Two 2S Spirit
Press
PR Room
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Richard
LaFortune
September
2, 2008 612.267.1682
12 Noon
Central
http://home.earthlink.net/~lafor002/
Well Wishes
Arrive to Mark 20th
Anniversary of International Two Spirit Gathering
photo R. LaFortune
MINNEAPOLIS-
Sept 2- Indigenous LGBT people from across North America and Hawaii convened in
Sandstone, Minnesota, from August 28 to September 1 to observe two decades of
grassroots success. An annual
intertribal meeting of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Native community
representatives has been hosted in communities from Montreal to California and
Vancouver to Kansas City since 1988 reaching some 3,200 people.
“This has
been an alcohol and chemical free event for 20 years and it is focused on
healing, ceremony, cultural revitalization and social strengthening. What is
different about this gathering is we opened it to the media for the first
time. Journalists and professional
film crews representing Hollywood visited with us and documented our stories,
our leaders and our vision for the next two decades,” noted Richard LaFortune,
national director of Two Spirit Press Room, sponsoring organization of the
event.
At the
event’s opening, a traditional Ojibwe Water Ceremony was observed before
numerous well wishes, proclamations, congratulations and welcomes were conveyed
from Minneapolis City Hall by the City Council and Mayor RT Ryback; in a joint
letter from both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature, officials extended an
invitation for Native participants to call upon the state for any assistance
needed during their stay in Minnesota; and US Democratic presidential candidate
Barack Obama sent a surprise greeting that caused a favorable reaction among
participants. The organizing
committee for the event attempted to reach the McCain campaign to see whether
the Republican candidate also offered a greeting for the Native participants,
but the eventgoers did not hear from Senator McCain. “We welcomed Senator Obama’s expression of support, which we
certainly hadn’t expected. It is
completely appropriate for our tribal participants to have heard from a US
presidential candidate, because the Gathering participants represent Sovereign
Nations,” stated LaFortune, “and we have always been known as leaders among our
cultures.” The annual
international gathering does not endorse or support political candidates. The poster
announcing the 2008 Gathering,
designed by National Endowment of the Arts fellow Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie
features a historic 1920s photograph portrait of a respected and well-known
transgender head-of-state from the Southwest, who was recognized at the White
House and admired by members of Congress.
The
University of Washington at Seattle-based HONOR Project presented a point of
first release report on a National Institutes of Health funded initiative on
mental health and well being of Native LGBT people around the United States by
Dr. Karina Walters. The rough cut
of a National Film Board of Canada documentary slated for October 2008 national
broadcast in that country by Native producer/director Lorne Olson was previewed
by the community. Sample footage from the documentary film Two Spirits,
was also screened. The film is in
post-production and will be completed soon. It tells the story of Fred
Martinez, a 16 year-old Navajo two-spirit who was brutally murdered in Cortez,
Colorado, and it also explores the indigenous cultures that hold a place of
honor for people who possess a broader understanding of gender and sexuality. Two
Spirits calls for a
return to “traditional values,” as a way of reclaiming that phrase for those
who would abuse it, according to filmmaker Lydia Nibley. More information is
available on the project’s website www.twospirits.org Both works are
headed toward Sundance International Film Festival. Sundance Film Institute collaborated with Two Spirit Press
Room in Minneapolis at a recent showing of established and emerging Indigenous
filmmakers at Walker Art Center.
Native
youth suicide was highlighted as an emerging concern of great magnitude in the
Two Spirit community, in addition to unabated levels of HIV transmission during
more than a quarter of a century of the pandemic. Escalating levels of cuts in
federal funding directed to prevention and services among Native health and
human service organizations have increasingly raised alarm across Native
Country. In 2008 Native American
HIV transmission rates are equaled only by sub-Saharan Africa, it was reported
at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. Two Spirit Press Room presented information about the 20th
International Two Spirit Gathering at a 3 day Indigenous pre-conference in
August, at the invitation of the Ottawa based Canadian Aboriginal AIDS
Network. Since 1981 AIDS has
claimed 25 million people worldwide, and Native American people continue to be
disproportionately impacted by HIV.
