Things you don’t want to miss: drop-in tonight!

Hi folks,

Just a reminder that tonight at SMYRC there is a lot of fun stuff going on!

From 4:30 – 7:30p come hang out with folks from CHATpdx and get a free, rapid HIV test! They’ll do the mouth-swab kind, it is totally free and confidential and anonymous, and it only takes 20 minutes! They are rad. You want to come hang out with these people!

Also, from 4:45 – 6:15p we are having a new group started by one of our extremely awesome (if I do say so myself) interns named Haley. The group is called “Communication in Queer Relationships” and will include great conversations in a safe space, hanging out with other cool youth, and PIZZA! Yes, PIZZA!

And, like always, there will be lots of random, ridiculous, and wonderful fun to be had. See you soon!

Bree

hello, nice to meet you, won’t you hang out at SMYRC this Friday?!

Hi folks!

Some of you may know me, and many of you may not. My name is Bree Abbey and I work at SMYRC. I usually work in our Bridge 13 program (meaning I am out in the community facilitating cultural competency trainings) but for the next month you will see me working a handful of drop-in shifts. I am writing this email not only to introduce myself, but also to give you an update about a fun event later this week!

This Friday from 4:30 – 7:30 we will have folks from CAP (Cascade AIDS Project) to run their “CHATpdx” group. Normally this is an event held downtown, but this time they are generously coming to SMYRC to play games, provide free rapid HIV testing, and to just hang out and have good conversation!

From the CHATpdx Facebook page:
Stop by anytime between 4:30 and 7:30pm, bring a friend OR TWO and show off your Dance Dance Revolution skills, or play tennis or boxing against your best friend. We will have free HIV tests (the mouth swab kind) and in 20 minutes we will give you the results (totally confidential & anonymous)

We will have supplies for you to make buttons, safer sex kits or zines. It’s your space so come enjoy yourself. We also have plenty of board games for you to challenge someone to.

These folks are really awesome, and who doesn’t appreciate the opportunity to get a FREE, anonymous, rapid HIV test? Please come out if you are able to attend!

Hope to see you all there,
Bree

Next week at SMYRC and in the community!

Monday, January 17th:

Brother Outsider Film Screening
3-5:30pm
SMYRC – 3024 NE MLK
In honor of Martin Luther King Day, this year Hands On will partner with SMYRC and PFLAG Portland Black Chapter to show Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin.

Rustin was a tireless civil rights activist and key organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, which is still one of the largest nonviolent protests in U.S. history. Simply for being a gay man, Bayard Rustin was silenced, threatened, arrested, beaten, imprisoned and …fired from important leadership positions. Like many before him, his pivotal role in bringing the Gandhian principles of non-violence to the fight for equal rights has been nearly erased from history.

Know Your Rights for Trans Oregonians
6:30 – 8:30 PM
The Q Center – 4115 N Mississippi Ave.
Sliding scale donation-based entry, wheelchair accessible

A panel of legal experts will answer questions like the following:
*How do I change my name and gender on my driver’s license?
*Can my landlord kick me out for being trans?
*What rights do I have if I’m arrested?

Basic Rights Oregon and a team of pro bono attorneys have recently released an exciting guide, “Know Your Rights: Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Trans Oregonians’ Rights.” Free copies of the guide will be available and legal experts will be on hand to answer questions and offer referrals around topics ranging from documentation to housing. Presenters include Beth Allen and Tiffany Harris, top attorneys who worked on the guide, and Sasha Buchert , legal expert and member of BRO’s Trans Policy Working Group.

RSVP here: https://equalityfederation.salsalabs.com/o/35028/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=471

Friday, January 21st:

FREE HIV testing at SMYRC with CHATpdx

Come hang out with the folks who run the CHAT(room) testing nights, every 2nd and 4th Monday at Pivot. Get your free rapid test and know your status in 20 minutes!

Saturday, January 22nd:

Clackamas County GSA Summit
12:30pm-5:10pm
Clackamas County Community College
Roger Rook Hall
Literary Arts Center (Room 220)
19600 Molalla Ave
Oregon City, OR 97045
(Bus lines 32, 33, and 99)

Learn how to combat everyday bullying and oppression, empower your peers, and grow your Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) at this year’s Clackamas County GSA Summit. This year’s workshop topics include: Suicide Prevention, Racial Justice, Anti-Bullying, and Trans Justice. For youth ages 14-20.

Dinner and snacks will be provided.
Please RSVP by7 January 19th
TheLivingRoomCoordinator@gmail.com
503.901.5971

Athens Boys Choir and Katastrophe at SMYRC! (and more!)

Come to SMYRC for a FREE show with Athens Boys Choir and Katastrophe! With an outstanding opening act of drag performer Juicy and vocalist/guitarist Lucas Liquori, this show is sure to get you dancin!

THURSDAY, January 13th

ALL AGES PERFORMANCE!
HATE-FREE, SOBER SPACE!
Doors open at 7pm,
…Show starts at 8pm!

Ok, so the name Athens Boys Choir can be a bit deceiving but you can’t blame a Transsexual man living in the Deep South for having a sense of humor about the whole ordeal. So Katz, the Choir’s now solo member, travels the country speaking “the good word” throwing down hard hitting spoken-word that deals with issues of Gender, Politics, Love, Sex, and everything in-between.

http://www.athensboyschoir.com/

Katastrophe (aka Rocco Kayiatos) is a San Francisco based rapper and producer. He’s a seasoned vet on the mic and got his start competing in poetry slams in 1997. Combining his love of music and language, he started rapping and making beats in 2002. He uses his poetic grasp of language to weave dense tales of lives lived outside the mainstreams of education, class, and culture. He makes hip-hop that explodes with dangerous and ebullient passion. Crafting both dark anthems of anxiety and righteous rage, and sexy, flirtatious, booty-shaking pop/rap bangers. Katastrophe is a wonder – both authentic and audacious, emitting enough raw energy to electrify Las Vegas and enough earnest analysis to save you years of therapy.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/katastrophe/58397110072?v=info

And here are some other amazing community events coming up! Check em out!

Know Your Rights for Trans Oregonians
Monday, January 17th
6:30 – 8:30 PM
The Q Center – 4115 N Mississippi Ave.
Sliding scale donation-based entry, wheelchair accessible

A panel of legal experts will answer questions like the following:
*How do I change my name and gender on my driver’s license?
*Can my landlord kick me out for being trans?
*What rights do I have if I’m arrested?

Basic Rights Oregon and a team of pro bono attorneys have recently released an exciting guide, “Know Your Rights: Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Trans Oregonians’ Rights.” Free copies of the guide will be available and legal experts will be on hand to answer questions and offer referrals around topics ranging from documentation to housing. Presenters include Beth Allen and Tiffany Harris, top attorneys who worked on the guide, and Sasha Buchert , legal expert and member of BRO’s Trans Policy Working Group.

RSVP here: https://equalityfederation.salsalabs.com/o/35028/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=471

Clackamas County GSA Summit
Saturday, January 22nd
12:30pm-5:10pm
Clackamas County Community College
Roger Rook Hall
Literary Arts Center (Room 220)
19600 Molalla Ave
Oregon City, OR 97045(Bus lines 32, 33, and 99)

Learn how to combat everyday bullying and oppression, empower your peers, and grow your Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) at this year’s Clackamas County GSA Summit. This year’s workshop topics include: Suicide Prevention, Racial Justice, Anti-Bullying, and Trans Justice. For youth ages 14-20.

Dinner and snacks will be provided.
Please RSVP by7 January 19th
TheLivingRoomCoordinator@gmail.com
503.901.5971