Heading into Pride Month, we’ve got so many exciting events and volunteer opportunities on our calendar, in partnership with incredible community institutions and leaders, from Fair Trade Café and Changing Hands Bookstore to Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing. In this newsletter, we want to share an invitation to all of those events with you. But first, we want to extend a special invitation to participate in our very close partner ONE Community’s 16th annual LGBTQ community survey.
And now for a preview of our upcoming events — make sure to read to the end to learn about the incredible poets featured in June’s Queer Poetry Salon!
Queer People Fit
With states across the country trying to exclude queer and trans people from bathrooms, history textbooks, sex ed curricula, and sports, we’re constantly being told where we don’t fit. In answer to Arizona’s new student athlete ban, Equality Arizona is launching a new program to provide an inclusive space for sports and exercise, with the mantra: queer people fit. On May 19, join us at Tempe Beach Park for a cycling tour around Tempe Town Lake, and on May 24, meet us there for an evening run!
Voter Registration Canvassing
May 21 from 11am to 3pm at Fair Trade Café | Register
May 27 from 11am to 3pm at Changing Hands | Register
The Equality Arizona Foundation is partnering with Fair Trade Café in Phoenix for a nonpartisan voter registration event on May 21 and partnering with Changing Hands in Tempe for a nonpartisan voter registration on May 27. Meet us at our partners’ storefronts for coffee and pastries before we set out to canvass the town! As part of our campaign to make sure all Arizonans are included in and have equal access to the political systems of our state, we’re piloting a new and novel hybrid approach to voter registration with our unique URL from the office of the Secretary of State of Arizona. We’re planning to register thousands of voters this election cycle — can we count on you to join us?
Phone Banks: Equality and Fairness for All Americans
May 28 from 11am to 3pm at the Tempe Public Library | Register
June 2 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Zoom | Register
June 9 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Zoom | Register
America is in a moment of heightened urgency to pass federal legislation to protect the civil liberties of our LGBTQ+ communities. We believe we have less than two months left to pass comprehensive non-discrimination protections in Congress, and with the bipartisan Equality and Fairness for All Americans framework, we believe we can muster the votes to accomplish that. Leaks from the Supreme Court make it clear that without formal legislation, we won’t be able to rely on previous victories that have enshrined privacy and marriage equality as constitutional rights. On May 28, June 2 and June 9, volunteer with Equality Arizona to support bipartisan federal legislation to codify marriage equality, ban conversion therapy, and extend non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ Americans.
Town Hall: Trans Research Panel
May 25 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm | Register
The U.S. Trans Survey is the largest survey of trans people in the United States, documenting the lives and experiences of trans people in the U.S. and U.S. territories. Join Equality Arizona for a town hall discussion on transgender research with Alex Del Rosario, outreach manager for the U.S. Trans Survey; Josie Caballero, the director of the U.S. Trans Survey; Dr. Madelaine Adelman, co-founder of GLSEN Phoenix and Professor of Justice & Social Inquiry at the School of Social Transformation at ASU; and Dr. Eric Plemons, Director of the Medical Anthropology Concentration and Certificate Programs, and the Co-chair of the UA Transgender Studies Research Cluster at the University of Arizona.
Learning the Political System
June 7 from 5:00 to 6:00 pm at Fair Trade Café | Register
As part of our ongoing project of political education, we’ll be hosting a workshop exploring and explaining the legislative branch of the U.S. Government. Join us at Fair Trade Café in Phoenix for coffee and community and to build your knowledge of the political system. Masks will be provided for anyone who needs them. If you were able to attend our previous installments, this will build on the concepts we’ve covered so far, but all levels of knowledge are welcome and encouraged to sign up.
Town Hall: Election Security & Community Involvement with Secretary of State Katie Hobbs
June 15 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm | Register
The Equality Arizona Foundation and the office of the Secretary of State of Arizona are partnering for a town hall event about election security and how you can participate in this year’s elections as a voter and community member. We’ll also be joined by election security expert Ken Matta, CIO of Runbeck Election Services, Inc., who previously served as the Information Security Officer and election security lead for the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office. Send in your questions for Secretary Katie Hobbs when you register for the event, and she’ll answer them live.
Queer Poetry Salon
June 18 from 1:00 to 7:30 pm | Register
The 2022 Queer Poetry Salon season continues with workshops and readings from two of the country's most renowned queer poets: Julian Talamantez Brolaski and Hunter Hazelton.
June’s Queer Poetry Salon will be hosted by Julián Delacruz, a graduate of the M.F.A Program at Arizona State University and cofounder of the Queer Poetry Salon. Julián also hosts the writing workshop “Queer Taboo.”
The Equality Arizona Foundation and the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University are partnering for quarterly readings with a diverse, world-class cast of queer poets. We aim to strengthen & grow queer culture in Arizona by bringing the world's great LGBTQIA2s+ poets to our communities.
This year the Queer Poetry Salon will offer free creative writing workshops presented by our featured poets! RSVP for your spot to attend a workshop in the ticketing link. Please note: while this event is free and open to the public, you must register through Eventbrite to receive the Zoom link.