Also
discussed was the partnership of LGBT Foundations and their relationship to
Indigenous communities. Native
leaders are calling for a national symposium of Gay Funders to address
significant unmet needs for Two Spirit organizations, with the goal of
immediately launching a two-year, $1 million initiative. An international petition
has secured
the support of over five hundred people from twenty countries across the globe
who agree with this proposition.
The petition can be located on the world wide web at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/a-campaign-for-native-glbt-funding-justice
photo R. LaFortune
Representatives
of almost three-dozen tribes spanning the entire continent met at this annual
International Gathering of Two Spirit people. The event usually attracts 100-150 Native people, their
partners and families annually. The
Denver Two Spirit Society is scheduled to host the event in 2009, Winnipeg,
Manitoba, in 2010, Hawaii in 2011, and Edmonton, Alberta in 2012.
Resolution of
The City of Minneapolis
By Council Members Gary Schiff,
Robert Lilligren and Scott Benson
Honoring
The
Minneapolis Native
Two
Spirit Community
WHEREAS, the
Minneapolis Native Two
Spirit Community has worked with Native American and non-Native people in the
Twin Cities to increase social understanding, and has demonstrated leadership
nationally in cultural revitalization, and spiritual and social healing; and
WHEREAS,
Minneapolis is the site of
the historic first International Gathering of Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual and
Transgender Native People, which was called ‘The Basket and the Bow,’ in 1988;
and
WHEREAS,
the United Nations General
Assembly in 2008 adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in
a near-unanimous vote; and
WHEREAS,
on August 28, 2008, the Twin Cities Native community will
be serving as hosts to their fourth such international convening of Indigenous
LGBT/Two Spirit People in two decades; and
WHEREAS,
the City of Minneapolis
recognizes and recalls the national and international role in leadership that
the Native community has exerted for many decades; and the celebration known as
‘Indian Month’ demonstrates this leadership to urban communities around the
country as an unparalleled example of what Native people and a City can create
together to celebrate and continually enhance the well being of their
community; and
WHEREAS,
the Native Two Spirit
Community in Minneapolis has ushered forward national and international
attention to countless
advancements, as well as continuing unmet challenges, faced by LGBT Native
people everywhere;
and
WHEREAS,
two Native people have
served as Grand Marshals during the past decade of the Twin Cities Pride celebration;
and
WHEREAS,
2008 marks the 20th
Anniversary of the International Gathering of Native Two Spirit People;
Now, Therefore Be It Resolved
By The City Council of
The City of Minneapolis:
That Friday, August 28, 2008 be proclaimed
as
Minneapolis Two Spirit Community Day
In The City of Minneapolis
Passed, August 22, 2008
_______________________________________
Barbara Johnson, President
of the Council
Approved:
_______________________________________
R.T. Rybak, Mayor
Attest:__________________________________
Steve Ristuben, Assistant City Clerk
For more
information on 2SPR [Two Spirit Press Room] please visit http://home.earthlink.net/~lafor002/
The International Two Spirit Gathering website is located at
http://intltwospiritgathering.org/
2SPR is supported
in part by
grants from Arcus Foundation, Astraea National Lesbian Foundation for Justice,
Gill Foundation, Philanthrofund, The Saint Paul Foundation, Human Rights
Campaign Foundation, San Francisco Community Foundation and The Funding
Exchange, faith community contributors and individual donors
2SPR is a Media and Cultural Literacy
Project that focuses on the cultural and spiritual inheritances and rights of
Native GLBT and Two Spirit People.
Its work is centered in cultivating accurate portrayals of Native GLBT people
in the press, community-building; and affirming the leadership of Native youth,
women and transgender community members.
Writer Richard
LaFortune is a member
of Native American Journalists Association and National Lesbian and Gay
Journalists Association
