them. No experience necessary!

 Finding an LGBT Friendly College– Flaurette King – University of Connecticut