2022 LGBTQ* / Queer Jam
Apply today!
It is with great excitement that we invite you to participate in the 2022 spring virtual LGBTQ* Jam.
The Jam is a powerful gathering of 20-30 dynamic and diverse individuals from LGBTQ* communities. We will dive into deep listening, sharing, self-discovery, systemic inquiry and community-building together, all through the virtual platform of Zoom.
For 32 years, YES! has brought together change-makers from around the world. This year, YES! facilitators from LGBTQ* communities are offering our 5th-ever Queer Jam – and our second virtual Jam on zoom – focused on the struggles and possibilities in our communities.
We’ll come together to share our challenges and breakthroughs; nurture ourselves; support and inspire each other; explore our identities; find intersections for future collaborations; and build more resilient communities and networks. In the midst of a global pandemic and global uprisings for racial justice, there is an ever-deeper calling and need for community and connection, and we are rising to the occasion, remembering that we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
The Zoomy Jam will take place from Tuesday, March 1st to Monday, March 7th, 2022, with five sessions held on March 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 (no all-group sessions on Thursday, March 3 and Sunday, March 6). Each session will take place from 9-11:30 am PST // 12-2:30 pm EST. Sessions will be about two hours long with a 30 minute hangout afterward.
What is a Jam?
In music, a jam is a creative, live gathering of musicians who together, spontaneously create a new sound. Similar to that, YES! Jams are places where diverse leaders and visionaries bring together their passions, openness, and unique perspectives. In spontaneous connection, we weave layers of experience, wisdom, heart, and spirit to create some real magic. The Jam asks that all the players are present and ready to listen deeply to each other, and together, we create something greater than we as individuals can create alone.
A lot of movement trainings are about strategy, but leave out how to build healthy relationships. Other retreats focus on personal transformation but leave out systemic change. Some trainings work on leadership and power dynamics, but forget our souls.
YES! brings all three together — we give change-makers tools to build open-hearted, healthy communities where people can be real with each other. The Jam is not a conference, seminar or a typical meeting – it is something unique. It’s dedicated time to think and feel deeply about transformation in our world, in our communities, and in ourselves. There are in-depth conversations and there is a lot of fun, art, and creativity. There is dancing and embodiment, group explorations, and co-creations, as well as solo time and internal reflection.
The Jam works on 3 levels:
On the personal level, the Jam is a place to share and reflect on your life journey and work in the world. It is a time to replenish, recharge and renew, and to gain specific and practical tools for self-care and personal sustainability. It is also an opportunity to grow in self-knowledge, to ask meaningful questions, to unlearn our fears and blocks, and to co-create new possibilities together.
On the interpersonal level, we come together to share our backgrounds, our stories and our struggles, to deepen in our understanding of each other and of ourselves. During the Jam, we hope to discover our commonalities and celebrate our differences. The intention is to build trust and friendship, in a meaningful way. This means challenging stereotypes, being present with each other, speaking truth, working through tough places and being open to giving and receiving support. We feel that the more authentic our relationships are, the stronger the foundations we will have for developing new collaborations and synergies within our movements and communities.
On the systemic level, the Jams give us time to become clearer about our vision and work in the world. We get a chance to link issues that aren’t commonly linked, to notice crucial intersection points, and get a clearer picture of the whole. We come together to learn from each other: about what is working, about what mistakes we have made, about where we need help. We have a chance to share tools and ideas to support one another. In turn, we hope this helps us to generate a body of collective wisdom for change. We also hope it will enable each participant to feel deepened in their capacity to affect meaningful positive change and carry their dreams forward.
The facilitation team has collectively co-organized and co-facilitated many different Jams. We will be fully participating in the Jam, bringing our questions too. We don’t have all the answers (or maybe any of them!). What we do offer is a variety of ways for each of us to arrive at our own answers — and new questions. We’ll use a number of processes and tools and experiment with different ways of being together, all aimed at strengthening our self-awareness, our ability to communicate and work through conflicts, and our ability to vision and put these pieces together. We see the Jam as a co-learning journey of the collective experiences, questions, powers, and differences of everyone who attends.
What do you mean by LGBTQ*?
