Pictured: Sean Dorsey ( above ) and Shawna Virago, two performers from the Fresh Meat Festival. Photos by Lydia Daniller.
June has become the month for Pride celebrations and, for trans folks, this year offers more venues than ever to show your pride or protest the current political environment. A few events ( past and future ) :
—New England Trans Pride March: With the organizers' slogan ( 'Remember Stonewall? That was us!' ) recalling the 1969 New York City riots, the First Annual New England Trans Pride March ushered in the Pride season June 7 when Northampton, Mass.—the town best known as 'Lesbianville, USA'—played host to 1,000 trans and ally marchers.
The following rally featured trans entertainers and speakers like folk singers Joe Stevens ( of Coyote Grace ) and Cathy Worthley, and activists Gunner Scott, Monica Roberts and Donna Rose. One of the event's organizers, Bet Power—director and curator of the Sexual Minorities Archives—urged lesbians and gays to 'intensify their support of the transgender community.'
—Fresh Meat Festival: Years before the debut of dedicated trans marches, San Francisco's Fresh Meat Festival provided an annual outlet for transgender artists and their supporters. Launched in 2001 by choreographer Sean Dorsey, Fresh Meat Productions supports established and emerging trans and queer artists. Seven years later, they're still the only festival of their kind in the United States, but they've gained such a following they've had to move to a larger theater.
Fortunately, the relocation to Project Artaud Theater now accommodates ensemble performances like the Transcendence Gospel Choir, the country's only all transgender choral group ( featured in the documentary The Believers ) .
'The Transcendence Gospel Choir does exactly what Fresh Meat is all about,' Dorsey contends. ' [ They ] inspire, affirm, open hearts and minds—all while making really good art. [ It's a ] joyful, powerful, deeply moving articulation of the … strength of our community.'
This year, Fresh Meat was able to commission five ensembles creating 'cutting-edge work in traditional art forms.' Dorsey admitted, 'I want to have trans and queer communities … see ourselves reflected onstage in traditional culture, to reclaim our place in history as important culture bearers and leaders.'
The 7th Annual Fresh Meat Festival ran June 19-22. This year's performance include the festival's first opera; trans performers Scott Turner Schofield and Ryka Aoki De La Cruz; and trans musicians Lipstick Conspiracy, Katastrophe and Shawna Virago. The festival's Fresh Meat Gallery will exhibit work by transgender and gender variant visual artists.
—San Francisco Trans March: The Fifth Annual San Francisco Trans March, 'Marching for a Gender Inclusive ENDA,' will be held Frid., June 27. Festivities feature 30 trans and gender-variant bands, artists and performers. Former HRC board member Donna Rose will give the keynote speech. Nearly 7,500 people came out last year, and organizers are expecting over 10,000 participants in the march.
—Trans Day of Action for Social & Economic Justice: On the opposite coast, New York City will be celebrating the fourth annual Trans Day of Action for Social & Economic Justice June 27 at City Hall Park. Organized by the Audre Lorde Project's TransJustice project, the Day of Action hopes to develope solidarity with other civil rights movements and social justice organizations. Trans Day of Action ( myspace.com/transjusticenyc ) organizers say they want to let the world know that ' [ t ] he Stonewall rebellion is not over and we will continue fighting for social and economic justice, raising our voices until we are heard.'
—Twin Cities Trans March: On Sat., June 28, Twin Cities Trans March organizers hope to avoid last year's snafu, when 200-250 marchers were stopped by Minneapolis police, who insisted the marchers disperse or face arrest—despite a valid permit. The stand-off reportedly lasted 45 minutes before organizers agreed to suspended the rally.
Supporters view the second annual event as an alternative to Pride festivities they criticize for 'commercialization [ that ] draws attention away from vitally needed activism and political education.'
An all-ages after-party at Pi Bar will feature entertainers like 'queernerdcore' band Tough Tough Skin, drag performers Esme Rodrigues and Kysa Bong and the Androgyny Kings.
Expect even more options for supporting transgender pride next June.
Jacob Anderson-Minshall co-hosts the monthly LGBT literary event, QLiterati! at Portland, Ore.'s Q Center. Contact him at jake@trans-nation.org .
© 2008 Jacob Anderson-Minshall
