February 2008

Detroit – Feb 8,9,10 – Creating Change conference, 2SPR becomes part of First Nations/Indigenous Collective

Feb 14 – Two Spirit Press Room becomes a project team member of  The Fred Martinez Project, joining advisory board member Wesley Thomas, PhD. Fred Martinez was nadleeh—someone who possesses a balance of masculine and feminine traits—a special gift according to his traditional Navajo culture. But his determination to express his truest identity tragically cost him his life. At age sixteen, he was one of the youngest hate-crime victims in modern history when he was murdered in Cortez, Colorado.

Two Spirits to be Released in 2008

The film is currently in post-production and will be completed and released in 2008. Production partners are actively seeking broadcast distribution and theatrical release. Two Spirits will be screened at numerous LGBT, Native American, human-rights, and general-interest film festivals throughout the U.S. and internationally. After broadcast and film-festival release, the film will be made available on this website, and through a network of outreach partner organizations.

http://www.twospirits.org/

Feb 23    World Pride & Power conference February 23, 2008 in Los Angeles - Olympic Collection Conference Center. “Unity, Empowerment & Inclusively,”- 2SPR presentation of 20^th Int; 2 Spirit Gathering Posters to symposium participants

March 2008

March 26- Aboriginal Peoples and Decolonization: A Dialogue on Cultural Competency, a provincial dialogue in Winnipeg Manitoba

http://breakkay.blogspot.com/2008/03/aboriginal-decolonization-conference.html

March 27 – filming of forthcoming Film Board Canada documentary on Two Spirit People

April

April 4-5:  “Queer Motions: 1st Bi-Annual Twin Cities Conference on Global/Local Sexualities,"

http://queermotions.umn.edu/index.htm

April 18- Tulsa 2 Spirit Gathering

April 24 – Common Vision – LGBT Funders Concerned national dialogue, Minneapolis

http://eventful.com/events/minneapolis/qm08msp-queer-motions-1st-biannual-twin-cities-conference-on-globallocal-sexualities-/E0-001-009140504-4

April 29

“The Good Green Earth: Sustainability” – a inclusive dialogue among faith leaders among all religions, on the past and future of the earth, life on earth and how we think about our human roles-

7-9PM

Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian Church

145 Engler Boulevard, Chaska, MN

952-448-3882

June

Jun 5 – Common Vision – Media Reform conference - with on camera interview for Albuquerque public access television for national and international webcast, concerning GLBT Organized philanthropy and National GLBT policy organizations.

June 18 - Invitation by producers at Native America Calling for 2SPR to announce 20th International Gathering on live broadcast - program recognizing Indigenous LGBT people.

Jun 19  KFAI live radio broadcast on state of LGBT Philanthropy to Indigenous communities, National Policy organizations and Gathering update.

June 28-29 – Minneapolis Gay Pride

http://www.tcpride.org/index_main.php

July

July 10

Join Sundance Institute and the Walker Art Center to Celebrate Native American Filmmaking with Free Screenings July 10, 2008 7:30 pm William and Nadine McGuire Theater The Walker Art Center 1750 Hennepin Ave. Minneapolis, Minnesota Four Sheets to the Wind A Full-length Film Directed by Sterlin Harjo (Seminole and Creek) *Winner of a 2007 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Acting*   Preceded by   Sikumi A Short Film Directed by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Iñupiaq) *Winner of a 2008 Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking*   Screenings followed by a Q&A with the films' directors moderated by Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache), Associate Director, Native American and Indigenous Initiative for Sundance Institute. Host Committee members from the Twin Cities Native American community include: Juanita Espinosa (Dakota and Ojibwe) - Native Arts Circle, Two Rivers Gallery for MAIC, Richard LaFortune (Yupik) - Two Spirit Press Room, Jo-Anne Stately (White Earth Ojibwe) - Indian Land Tenure Foundation, and Georgia Wettlin-Larsen (Assiniboine and Nakota) - First Nations Composer Initiative of the American Composer Forum. Free tickets are available at the Walker Center's Bazinet Garden Lobby desk at 6:00 p.m. with free gallery admission on the day of the screening from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. as part of the Target Free Thursdays series. Click here for more details about Sundance Institute's Native American and Indigenous Initiative. Go to sundance.org or walkerart.org for more information.

July 23-27 – Native American Journalists Association/UNITY Journalists of Color conference http://www.2008unity.org/

Chicago

August

July 30, 31 – August 1, 2008 - Mexico City XVII Int’l AIDS Conference- Two Spirit Press Room is invited to present at the  2ND INTERNATIONAL PRE-CONFERENCE FOR INDIGENOUS/NATIVE COMMUNITIES AND AFRO DESCENDENTS RESPONDING TO HIV/AIDS, SEXUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

            http://www.aids2008.org/admin/images/upload/affiliated_events.pdf

August 7th, 2008-Tonight on Fresh Fruit

Program:

Host: Leigh Combs
Cohost: Ka 
Richard LaFortune - National Two Spirit gathering in Minnesota

August 21 -National Lesbian And Gay Journalists Association- DC

Two Spirit Press Room and Fred Martinez Project display national organizing information

August 28-Sept 1 – 20^th International Gathering of Two Spirit Native People, Sandstone Minnesota.

           http://intltwospiritgathering.org/

September 2-4

Peace Island – Concordia  University

http://map.actionsoptions.org/calendar/showevent.php?eventID=616

Indigenous Peace Organizing and Integrative Analysis

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 – Same-Sex Marriage on Reservations: (listen)
The Coquille Tribe of Oregon recently passed a law recognizing same-sex marriage, believed to be the first such tribe to do so. This action is raising questions concerning who has control over domestic relations on tribal lands. The Coquille Tribe says their federal recognition gives them authority over this issue, even though the State of Oregon amended the state constitution in 2004 prohibiting gay marriage. The Navajo and Cherokee tribes have also passed laws prohibiting gay marriage. Where do you stand on the issue of same-sex marriage? Our guests are Kitzen Branting (Coquille) and Navajo Nation council representative Larry Anderson.

Host Harlan Makasato calls in Richard LaFortune, director of 2SPR with a national perspective and dialogue

Sept 20-21

National Boarding School Healing Project strategic planning dialogue, International Center for Transitional Justice, NY

http://www.ictj.org/en/index.html

http://www.boardingschoolhealingproject.org/

October 12

Northfield Unitarian Society - address on Native cultural survival, spirituality and International Indigenous People's Day (aka Columbus Day)

Nov 19-21 – Washington State University at Pullman