GenderQueer Revolution is proudly
co-sponsoring Creating a Safe and Nurturing School for
All Gender Non-Conforming Students.
2:00-4:00 PM
Ventura County SELPA Office
777 Aileen Street
Camarillo, CA 93010
Featuring GenderQueer Revolution board members Rev. Alexander Yoo, MA, Rabbi Levi Alter, and Mike/Michelle Dennis
and Alexis M. Rivera, Masen Davis, Talia Mae Bettcher, Michelle Alexandria Vaughn
About the presentation:
The diverse panel of presenters will share their expertise
and experience to develop a better awareness and
understanding of the range and needs of GLBT students for
the Ventura County School Psychologists Association. The
panel members are committed to ending the killings.
Driving Directions:
From Thousand Oaks
Off of the 101 Fwy going north, exit on Carmen Drive and
turn right. Turn left on Ponderosa, right on Valle Lindo
Drive and left onto Aileen Street.
From Ventura
Take Las Posas Rd. exit and turn left. Turn right on
Ponderosa, left on Rosewood Ave., and right onto Aileen
Street.
About the panel of presenters:
Rev. Alexander Yoo, MA, a leading trans and gender mental
health specialist, founded Total Wellness! a collaborative
trans/gender health speakers bureau, and serves as the
President of GenderQueer Revolution and as an executive
board member of FTM International. He participates on the
board of the Lesbian and Gay Psychotherapy Association
(LAGPA), and he facilitates the FT? Coming Out Support
Group (co-sponsored by FTM International, GQR, and the L.A.
Gay & Lesbian Center), a group for parents of trans
people, and a group for partners of trans folks. As an
Asian immigrant, he is proud to represent people of color
and people of gender, faith, and cultural diversity and
offers diverse peer consultation and psychotherapeutic
services.
Rabbi Levi Alter is the President of FTM International,
Inc. the world's largest information and networking group
for the female-to-male community. As a Gender Diversity
Consultant, he provides academic lectures, organizational
sensitivity trainings, cultural competency workshops, EEO
Compliance seminars and advocacy services to groups,
institutions, businesses, health providers and
corporations. Levi is a public speaker, author and educator
and has been featured in print, radio, film and television.
Levi is one of the most sought-after speakers and trainers
in the country on issues concerning gender diversity. Levi
has received national recognition for his commitment to
gender education and awareness. Levi is the executive
director of a health care corporation. His previous
professional experiences include being a university
department chairman and professor and being on the clinical
faculty of UCLA Medical Center, where he served on the
Medical Ethics Board and presented physician seminars on
healthcare ethics. He has lobbied United States
Congressional and Senate members on gender issues. As a
parent of two college students, he has often been asked to
counsel the families of young FTM’s. Levi was honored with
the Trans Unity Icon Award for lifetime service to the FTM
community. Levi is the fourth of five generations of
Intersex in his family.
Mike/Michelle (M/M) Dennis is a transgender/genderqueer
person with a dual gender identity who presents in all
parts of life as both “Mike” and as “Michelle.” M/M
completed a 35-year career in the public sector in 2003, is
a Certified Public Finance Officer, and teaches at the UCLA
Graduate School of Public Affairs. M/M has lobbied the U.S.
House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, and recently
completed as a member of the National Advisory Board for
the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition in Washington D.C. M/M
is currently Co-Chairperson of the West Hollywood
Transgender Task Force, Co-Outreach Chair for the Los
Angeles Chapter of Tri-Ess (international association for
male to female cross dressers), board member of Gender
Queer Revolution, and board member of FTM International.
Alexis M. Rivera was the former Policy Advocate at the
Transgender Law Center (TLC) in San Francisco.
Prior to her work at the TLC, she was the Project
Coordinator for the “Tranny Rock Star” Project at
Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. Alexis has
received several awards for her contributions to the
transgender community. Alexis is a member of the West
Hollywood Transgender Taskforce, League of Trans Unified
Sisters (LOTUS) and a member of the C3 Community Clinics
Campaign.
Masen Davis, MSW, is the Executive Director of the
Transgender Law Center (TLC) in San Francisco, a civil
rights organization advocating for transgender communities.
Prior to coming to TLC in 2007, he spent six years at
United Way of Greater Los Angeles where he served in
grantmaking and development capacities. He has been an
activist in the movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender equality since 1990. His experience includes
advocating for LGBT survivors of hate crimes, domestic
violence and police misconduct; consulting with education
and social service providers to help develop and implement
best practice standards for transgender youth; and
presenting diversity trainings for police departments in
San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago. He has served in
leadership roles for many organizations, including FTM
Alliance (Board President, 2002-07); City of West
Hollywood’s Transgender Task Force (Vice Chair, 2001-03);
National Center for Transgender Equality (Vice Chair,
2005-2007), and Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues (Board
Member, 2007-Present). His work on behalf of transgender
equality has earned him awards from the National
Association of Social Workers, International Foundation for
Gender Education, and UCLA. He received his Masters of
Social Welfare with a concentration in Nonprofit Management
from UCLA, and Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern
University.
Talia Mae Bettcher is an associate professor of philosophy
at California State University, Los Angeles. She has
published several articles on transphobia and transphobic
violence and she teaches courses on the philosophy of
gender, including “Introduction to Trans Studies” and
“Introduction to Trans/Feminism.” She has been involved in
Los Angeles transgender community activism for ten years
and she is also a community-based performance artist.
Michelle Alexandria Vaughn was born July 31, 1966 in Tampa
Florida to a musical and religious home where at a very
young age she discovered she was transgender. She was
openly feminine and thought nothing of wearing her mother’s
clothing. As obvious as it was, it was something not
discussed in those days. She recalls that in middle school
(6th grade), she had been given a pair of elephant leg
pants and convinced her mother they were the latest
fashion, given John Travolta’s dance role on the big
screen. In fact, however, they were more like girl’s
palazzos pants. She wore them to school EVERY day but she
was ridiculed often, and called a sissy, queer, and other
names. It was a very hard time for her, however, the need
to wear them was much greater.
She was exceptionally excellent in Choir and was an award
winner in the all- state competition for choirs. During her
school years (7 – 10), she was often admired but still a
subject of ridicule. At the age of 12, her family moved
from Tampa Florida to Danielsville Georgia. There weren’t
any choirs or music classes adequate to consider studying
at the high school level, so she studied at the University
of Georgia privately while attending high school. During
the two years or so she was in Georgia, she was
exceptionally abused by students for her effeminate nature.
At this point, she was determined to return to her prior
high school in Florida and do so as a girl, but she was
able to do so at that time due to legalities and the lack
of support of family and friends. As a result, she ran
away. A transgender child runaway teen often finds
themselves in the arms and company of prostitution and
abuse. She was no different. She spent her entire life
without further education, and was homeless and without a
family.
Over the last 5 years, she has been privileged to see many
wonderful changes concerning how a young transgender child
can be understood and can develop. Through her volunteer
work and her return to school as a Music major at Los
Angeles Community College, she has become an accomplished
transsexual singer/songwriter. She dedicates the majority
of her music to bringing awareness to the transgender
community.
What she would like to impress upon any group she speaks to
concerning the transgender child is the lasting effects
that come with a lack of education concerning the nature of
being a transgender person: what it is like being
transgender without support as a child; what it was like
for her before she transitioned at the age of 15; what it
was like throughout the years living as the woman she is;
and what it is like now.