Oregon Queer Youth Summit, Prom Decorating and more!

Hello folks!

It’s going to be a busy weekend here at SMYRC! Here’s what is happening:

Friday/Tonight:
SMYRC’s monthly Open Mic starts at 8pm and goes until 10pm! Sing your heart out, work that new drag performance you’ve been practicing, read some poetry or just come cheer on your friends! Sign up starts at 7pm. Don’t forget to bring your own music!

Saturday:
Molly’s PSU class is joining us throughout the night to help work on Prom decorations! They’ll be bringing snacks and art supplies to help make our Steampunk themed prom decorations. We’ll also be screenprinting patches for both the Oregon Queer Youth Summit and the Prom. Don’t know how to screenprint? Come Saturday and we’ll teach you!

Speaking of the Oregon Queer Youth Summit, Saturday is the last day to register! Make sure to visit www.smyrc.org to get registered. There are limited spots available and some AMAZING workshops happening. Here are some of the incredible youth run workshops that are happening at City Hall on May 15th: a trans and gender variant youth caucus, a queer youth of color caucus, workshops on Steampunk with the assistance of some of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a zine making workshop, crafting your own stuffed Gender Gumby, a workshop called “How to Tell Adults What to Do,” a interactive workshop on music and sexuality AND MORE! Food is provided for the day, as well as keynote speeches by Kelsey (a former Washington Pride Project youth) and Portland mayor Sam Adams.

We’ll see you there!

awesome conference coming up in Eugene

radical feminism rules

new local project!

Gender(Free) for all has brought us yet another awesome project.  Check out TransFaces!

An Important Message From Steering Committee. Please read!

Hey folks!

SMYRC is having an Extendo on April 23rd from 4-9pm and April 24th from 3-9pm. WE NEED YOU TO COME!!!!

For those of you who don’t know, Extendo is a two day Steering Committee where drop-in is
closed down. Youth won’t be able to access many of the services normally available. It lasts the entire length of a normal drop-in, and if you come you MUST PARTICIPATE IN THE
STEERING COMMITTEE!!! If you don’t want to participate, you must leave the space. You can watch the entire time, you don’t have to talk at all, but there won’t be any of the following: -Computer Use
-Talking about things other than the agenda items
-Making any food (food will be provided in breaks during Extendo) -Going in an out of the art room/ drag closet
-No pool playing

We have been working on an agenda and are welcoming people’s suggestions for what to include, however we are trying to focus on a few specific things. So far, people have brought up the following: -Reviewing the Mission Statement of SMYRC, making any necessary changes and painting it somewhere HIGHLY VISIBLE in the space.
-Reviewing the rules, making necessary changes to eliminate gray areas, and discussing a system of ramifications for breaking the rules
-Defining the on-property lines and where is SMYRC property, and reviewing what you can and cannot do on SMYRC property

If you want more info, message SMYRC on MySpace, Facebook OR email Jess at jess.herbach@smyrc.org. Or just show up and participate!
We REALLY want as many of you to come as possible. This is, after all, a YOUTH RUN space, and the YOUTH are responsible for making AND following all of the rules.

See you soon!

Rainbow, unicorns and copious amounts of glitter!
SMYRC Steering Committee

amazing project

check it out

This Friday! Night of Noise Runway Show!

Night of Noise Runway Show: Wear Your Identity Out Loud!
Come dress up and wear your identity for a fashion show-inspired
runway show! We’ll set up a runway through the middle of the space
(because working the audience is so much fun), and you’ll have your
moment of glory to strut your stuff (or dance, or do cartwheels) down
the runway in an outfit that somehow represents who you are, what your
identity is, or how you happen to be feeling at the moment. You’ll
have a chance before the show to write up a little blurb about who you
are today and how what you’re wearing reflects that identity, and
Rhiannon will read it as you walk the runway. The show will be fairly
fast-paced, so longer, individual performances should be saved for the
Open Mic that will follow. Sign-up for the Runway Show will start as
early as 6pm, so that Rhiannon has time to organize the participants
into some kind of order.

Day of Silence and Night of Noise!

April 16th is the National Day of Silence! It’s also the night of the Washington County Pride Project’s annual Night of Noise at SMYRC!

After being silent all day or supporting those who are, come and speak your mind at this FREE Open Mic event from 7-10pm. This event is open to LGBTQ youth and allies of all ages.

Can’t wait to see you there! Speak up! Get loud!

“What is the Day of Silence?

Founded in 1996 by students at the University of Virginia, and currently officially sponsored in
K-12 schools by GLSEN, the Day of Silence is the largest student-led action to protest the
bullying and harassment of LGBT people and their allies. Participants take a day long vow of
silence and distribute or wear speaking cards with information about anti-LGBT bias and ways
for students and others to “end the silence.” Through Breaking the Silence events, which are
typically held at the end of the school day, students can speak out against harassment and
demand change for their schools and communities.

What can the Day of Silence do?

The Day of Silence can be used as a tool to affect positive change – both personally and
community-wide. The Day of Silence is designed to draw attention to the bullying and
harassment faced by LGBT students everywhere. Silence is used as a tactic to provide a space
for personal reflections about the consequences of being silent and silenced. The Day of
Silence is an effort that can raise awareness on this issue, prompting people to talk and think
about it. Think about what change is needed in your community and how the Day of silence
can be a building block in your efforts to create change.” (taken from the GLSEN Day of Silence Organizing Manual)

SMYRC in the news!

SMYRC has been getting all sorts of publicity lately!

Check out the Just Out article about our 100th Open Mic

Read about SMYRC’s commitment and thanks to our community on a new site

thanks for reading!

call for submissions!

Have you experienced violence and identify on the queer/trans spectrum? Do you have a piece of writing or artwork about it? Please share it!

Transrelating, a ‘zine “on sex, gender, relationships and the rest of us” is accepting submissions for its next issue.

Violence: behavior intending to hurt. Many in the trans/queer communities share the far too common experience of violence directed toward their gender identity and/or sexual orientation- bullied at school by classmates, hurt at home by family, hurt by lovers/partners, hurt by strangers, hurt by a homophobic/transphobic/body-negative/sex-negative culture, hurt by ourselves.

This issue of Transrelating seeks to share some of the common experiences as well as how we can redirect this trend and change a community/culture. All pieces of writing and artwork are welcome (academic essays, rants, poems, stories, pictures, paintings, drawings, etc).

Email submissions to: Transrelating@gmail.com

Submissions should be sent by June 1st, 2010.

“All About T” presentation & discussion at the Q Center

John Otto, M.L.I.S., will present on testosterone treatment for FTM identified folks, including types of T, administration & dosage, physical & emotional changes, long-term effects, and more!

Friday, April 23
6-8pm
@ Portland’s Q Center
4115 N Mississippi (@ Mason)
$5-20 sliding scale donation
(no one turned away for lack of funds)

Brought to you by Tranz Guys PDX – for more info, visit: http://www.tranzguyspdx.org or email: tranzguys@gmail.com
**This presentation is informational and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice.**