Registration Opens for Transgress, Transform, Transcend

A National Conference of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Asian Americans, South Asians and Pacific Islanders (API)

As events celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month are taking place across the country this month, organizers of Transgress, Transform, Transcend announced on May 14, 2009, the opening of earlybird registration for the conference.

Transgress, Transform, Transcend is an upcoming national conference of LGBTQ Asian Pacific Islanders organized by the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) and Pacific Northwest Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (PNWQAPIA). The convening will take place from August 14 to August 16, 2009, at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA.

Only three months remain before the anticipated Transgress, Transform, Transcend will showcase the diversity of the LGBTQ Asian Pacific Islander experience and will expand the capacity and ability of LGBTQ Asian Pacific Islander activists and communities. Conference organizers have lined up 4 keynote speakers and over 50 workshops, panel discussions, caucuses, and cultural performances, which will address a wide array of topics and issues. The event’s many programs will provide attendees opportunities to network and to expand their knowledge and skills in advocacy and community building.

Glenn D. Magpantay, NQAPIA CoDirector in New York, said, “APIs are among the fastest growing minority groups in the nation and are an emerging sector of the LGBT community. More and more LGBT APIs are coming out, yet they still face invisibility, isolation, and stereotyping within both API and LGBT communities. At the historic conference, we hope to build the capacity of local LGBT API organizations, invigorate grassroots organizing, develop leadership, and challenge homophobia, racism, and antiimmigrant bias.”

Early registration runs through June 11, 2009. The early registration rate for the 3 day conference is $75, and for presenters and people having a limited income, the rate is $50. Standard conference registration will begin on June 12, 2009, and the standard registration rate will be $100, with a reduced rate of $75 for presenters and people having a limited income. Some scholarships are available to assist attendees pay for the cost of conference registration. Registration is available online at: http://www.nqapia.org/nc2009.html

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