Speakers/Performers for Queer Issues
Debra Chasnoff is an Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has fueled progressive social-change movements in many fields. She is a the executive director at GroundSpark, formerly Women's Educational Media, and co-creator of The Respect for All Project, a program that produces media and training resources to help prevent prejudice among young people.
Sarah Haskins
Sarah is a writer and performer for Current's infoMania where, in addition to her role as the "Target Women" correspondent, she is an important member of the office crossword team, the fax machine enthusiast society, and is the creator of the chicken nugget-english muffin-cream cheese and mustard morning sandwich. Don't knock it till you've tried it. Sarah hails from Chicago, IL where she performed improv and sketch comedy at i.O. Chicago and with the Second City National Touring Company.
Peterson Toscano
As a gay man, Peterson's journey out of the closet has been long and complicated. After years of submitting to reparative therapy through counseling, ex-gay support groups, and even three exorcisms, Peterson enrolled in the ex-gay residential program, Love in Action. He graduated successfully from the program nearly two years later, but in January of 1999 he finally came OUT and fully accepted himself as a gay man. Later in 1999 Peterson founded p2son productions and began performing his one-person plays. A comic character actor and a playwright, Peterson often draws on poetry, the Bible and other texts as well as extensive interviews to inspire his theater work. Known for his flawless character transformations, Peterson literally changes the way his whole body and face appear on stage along with his voice and accent.
Robyn Ochs
Robyn Ochs is a long-time activist, and the editor of the Bisexual Resource Guide and the anthology Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World, which is scheduled to be published in Spanish and in Chinese in 2009. A second edition of the English version is also forthcoming. She is current editor of Bi Women, a quarterly publication. She has taught courses on topics including GLBT history & politics in the United States, the politics of sexual orientation, and the experiences of those of us who transgress the binary categories of gay/straight, masculine/feminine, black/white and/or male/female. Her writings have been published in numerous bisexual, women's studies, multicultural, and GLBT anthologies. She lives in Massachusetts, and on May 17th, 2004—on the first day it was legal—she married Peg Preble, her long-time partner. She is a professional speaker and workshop leader.
Athens Boys Choir/Katz
Ok, the name Athens Boys Choir can be a bit deceiving but you can’t blame a Jewish Transsexual man living in the Deep South for having a sense of humor about the whole ordeal. So Katz, the Choir’s now solo member, travels the country speaking “the good word” throwing down hard hitting spokenword that deals with issues of Gender, Politics, Love, Sex, and everything in-between including but not limited to spooning. Katz’s spokenword is raw, unapologetic, witty, and soulful. As Out Magazine wrote in 2006, “Katz avoids falling into the common spoken-word trap…and instead uses engaging wordplay, razor-sharp wit, and hip-hop rhythms.” He has had the honor of sharing the stage with such artists as Ani Difranco, Indigo Girls, Bitch, The Butchies, Danielle Howle, and Michelle Malone. He has also opened for poets of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam on more than one occasion. Being a out Transsexual, Katz’s spoken-word often becomes a platform for education and activism, but all work and no play makes for one intense performance so he lets loose with sarcasm, pop culture references, and video’s featuring Barbara Streisand as Yentl and sassy footwork by the stars of the 1979 hit “Roller Boogie”. Interested in Booking the Athens Boys Choir in your town? Email Katz at athensboyschoir@yahoo.com. ABC also provides Trans workshops and class talks along with performances to Colleges and Universities...if this peeks you interest write to the above email for a swift an enthusiastic responce.
Mona Eltahway
Eltahawy is a frequent guest analyst on U.S. radio and television news shows. She also speaks publicly at universities, panel discussions and interfaith gatherings on Egypt, the Middle East, human rights and reform in the Islamic world, feminism and Egyptian Muslim-Christian relations. From 2002 to 2004, she was managing editor of the Arabic-language version of Women's eNews, an independent, non-profit news website that covers women's issues from around the world. Before moving from her native Egypt to the United States in 2000, Eltahawy was a news reporter for 10 years. She was a correspondent for Reuters News Agency in Cairo and Jerusalem, reported from the Middle East for the UK's The Guardian newspaper and was a stringer for U.S. News and World Report. In addition, she was the Keynote Speaker at Sarah Lawrence College and discussed issues of Gay and Lesbian Life in Muslim Contexts.
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