FoolsFURY is proud to introduce a cohort of trans and queer theatermakers working to create safer spaces for the queer and trans theater community. Called The TGNC Advocacy Collective (TAC) , the project will consist of a series of town-halls and an interactive webpage that documents the experiences and stories of the trans community in theater spaces. The project will culminate with a digital resource guide and policies for the Bay Area Theater Community to integrate in their EDI work.

Nicky Martinez will be joined by a cohort of queer and trans theatre-makers including Kieran Beccia, Leigh Rondon-Davis, Jesse Annette Koehn, Nikki Meñez, Richard Mosqueda and Chris Steele in consultation with Ely Sonny Orquiza.

“Our goal is to specifically start in the Bay Area and hopefully expand nationally. Because of We See You White America, The Living Document in the Bay Area, we want the same effect for trans and queer individuals. We want to hear their experiences and actually get their foot in the door in terms of talking about equity, diversity and inclusion. Having intersectional conversations, guidelines, and policies of EDI is important. A part of that work is not only being racially aware and conscious of BIPOC individuals’ needs, but also being gender and sexuality conscious and understanding how these different identities intersect and influence a person’s lived experience,” says Martinez.

This cohort of theatre-makers is part of how FoolsFURY is working to “break the model”. By uplifting emerging queer leaders we’re supporting innovative models of community-building, advocacy and policy making at the live edge of discourse, which benefits individual artists, our ensemble and the entire field of theater.

The project is supported by the Center for Cultural Innovation through their CALI Accelerator program. For more information about the program and grant, visit cciarts.org

TGNC AND QUEER TESTIMONIES

The above button links to a space for Trans, Gender Non-Conforming, and Queer folks to relay their experiences in Bay Area-based performing arts workspaces. The questions are to collect information about both harms and positive experiences in order for the organizing collective to analyze and work on generating guidelines for the safety and care for all Trans/ Queer bodies in the theatre system.

The above button is a survey for Bay Area-based performing arts workspaces to answer transparently around safety, care, and visibility for all trans, gender non-conforming, and queer bodies interacting in your spaces.

TGNC ADVOCACY COLLECTIVE

CLICK EACH PHOTO TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE COLLECTIVE