We use LGBTQ* with the star as an all-inclusive symbol for queer and trans communities, for all the different sexualities and gender identities and expressions; it is meant to be inclusive and a way to include the ever changing multiplicities of who we are. In other words, a few letters just can’t define you because of your completely unique star quality.
Why an LGBTQ* Jam?
The Jam will be time to indulge in the multi-facted representation of queer experiences and people – a room full of people interested in exploring our identities, how we relate to each other across our differences, and what we can bring to the world from our amazing traditions of social change.
We want to explore the questions, visions and challenges in our communities and movements:
- What is alive for my queer identity, given my other social identities and my geographic place in the world? How can we create truly supportive global queer communities in a non-western centric sense?
- How do the complexities of our identities shape, empower, and complicate our inner worlds, our relationships, and our work in the world? How can we create spaces where the complexity of queerness is appreciated and serves as a doorway for personal growth and understanding? How does my queerness intersect with my privileged identities?
- What are the connections and common ground within and amongst LGBTQ* communities and movements? Where do we struggle and feel divided, and how can we build bridges in those places?
- How can I go deeper into and be with the complexity of the multiplicity of gender expressions and identities? How are they understood across different cultural contexts and geographies?
- How do we integrate healing for all Queer and Trans people into our worlds?
- What do we even mean by ‘community’? What does Beloved Community look like, with all of its power and healing? What do we do with experiences of exclusion and inclusion? How can we build connections in this time of isolation?
- What can different generations of queer and trans folks learn from each other?
- What magic do we as queer folks have for this world, at this moment in history? What changes do we want to see in the world?
- How do I navigate my queerness within my family’s expectations and assumptions?
- How do I share my ever-changing experiences and feelings as a queer person, both within queer communities and beyond? How can I continue to grow and support the fluidity and spaciousness for my evolving self?
- How am I celebrating and appreciating queer community in my life? What are the models of queer parenting that I can look towards for inspiration? Feeling into my own early childhood experiences, what does transformation and healing look like?
Most importantly — What are your questions and ideas? What are you mobilized by, thinking about, daunted by? Your questions are ALL welcome.
Who is it for?
This Jam is focused on people who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Agender, Two-Spirit, Pansexual, or *(we don’t have a letter yet, but we’re excited to see what you come up with).
YES! also welcomes many other kinds of diversity. We are looking for people who represent a range of:
- Work in the world – artists, activists, scientists, funders, healers, behind-the-sceners, teachers, entrepreneurs, volunteers, cooks, parents – people change the world in many ways.
- Years of experience or levels of “outness” – from just newly exploring to out before Stonewall
- Race and ethnicity
- Age – from youth to elders. The broader the range the richer the dialogs.
- Class, religion, national origin, creed
Dates, logistics, and contribution
The Jam will take place on five sessions between March 1st — 7th, 2022. The dates for these sessions will be March 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7; March 3 and 5 will be reserved for rest, additional spontaneous interactions, reflection, integration, and self-care. We will meet each day from 9-11:30 am PST / 12-2:30 pm EST for our session and hangout time. Please note that leaving as much spacious time in your schedule as possible for the week will make the Jam much more enjoyable. We recommend you set aside the entire 2.5 hours as well as scheduling as little as possible over the duration of the Jam days, to really take in the full experience.
The tuition for the LGBTQ* Virtual Jam is offered on a sliding scale of $50-$350. We are working hard to make this event accessible to all people, regardless of ability to pay. If you have less access to money, feel free to pay at the low end of the scale, and if you have more access to money or resources and/or you have the financial backing of an organization or institution, we invite you into class solidarity, to consider paying more so that someone else can pay less.
If you pay more than the at-cost amount for tuition, that extra amount is tax-deductible.
Money should never be a reason to not apply: partial scholarships are available on a limited and first-come, first-serve basis. We also invite work trades and monthly payment plans. We aim to figure out with each applicant the right combination of tuition, work trade, and scholarship that can work for you. The sooner you apply, the sooner we can mutually create a plan that works and the better your chances are of receiving a partial scholarship if you need one.
Apply today!
