Young Indigenous Queers Retreat to Provide Safer Spaces for Genderqueer and LGBTQ2S+ Relatives to Strategize How to Break Cycles of Violence
Albuquerque, New Mexico - August 3- 4, 2018 - The Coalition to Stop Violence
Against Native Women CSVANW)
will host the 2nd Annual Young Indigenous Queers Retreat (YIQR) at the Native American Community Academy Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Indigenous gender queer youth between the ages of 16-25 years old have been invited to the YIQR to strategize on how to break the cycle of violence amongst Native womyn, children, and LGBTQ2S+ populations in tribal communities. CSVANW will focus on the resiliency of Indigenous woman and LGBTQ2S+ people. It is their intention participants of the event will leave feeling supported, encouraged, and reenergized to continue to work towards youth-centered organizing and activism within tribal communities. The Young Indigenous Queers Retreat is a space where critical dialogues can occur in an environment that fosters these conversations and actions in addition to holding space for a needed debriefing on trauma and healing.
Native youth exposure to violence and/or perpetuation of violence is a persistent and complex problem within the state of New Mexico. According to The National Council on Crime and Delinquency Focus, one in three teens is a victim of physical, emotional, or verbal abuse from a dating partner (Davis, 2008). The Teenage Research Unlimited also reported that only 33% of teens say they told someone after experiencing dating violence (Claiborne, 2005). The New Mexico Youth Risk & Resiliency Survey reports that New Mexico LGBTQ youth who were unsure about their sexuality were three times more likely to be forced to have sex, or experienced physical dating violence. Additionally, more than 50% of Native LGBTQ students reported experiencing physical violence at school because of their sexual orientation and more than 1 in 3 reported missing class at least once a month for fear of being bullied or harassed (Tomedi, 2017).
"Our genderqueer relatives deserve to be seen and appreciated for the power that we carry with us that is grounded in resistance, love for our land, and love for our people. LGBTQ2S+ experience violence at much higher rates than our heterosexual counterparts, so their idea's and knowledge should be used to teach us how to imagine a future without violence" says our lead organizer and CSVANW Native Youth Coordinator, Keioshiah Peter (Diné).
The Young Indigenous Queers Retreat will have workshops and presentation that cover a variety of topics including reproductive justice, LGBTQ health, intergenerational trauma, safer sex, and Transgender 101. At the same time, CSVANW hopes to encourage dialogue that will assist the organization in providing more relevant information to our members and stakeholders on supporting enderqueer and LGBTQ+ relatives in the movement to end violence.
The Young Indigenous Queers Retreat is being made possible through generous foundations, community partnerships and sponsorship through the University of New Mexico LGBTQ Resource Center, the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico, the New Mexico Health Equity Partnership, and Solace Crisis Treatment Center.
For more information on the Young Indigenous Queers Retreat, visit
www.csvanw.org
