Archive for May, 2010

Steering Committee, Teen Oasis and Paid Studies!

May 28, 2010

Hello all…

Next Wednesday we’ve got two great meetings happening…

Steering Committee, 6pm: We’ve got two guests coming in to Steering Committee next week. Joe, who is organizing the Butch Voices Conference which is coming up in Portland on October 2nd, is coming to talk about how you can get involved in the conference, as a participant and as an organizer! Here’s a preview:

“I’m hoping to get participants, attendees and submissions from youth who identify along the butch and transmasculine spectrum regarding issues that affect them, as well as from their allies and family members. We had a great turnout in Oakland, CA last year with an age range from 16 to 73, covering a wide array of races, walks of life, and locations across the US and Canada. I’d like to get the youth involved here in Portland, where hopefully together we can make this event accessible and pertinent to making this something they would benefit from as well. I figured I would talk a bit about what BUTCH Voices is about, and the event we held in Oakland to give them an idea of what we’ve accomplished already and to give them an idea of what we’re hoping Portland can be on a smaller more regional scale.”

Also coming to Steering Committee is Meredith Williams, a PhD student looking to talk to gender non-conforming folks of all types! This is a PAID study and she’ll be at Steering Committee answering any questions folks have about this study. Here’s a preview of what she’s presenting:
“I am conducting a study of gender non-conforming youth and young adults (age 15-24) about their gender development and their family relationships. I plan to use this research to help inform policies and programs that cater to the unique needs of gender non-conforming youth. The interviews last about two hours, are confidential (no names will be collected), and participants will be compensated $25 for your time.

I will be conducting interviews in Portland June 6-8, 2010. If you are willing to share your story with me, please contact me and I’ll
schedule an interview time. You don’t have to use your name, and I will not keep your contact information. You can get more information at: http://transgenderyouthstudy.com/

Teen Oasis Planning Meeting, 7pm: Come plan for the youth run, youth only booth at Pride this year! Queer games, queer history, safer sex supplies and more is just the beginning of what folks have started planning for this rad booth.

And here’s some info on one more paid study just for good measure!

“My name is Kelly Maynes and I am a student at Pacific University in the School of Professional Psychology. I am writing this email to you in regard to your interest in participating in a research project that is being led by Dr. Dan Munoz (SEE BELOW EMAIL), a professor here at Pacific U. Dr. Munoz conducts a great deal of gender and sexuality-focused research with the goal of promoting the care for the LGBTQ community within the field of psychology. A current project that is being conducted within our lab involves the body satisfaction of individuals who identify as FTM . There is a great deal of research that focuses on the factors that influence body image and body satisfaction of heterosexual individuals (predominately female); however, there is a paucity of research that focuses on the body image and body satisfaction levels of individuals who identify as transsexual/trans/ FTM , etc.

One goal of this project is to learn more about factors that influence body image and body satisfaction ratings of other populations and extend this information to the community of mental health professionals. I am more than happy to respond to any questions or concerns that you might have. My phone number is 631-806-3327 , please do not hesitate to email or call.

I’m Dan Munoz, professor of psychology at Pacific University’s doctoral program in Portland. We are doing a study looking at the impact of the different stages of transition has on body image in Female-to-Male persons. The whole process is filling out some questionnaires on body image, gender, and eating behaviors. The whole process should take about 30 minutes, we are not asking for any names or identifying information so it will be completely anonymous and participants will be paid $5 in cash for their participation.”

See you next week folks! Have a great weekend!

Steering Committee, Teen Oasis and Paid Studies!

May 28, 2010

Performers needed for Cafe Stage at Pride!

May 27, 2010

Hi folks!

Pride is right around the corner and SMYRC planning is underway!

One way to be involved is to sign up to perform at Pride Fest on the Cafe Stage! SMYRC’s stage time is Sunday, June 20th from 5pm to 6pm. It will be an open mic format, with ten slots available for folks to perform in, each slot about 5 minutes in length. Drag performances, monologues, poetry, music, puppetry, interpretive dance and just about anything else you can dream up are all welcome to be performed!

If you are interested in performing, send me an email, call or text 503.969.2266, or stop by drop in and let me know and I’ll put you on the list! In the event that more than 10 people want to perform, we’ll put everyone’s names in a hat at 4:45pm that day and draw 10 names and that will decide who is performing.

And remember, even though we won’t be at SMYRC, you will be representing SMYRC and so all SMYRC performance community agreements apply: Keep it respectful to all genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, religions, ages and abilities! No glorification of drugs, alcohol or violence. Have fun! Strut your stuff!

We’re also looking for a few folks to talk on the Main Stage and share their experiences with SMYRC, with coming out, or what community means to them. The main stage time is really a time to show the larger PDX queer communities how important and amazing of a place SMYRC is! We don’t know the details yet on when that time slot is, but let me know if you are interested!

