Support LGBTQ Adoptee Activism
Hello!
I'm Liz, the host of this upcoming event, and I am fundraising to help pay these LGBTQ adoptee experts for their time and labor. This is a timely and necessary conversation that I hope you'll support. The event is being live-streamed and recorded, which will make it an incredible future resource. Please help elevate the voices of adoptees in adoption discourse and activism.
*100% of donations will go to paying the panelists for their work.
*Unless you specify yourself as an anonymous donor, we would like to publically recognize you as a co-sponsor of the event (a good opportunity for publicity if you are donating on behalf of an organization!). If you'd like to remain anonymous, please leave me a note in the comment section of your donation saying so.
EVENT DETAILS:
Queer/Trans/National Adoption Politics: An Adoptee Roundtable
Mon, Sept 25 | The Graduate Center, CUNY | C205
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Writer, activist, and adoptee Liz Latty hosts a roundtable on the intersections of queerness and adoption politics in the U.S. and abroad, featuring M Campbell, Amandine Gay, and Tara Linh Leaman. Currently, most adoption discourse and activism in American queer communities focuses on queer and trans subjects as adoptive parents, and is dominated by the voices of adoptive parents and non-adopted professionals. This convocation of LGBTQ adoptees will use queer and feminist lenses to consider the systems, institutions, and experiences of adoption from adoptee-centered perspectives.
How can queer and trans adoptee voices inform adoption discourse and practice in a climate where the fight for reproductive, gender, racial, and economic justice is increasingly urgent? Given the current rhetoric employed by LGBTQ communities around the "right to parent," how can queer and trans adoptees destabilize, expand, and situate this narrative within a larger human rights framework? In what ways can queer and trans adoptees challenge the hetero/homonormative family romance that has been used as a tool of separation, colonization, and nation-building within the context of adoption? These and other questions will guide the evening's discussion. A Q&A will follow.
Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/queertransnational-adoption-politics-an-adoptee-roundtable-tickets-37077770610?aff=es2
Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/479204805792702
SUPPORT ADOPTEE VOICES!
ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS:
M Campbell is a queer, gender non-conforming, transracial, Korean adoptee dedicated to racial, gender, and economic justice, healing, and transformation. M works on issues relating to youth, qtpoc and poc, Asian diaspora, mental health and wellness, adoption, and anti-oppression social work practices and education. They have served on the Undoing Racism Internship Project (URIP) steering committee, and worked with the New York Coalition of Asian American Mental Health (NYCAAMH), the Asian American Federation, and the Coalition on Race, Diversity and Intersectionality (CRDI) with the National Association of Social Workers NYC Chapter (NASW-NYC).
Amongst her many identities, Amandine GAY is a Black queer french transracial adoptee. She's also a Montreal-based afrofeminist filmmaker, activist, and journalist who defines herself as a political author. She divides her time between research and creation as for her, reclaiming the narrative is an act of emancipation
Tara Linh Leaman, JD is an African Vietnamese American transracial adoptee, and knows well the challenges and joys of transforming adversity to resilience. She currently serves as Program Director of Westchester County Department of Social Services’ Westchester Building Futures, a multiyear multimillion dollar initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau which assists youth and young adults in foster care and/or alumni of care. Tara also serves on the board of Holt International Children's Services and Family Equality Council’s National Board of Advisers, and is a graduate of Cornell University and Georgetown Law.
Liz Latty is a queer adoptee writer, activist, and educator whose writing has been published in numerous magazines, journals, and anthologies, as well as nominated for Best American Essays, Best of the Net, and a Pushcart Prize. She is the founder of Open Record Consulting, which offers adoptee-centric, trauma-informed support and education services with a social justice framework for families and professionals. Liz is currently at work on the The Adoption Museum Project’s new history initiative, launching Fall 2017.
