In the early 20th century, Mabel Dodge Luhan was a wealthy patron of the arts who utilized the resources available to her to support artists, writers, and free-thinkers. She was also an openly bisexual woman who married four times. Her last marriage was to Pueblo Native American Antonio Luhan in Taos, New Mexico, where she would spend the rest of her life.
Buffalo is a long way from Taos, and 2017 is a long was from the 1920's. Join the Burchfield Penney Art Center for a panel discussion as LGBTQ individuals in Buffalo talk about their experiences with forming identity--what shifts, what remains constant, and how external and internal identity influences one's conception of self
This event is free and open to the public.
Panelists include:
Dr. Ruth Goldman, Moderator
Ruth Goldman works professionally and on a volunteer basis as a filmmaker, film programmer, community activist, and educator and combines all four whenever possible. She is an Assistant Professor of Communication at SUNY-Buffalo State where she teaches media production and critical cultural studies. She also co-curates the Beyond Boundaries: Dare to Diverse Film Screening and Discussion Series at the Burchfield Penney Art Center. Ruth got her start in queer activism 30 years ago when she joined the People’s Gay Alliance at the University of Massachusetts. Twenty years ago she published a still popular article critiquing queer theory for its inattention to what we now call intersectionality. Ruth has also made a series of short films that playfully critique gender and sexuality binaries. Ruth just completed teaching Buffalo State’s first queer film class and is working on curriculum for a introduction to LGBTQAI studies course.
Jayden McClam
Jayden McClam is an 18 year old Black nonbinary activist, witch, and prison abolitionist living in Buffalo. They spent the last 12 years in a white, private, Catholic, “all girls” school, forcibly bowing at the feet of a queerphobic white Jesus. After the conclusion of over a decade of oppressive socialization, they are now unlearning the belief that they are inherently unnatural or wrong. They spend their time cooking vegan food, writing, being involved in the Black activist collective Just Resisting (JR), and taking care of themself. Jayden is dedicated to both personal and collective healing, and dreams of a world where individual value is not determined by productivity or output. They will be attending Howard University in the fall to study Sociology, Psychology, and Computer Science, and they fully intend cause ruckus in D.C.
Gyasi Curry
Gyasi Curry is an aspiring activist, born to a Jamacian family in Long Beach, California. During his time at SUNY Buffalo State, he has been President of the Buffalo State Travelers Club and a Student Recruiter for the International Education office. In May of 2017, Curry graduated from SUNY Buffalo State with a Bachelor's in Communication Studies, concentrating his studies on Italian language and intersectionality amongst the queer community via POC position points. Curry is a gay male who likes to also identify as bisexual. Gyasi Curry's dream job would be to either be a public diplomat for America in other countries or become a motivational speaker.
Harper Bishop
Harper Bishop is currently the economic and climate justice coordinator at Open Buffalo, but their activism around progressive queer issues as well as economic justice has extended for nearly a decade. Bishop founded the REEL Queer Film Series roughly two and a half years ago, which screens a queer film every few months and facilitates a panel discussion by local queers and experts after the film. The highly successful series began at Hallwalls and is now quartered at Dreamland. They founded and are currently active in Queers for Racial Justice, an activist group based on the Black Lives Matter movement. The group has canvassed the local queer bars and gone door-to-door in South Buffalo discussing queer racial justice issues with residents. It also organized a group of queers to participate in the SURJ protest at New Era Field when Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem before a Bills game, and has lobbied the Allentown Association on behalf of queer and Latino businesses struggling with the gentrification of the neighborhood.
Alex Oceann