"GenderQueer or Transmasculine person"
As a Steering Committee Member of hotpot! Philly, I have the opportunity to attend various LGBTQ conferences and summits. I just returned from the NQAPIA (National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance) Conference held in Chicago, IL this August. I was very excited to see old friends I hadn't seen in months, years even! I left with a renewed energy around and commitment to the importance of convening this unique community, making time to learn, and of being political!
I identify as Gender Non Conforming, GenderQueer or Transmasculine person. That means that my preferred gender pronouns are “he” and “they”. It also means that I don't identify with being female, which was the gender (sex) the doctor chose for me when they looked at my genitalia at birth. Having no concept of a gender spectrum, my parents of course accepted that I was female. Finding my gender identity, gender expression, and whom I romantically and sexually attracted to took a great deal of time and effort, both mentally and emotionally. My involvement with hotpot! and NQAPIA have helped me tremendously in finding the answers I needed to these questions.
Day One of the NQAPIA conference began with the Welcoming Reception dinner, the first opportunity to reconnect with my dear friends Alison, Sasha, and Glenn, which not even my struggle to recover my lost luggage could damper. On Day Two, with only five hours of sleep, bleary-eyed but with fiery spirit, I walked down the Conference hall, determined to soak up as much of the experience as possible. My favorite workshop of the day might have been “Clueless Parents/Allies - What to Tell Them about Gender Identity?” led by a group of awesome PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Gays and Lesbians) moms! On Day Three, I awoke even more tired, but still full of smiles and open to the opportunity to make more new friends.
I went to this year's conference with several goals in mind; I want to be more political in terms of working on immigrant's rights issues, to become a better leader, and to be a better speaker. All three of these goals were addressed through two NQAPIA workshops. The first one was the “Formation and Direction of Queer Asian Spaces” where we discussed the issues of shifting from just doing social activities to also doing political activities such as rallies and marches, and to broader issues affecting political movements, such as recruiting members and leadership turnover. The second workshop was called “Yes and...? Developing your Leadership Style through Techniques of Improv and Public Speaking”.
This workshop was a lot of fun because it was basically 75 minutes of games! Example: three people sat in front of the room and were interviewed as an expert of something by a TV host. The audience then asked them questions, and they had to answer as one person, each speaking only one word at a time to form complete sentences to answer the question. It's tougher than it sounds!
Day Four brought the dreaded time to say goodbye to old and new friends.This conference taught me so much; not only did it strengthen my commitment to doing more political work, but I now have one more thing that I have always had in mind but couldn't do because I didn't think I have the time or the capabilities to do. I have make the decision to apply and become NQAPIA’s Board Member.
* Laurent Widjaya is a queer Indonesian immigrant. They are work passionate about LGBTQ immigration and gender bender issues. They are work as a medical and legal interpreter and are active in the Indonesian immigrant community. They have supported and worked for Immigrants' Rights, DAPA, and repealing the PARS Agreement while remaining deeply invested in the freedom to live a happy queer life.