Free QDoc tickets for folks 23 and under!

May 27, 2010

SMYRC is a community partner on the opening night film "Forever's Gonna Start Tonight." Hope to see lots of young people there!

Teen Oasis!

May 22, 2010

Come to Steering Committee this Wednesday, May 26th at 6pm to help plan the Teen Oasis at Pride this year! We need all the help we can get- from planning activities to running the booth during Pride Fest to making decorations for the booth- there is so much to be involved in! Pride Northwest is giving you up to $200 this year to make this Teen Oasis one of the best ever!

So far some of the plans have been:
-Teen Oasis Time Machine–looking back at queer leaders, troublemakers and creative minds and looking forward at what queer youth are doing today to make queer history. Some of the ideas to incorporate this theme is a “Where’s Waldo” type activity where folks have to spot other youth wearing Teen Oasis made buttons of queer historymakers and when they have found a certain number around Pride Fest they get a prize… what other ideas do you have? -Lots of snacks!
-Gender Gumby
-Apples to Apples–maybe a queer specific version that Teen Oasis planners make?

What other ideas do you have? Teen Oasis needs lots of input and there are a lot of different ways to get involved!

Upcoming Pride Planning!

May 19, 2010

Hello Folks!

The Oregon Queer Youth Summit and Prom were both great successes! Thanks to all who attended, ran workshops, volunteered and danced it up this weekend.

Next up at SMYRC: Pride Planning! Portland’s LGBTQ Pride Festival and Parade are happening on June 19th and 20th this year and so it’s time to start planning for SMYRC’s involvement.

The next meeting for the Teen Oasis booth (a youth run, youth only booth at Pride) is going to be on Friday, May 21st at 6pm. So far the ideas generated are to turn the booth into a time machine and focus on queer histories and queer futures (along with food, Apples to Apples, and Gender Gumby).

The first official meeting for Pride Planning is going to be on Saturday, May 22nd at 5pm. We need to decide on some t-shirt designs, what we want the SMYRC float to look like and more. Bring your ideas!

If you aren’t able to make it, feel free to send me an email and I’ll make sure to add your Pride ideas to the list.

This weekend at SMYRC: Drag Night, OQYS and Prom!

May 13, 2010

It’s going to be a busy busy SMYRC weekend here in Portland!

Friday, May 14th : SMYRC’s monthly Drag Night from 7:30-9pm. Sign up starts at 6:30pm. Last month for our first monthly Poetry Night we had some drag performances… maybe this month we’ll get some poetry in drag?

Saturday, May 15th: SMYRC and the Oregon Safe Schools and Community Coalition bring you the Oregon Queer Youth Summit! At this time, registration is closed — folks who have not pre-registered may put themselves on our wait list at 9 AM at City Hall in case we have any last-minute cancellations. Conference registration costs $5 and includes breakfast and lunch. If you’ve already registered, show up to sign in at 9 am and hear our incredible keynote speakers, featuring former SMYRC and Pride Project youth and Sherwood Pride Project group co-founder Kelsey and Portland’s own Mayor Sam Adams.

Then, come to SMYRC for our annual Queer Prom! This year’s Steampunk theme (don’t forget about the Steampunk workshop at OQYS, with makeup assistance from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence ) is sure to provide some incredible outfits, but formal dress, or themed dress is not required. Just be ready to dance it up!

Keep on enjoying the sunshine today and we’ll see you this weekend!

Oops! One more thing! :)

May 6, 2010

Also on Friday is going to be the first meeting to start planning the Teen Oasis booth at the Pride Festival on June 19th and 20th. The Teen Oasis is a youth run, youth planned, youth only booth at Pride… last year Teen Oasis offered cookie decorating and made some amazing stenciled and spraypainted t-shirts. What do you want to do this year? Come plan the booth at SMYRC at 6pm, Friday May 7th!

See you there!

This weekend at SMYRC!

May 6, 2010

This Friday and Saturday come continue our screenprinting and decoration projects for the Oregon Queer Youth Summit and for prom!

Also on Friday, free HIV testing from 6-9pm with Rej from Queerzone!

If you haven’t registered yet for the Oregon Queer Youth Summit, the deadline has been extended until Saturday! If you want to be able to get the Summit packets, and food for the day, it is VERY important that you pre-register. Go to http://www.smyrc.org/ and click on the red OQYS banner to register. Want to see what you are signing up for? The list of rad workshops is now posted on our website as well! Everything from dance lessons to youth activism to queer media workshops is being offered by some incredible and dedicated queer youth!

Of course, don’t forget about our annual Queer Prom at SMYRC the same night as OQYS! May 15th, from 7-11pm. The theme is Steampunk. (Still not sure what steampunk is? Well don’t worry! There is an OQYS workshop about it! With assistance from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence!)


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