MBLGTACC 2012

Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally Conference (MBLGTACC) 2012 was hosted this past weekend, February 10^th-12^th, at Iowa State University. The conference was chaired by valerie guerrero and Christine “Petey” Peterson, both are good friends of mine, and my scholar sisters. Both of them inspire me and challenge me in different ways to see things from a different lens, to create safe-space, critical and meaningful conversations with others.

I arrived to the conference on Saturday, February 11, 2012. On Friday, February 10, 2012, and the morning of February 11^th, I was in Minneapolis with students from the College of Design visiting different design firms (graphic design, architecture, interior design, landscaping architecture, industrial design). This trip was with the purpose to help students network with firms and companies, so in the future students can apply for internships or job openings. During the trip I was constantly checking the social media networks (Twitter #mblgtacc2012, and Facebook) to get updated with all the events of MBLGTACC.

I was only able to participate in the conference for a couple of hours both days Saturday and Sunday. Saturday night I had the opportunity to attend the Pandora Boxx show, I got to see students learn a dance routine to a Lady Gaga song, and then I got to enjoy the drag and queen show.

Sunday morning I volunteered to help in a workshop session, Theater of the oppression. In the workshop, I got to see students share their personal stories through their personal movement, facial expressions, and sounds. This workshop gave me the opportunity to reflect about my own sexual orientation, and personal believes. As I reflected about my personal experiences, I got to see and listen to students’ experiences through the movement of their body, sounds, and facial expressions. The students’ stories were powerful, their tears were powerful and spoke loudly the pain that they had or are facing because of their sexual orientation.

Overall, I am pleased to have participated in the conference for a few hours, and to see that MBLGTACC created a safe-space for the LGBTQ community in the Iowa State University campus. In the conference program my name was publish under the planning committee. I did not too much for the conference, but attending to this conferences it made me realize that I need to be involve by helping my communities, and other students to create a safe-space and environment where everyone is treated equally.