Workshops at the Symposium for Learning and Community

9:00 am - 10:45 am

Our workshop will introduce conference attendees to the Two-Spirit (2S) Support Boat, a health hub for Indigiqueer People by Indigiqueer People. This hub has been created in response to the massive retraction of health information across the United States in 2025, including within Tribal spaces. We will describe the support boat’s components, including 2S stories of joy and resilience; information about 2S/LGBTQ+ healthcare; connection to mutual aid and clinician/community/family guides, all oriented towards bolstering advocacy and bodily sovereignty within the turbulent and perilous waters we are traversing.

3:00 pm - 4:15 pm

Menstruation can be a difficult, confusing, potentially dysphoria-inducing, and sometimes awkward conversation for a lot of trans men, transmasculine individuals, and other transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people who menstruate. But it doesn’t have to be! This session will introduce inclusive and affirming language and slang to use to talk about menstruation, debunk common TGD menstrual myths, and explore the relationships between menstruation and the TGD body (for both those in therapy and those who are not). Participants will develop strategies to alleviate potential menstruation-induced dysphoria, including exploring TGD-inclusive menstrual products and menstruation cessation techniques. Attendees will also have the (optional) opportunity to participate in a group discussion on menstrual experiences and sentiments and share any personal strategies they may use to manage discomfort or dysphoria related to menstruation. This workshop will also examine systemic and structural barriers to menstrual equity and care that are unique to the TGD experience, as well as provide suggestions for addressing or overcoming these barriers. 

3:00 pm - 4:15 pm

This session will offer a comprehensive overview of family building options for transgender individuals and couples, centering on both medical pathways and legal protections. The Presenters will walk participants through the medical landscape of fertility preservation, assisted reproductive technology (ART), and treatment considerations specific to transgender patients. The Presenters will outline the legal considerations that arise before, including the use of donors, surrogacy, parentage establishment, and confirmatory adoption. Attendees will leave with practical knowledge and resources to better navigate or support the journey to parenthood for transgender individuals. 

9:30 am - 10:45 am 

Getting your affirming care covered by insurance can be a long and complicated process, and the anti-trans political climate can make it hard to tell what coverage is possible. Health insurance companies often make it difficult to understand what procedures and treatments are covered and how to get them approved. In this presentation, we will go over 1) a quick summary of the current legal health care landscape, 2) basic background on how health insurance works, 3) how to understand what your health insurance covers, 4) common reasons that health insurance companies deny affirming care, and 5) what to do if your insurance company denies your care, with a focus on how to appeal a denial based on "medical necessity". We will reserve time at the end of the presentation for Q&A. Please note that this presentation is focused on appealing insurance denials for adult patients, and the presenters are not able to provide legal advice. A4TE will be sharing information so you can understand the insurance appeals process and advocate for yourself. 

1:30 pm - 2:45 pm

Preparing for affirming surgery is a complex process to navigate and making decisions about what surgery(ies) to undergo is not easy. In this workshop, we will talk about how some people prepare to undergo this type of care and open a conversation with attendees about the topic. We will cover practical aspects like navigating readiness assessments and recovery planning to less commonly discussed topics like how to plan for challenging emotions around surgery. We’ll also share information about our upcoming research project which focuses on this topic and hopes to gather community-centered ideas of ideal patient preparation process. 

11:00 am - 12:15 pm

While most people know that the "I" in the LGBTQIA+ acronym stands for intersex, we found that there's still a gap in knowledge when it comes to the general public being able to define intersex. Intersex people make up approximately 2% of the population, and yet the erasure of intersex people and their experiences is still so prevalent. This session is designed to raise awareness and inspire participants to help us create a future where intersex people feel affirmed and safe in their bodies. This session will thoroughly define intersex and outline the key issues facing the community and how they overlap with the broader LGBTQ+ community. We will also discuss common misconceptions, non-consensual medical interventions, intersex policy initiatives, and ways to be an ally and get involved with intersex advocacy efforts. 

1:30 pm - 2:45 pm 

In a world where trans lives are criminalized, misrepresented, or ignored by legal systems, understanding the law is not optional - it is a survival tool. In this talk, a transgender public interest law student and longtime DEI leader in the courts offers a unique perspective on legal education as a form of community care, mutual defense, and mythic resistance. This session explores how the law can serve as both sword and shield: a weapon we wield for justice, and a barrier we hold up for protection. Drawing from her lived experience, advocacy, philosophy, and community work, The presenter invites attendees to reimagine the law not as something distant or hostile - but as a domain trans people must enter, reshape, and ultimately claim. Attendees will leave with tools for finding legal literacy, stories of resistance, and a renewed belief in the power of knowledge, storytelling, and collective action. No legal background required (just a willingness to learn, imagine, and rise together). 

11:00 am - 12:15 pm

What does it mean to sound like ourselves? In this session, we’ll talk about how voice training can be both an act of care and a form of resistance—helping us move away from misgendering, trauma, and narrow ideas of how we “should” sound. Voice is often treated like something we’re born with and stuck with, but it’s actually as changeable as our clothes, hair, or makeup. When we choose to change it, we push back against the idea that biology defines us. Whether you’re new to voice work or picking it back up, you’ll leave with practical, affirming tools to help you find a voice that feels like you. No experience needed, and no such thing as a perfect voice. 

3:00 pm - 4:15 pm

Come build skillz to protect yerself and yer neighbors in this yes-homo, trans-led, masks-required martial arts workshop for folks of all sizes! Ye'll learn how to wield a stick (or your everyday cane) for community defense, rooted in an Irish tradition of bashing back against colonization with plenty of lessons relevant for us today. And you'll learn in a beginner and spoony friendly environment guided by a neurospicy, disabled teacher and familial steward of this tradition. Our classes offer practical skill development rooted in play and connection, not fear. We don't fight like them. We fight like us! So come through, come play, come fight, and come stick together. Yer ready as you are! 

 9:30 am -10:45 am

This workshop examines the historical and ongoing impact of HIV/AIDS within transmasculine populations, emphasizing the absence of elders due to systemic neglect and epidemiological invisibility. We’ll explore how this erasure has contributed to lasting gaps in care, prevention, and community knowledge. Participants will engage with first-person narratives and critically examine the binary frameworks that continue to shape HIV discourse. Blending grief frameworks, modern media, and epistemological research, the session considers how a nonbinary lens on collective loss—and the long-neglected role of transmasculine identity within the tapestry of HIV/AIDS—can shape transformative pathways toward health justice. Ultimately, we center collective grief-as-empowerment, and trans-led advocacy as essential strategies for achieving health equity. 

11:00 am - 12:15 pm

Our brilliance and our sacredness can be found in our experience of pleasure. Pleasure can mean so many things and includes sexual pleasure, an experience that can be complicated but can also create a depth of connection to ourselves, other people, and the world around us. At a time when our country wants to attack our humanity and make us smaller, leaning into our pleasure is a way for us to resist those forces and share our wisdom, energy, experience, and brilliance – to make and hold our deeply important and sacred place in this world. In this workshop we’ll make space for your ideas, your feelings, your knowledge and your questions about how to use both pleasure and sexual pleasure as tools of resistance. 

1:30 pm -2:45 pm

This presentation will explore the romantic and intimate relationship between two transgender individuals of color, highlighting the unique dynamics, emotional bonds, and social challenges they may face living in Newark, NJ. While transgender representation is growing, specific narratives about transgender-transgender long-term relationships remain under-discussed and sometimes exaggerated. This session aims to center those relationships, promote understanding, and encourage more inclusive research and support.