Our priority application deadline is February 4, 2022, and our final application deadline is February 21, 2022. Please feel free to contact us at LGBTQJam@gmail.com if you have any queries.
Who is organizing the Jam?
Organizer
Jesse Workman is a New York based civil rights attorney, youth worker, and writer. Jesse was raised in southern Ohio, and no matter how far they get from the the heart of it all, the landscapes and rhythms of the Midwest continue to inform their approach to the world. Recent activities that make their heart full include writing with friends, being alone in the woods, doing antiracist work with other white people, and dreaming about the expansive future with their love. The Yes Jam has been a transformative and nourishing home over the years, and Jesse is so excited to be a part of this year’s Queer Jam.
Alia Lahlou grew up in Morocco and is constantly moving through different spaces looking to learn and unlearn, to grow, and to love. She has a master’s degree in international relations but has learned everything she knows outside the classroom. She is based in New York and works as a freelance facilitator and consultant engaging individuals and groups around the world to achieve more connection, honesty, and depth. Alia is passionate about conflict transformation, freedom and identity, honesty, and joy. She is currently focused on co-creating a path of joy and magic with her beloved, Alixa.
Jovan Julien currently makes home in Atlanta, GA. Before beginning in their role as Alignment and Storytelling Integrator at YES!, Jovan played a variety of roles. They continue to be involved in a variety of projects in their familial homeland of Haiti and recently completed an advanced degree in Operations Research. Currently Jovan’s academic pursuits are focused on sustainability through democratic decision making processes. Passionate about photography and storytelling, they continue to pursue innovative ways to marry math with their lens. Jovan has nurtured a fascination with the history of the Pacific Northwest and its connection to the Southern history with visits and friendships.
George Holmes is a Black, queer, neurodivergent Atlantan. As a young adult, their curious exploration of life has allowed them to engage deeply in their personal healing. Through various opportunities, they’ve been able to use their personal healing journey as a catalyst for others to explore their own healing.
Through extremely challenging yet healing moments, they have acknowledged and accepted their role as a caretaker which manifests itself in different forms. As a healer and facilitator, they have the opportunity to embody care through mindfulness. As a project coordinator, they are able to express care through organizational support of organizations dedicated to the care of frontline communities.
As a way to care for themself, they enjoy expressing themself through music production, photography, and software development/generative art design. George’s values are aligned with Black Feminist Wisdom. They are committed to justice for marginalized people and exploring ways to dismantle systematic oppression while establishing intentional community rooted in the ancestral wisdom of accountability, generosity, and love!
Roan Elspeth Coughtry (they/them) is a writer, facilitator, coach and healing artist. With a background in somatics, social work and community organizing, their work weaves together ancestral healing, embodied practice, and the liberatory power of desire. As a queer and nonbinary sex educator, they center the importance of pleasure, desire, and reclamation of the body as essential practices toward healing and liberation. Roan works individually with clients as a coach and healing artist, and they work specifically with white folks in the US around ancestral healing and co-creating white anti-racist culture and practices. Among other things, they’re a facilitant of global YES! Jams, a writer for the international feminist organization VOICE, and a member of the visionary Decolonize Race Project. They’re a forever nerd and are currently studying herbalism, Scottish Gaelic, linguistics, and Celtic mythology and folklore. You can find out more about their work at www.roancoughtry.com.
Amadeo Cruz Guiao is an organizational healer/consultant, facilitator, and spiritual teacher. Born in Brooklyn and raised mostly in Coast Salish/Duwamish territories colonially known as Seattle, Amadeo is a queer, gender nonbinary, decolonizing child of Filipinx immigrants. Their spiritual path guides everything they do, and they have been so blessed to learn from their own mystical Filipinx traditions, and have also studied with and been trained by esteemed teachers from the Brazilian Amazon and Coast Salish territories. They are deeply passionate about their work supporting community-led organizations and visionary leaders from the most resilient and marginalized communities to effect transformative social change. Coming from a healing justice lens, they provide culturally appropriate organizational development strategies in contexts as vastly different as remote upland indigenous communities in war-stricken Mindanao, Philippines, to rural Native reservations in the Pacific Northwest, to their queer and trans communities of color in progressive Seattle.
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