“AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS” (PHOTOS).

Sunday, July 12, 2015. New York City – Yesterday, Saturday, July 11, I attended the community event, “AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS.” The open forum was presented by Visual AIDS and the NYC Trans Oral History Project.

I videotaped the event. Parts of the conversation will be use for the documentary about Phoenix Nastasha Russell. Phoenix is a Black Trans woman living in New York City.

Phoenix Nastasha Russell.
Phoenix Nastasha Russell at the Bowery Poetry Club. Manhattan, NYC.
An image captured from the documentary, “Phoenix: My Life Through Poetry and Activism”.

On Facebook, the organizers said “Amidst ongoing violence and increased visibility for the trans community is the truth of the importance of trans lives. Often missing in conversations between both the great heights of visibility and the epic lows of violence and neglect are trans and gender non-conforming folks who have lived long, storied and rich lives.”

They added, “AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS is centered around the lives and stories of four gender non-conforming folks who have aged resiliently: Kate Bornstein, Sheila Cunningham, Miss Major, and Jay Toole.”

The event, was moderated by Reina Gossett, and it was an opportunity to hear experiences, stories, and insights from multiple generations of people from across the gender spectrum. The event also featured a special performance by electronic musical artist Mizz June.

AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS was inspired by art, activism, and life of Chloe Dzubilo, who passed away in 2011. Although Chloe is no longer with us, it is clear to those who love her and the organizers of this event that she would be among the growing intergenerational dialogue of trans lives and legacies.

AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS was coordinated in conjunction with the second publication of Visual AIDS’ DUETS series, Che Gossett & Alice O’Malley in Conversation on Chloe Dzubilo (2014), which features a conversation between Che Gossett and Alice O’Malley about the art, activism and life of Chloe Dzubilo. DUETS is a series of publications that pairs artists, activists, writers, and thinkers in dialogues about their creative practices and current social issues around HIV/AIDS.

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Participant Biographies

SHEILA CUNNINGHAM. There is not a biography of Sheila.

KATE BORNSTEIN is a world renowned transgender activist, author, playwright, performance artist, blogger and educator who focus on issues of gender and sexuality. Her books “Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us” and “My Gender Workbook” are essential reading in gender, queer and feminist studies. Kate’s books are taught in five languages in over 200 colleges and universities around the world. She lives in New York City with her girlfriend, three cats, two dogs, and one turtle, in whose company she wrote her new memoir, A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology, and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today. For more info on Kate Bornstein: katebornstein.typepad.com

MISS MAJOR GRIFFIN-GRACY, for over 40 years, has been an activist, instigator, and community organizer. From the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion to her current work with the Transgender GenderVariant Intersex Justice Project, Miss Major has worked tirelessly for social justice and the human rights of transgender women of color. She identifies as a father, mother, grandmother, and grandfather to her own children, and to many in the transgender community. Miss Major has spoken around the world about concerns of transwomen of color in the prison industrial complex. Her life and campaigns are currently the focus of a feature length documentary film, which will be released in 2015. For more information visit www.tgijp.org and www.MissMajorFilm.com

JAY TOOLE is a 67 year-old butch identified (well superbutch identified) lesbian who battled addiction for 37 years, during which time she was homeless for over 25 years, and often lived on and under the streets of NYC and in the NYC shelters. In 1999, she got her GED, she began volunteering with The Coalition for the Homeless as a shelter Monitor. In November of 2000 she left the shelter system for her first ever apartment in her own name. Since 2001 she has graduated from The Resource Training Center to become a alcohol and substance abuse counselor with a award and prize for leadership in education, worked part-time as an out-reach worker to the shelter system on recovery issues at the LGBT Community Center. In 2006 she received the Richard L. Schiegel National Legion of Honor Award for Emerging Activist. In 2011, Jay was honored for her service to the transgender community by the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. She is a Co-Founder of Queers for Economic Justice and was the Shelter Project Director for over 14 years and now is the founder of Jay’s House. In 2014 Jay was honored by Camba (one of NYC largest homeless providers) for her continued work to make shelters safer for queer adult homeless.

The goal of the NYC Trans Oral History Project is to develop a community archive that not only provides new sources of knowledge about trans histories, but also serves immediate advocacy and organizing needs in the present. To this end, we are building collaboratively with both community and institutional partners, including: the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, the Digital Transgender Archive, and the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria Library, and VISUAL AIDS.

Visual AIDS is the only contemporary arts organization fully committed to HIV prevention and AIDS awareness through producing and presenting visual art projects, while assisting artists living with HIV/AIDS. We are committed to preserving and honoring the work of artists with HIV/AIDS and the artistic contributions of the AIDS movement. We embrace diversity and difference in our staff, leadership, artists and audiences.

7/11/2015 NYC - Community event: “AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS.” Left to right, Sheila Cunningham, Kate Bornstein, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy and Jay Toole. Photo by Javier Soriano/http://www.JavierSoriano.com/
7/11/2015 NYC – Community event: “AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS.” Left to right, Sheila Cunningham, Kate Bornstein, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy and Jay Toole. Photo by Javier Soriano/http://www.JavierSoriano.com/

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