Draft Agenda

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27

[optional] FRIDAY FIELD TRIPS:

• Intentional Peer Support - 9AM-4:30PM (with an hour break for lunch) | Location TBD in Brattleboro, VT
  ​When people close to you are struggling it’s hard to know what to do. A lot of the ways we have been taught to respond to distress include trying to fix the problem, focusing on how the person needs to change, and trying to take control out of fear. IPS examines our lives and relationships in context, looking beyond the mere notion of individual responsibility for change. Arising from the Mad liberation movement, IPS offers a non-hierarchical alternative to the professionalization of emotional support. It is a component of mutual aid models that seek to build up our communities' capacity to care for each other, reducing our reliance on capitalist, paternalistic systems that reinforce powerlessness. This daylong workshop is open to anyone who would like to explore nonjudgmental, non-coercive human connections as a step toward collective liberation.
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• Visit VINE Sanctuary - 10AM-2PM | Tour VINE Sanctuary in Springfield, VT.
  VINE Sanctuary is an LGBTQ-led farmed animal refuge that works for social and environmental justice as well as animal liberation. Their multi-species community includes more than 600 nonhuman animals, including cows, chickens, sheep, ducks, goats, geese, alpacas, turkeys, one pig, pigeons, emus, and other birds living together in harmony on a forested and solar-powered property. Your day at the sanctuary will include a light volunteer project, a tour of the sanctuary, and a vegan lunch with sanctuary staff.
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• QT Bee Day at Yard Birds Farm & Apiary- 10AM-3PM | Montague, MA (we will send specific directions after you register for this session).
  The objective of this gathering is to cultivate an inclusive space for building beekeeping skills for Queer and Trans beekeepers or bee-curious folks, while sharing and honoring our connection to land and the natural world. At Yard Birds Farm, where @theykeepbees apiary is located, we practice honoring the complex intersectional identities we all carry. Our goal is to be a supportive, non-threatening, and inclusive space for all who participate. Everyone who comes to QT Bee Day is asked to engage other humans, species, and the land with respect. We will work with hives and honeybees using these Essential Functions to inform our interaction and explore the dynamics of the honeybee hive. Orientation: Where are we? Where are we going? Balance: Expand, Swarm, Contract, Abscond Role as Ritual: Clean (Take Stock), Care for Youth (Resource, Mentor), Protect (Cultivate Home), Forage (Seek Resource from your Ecosystem) Collaborate: Engage in Deep Listening and Embodied Communication.
  
  

• The Root Social Justice Center - 1PM-5PM | Brattleboro, VT
  Spend half the day volunteering at POC-led and -focused space, The Root Social Justice Center. Out in the Open has held many events at The Root over the years and wouldn't be where we are today without their collaboration. Learn about how they're creating POC-centered space in our rural community while completing projects that help continue building the space.
  
  

• Sewing Project Space & Tutorial at Shapeshifters- 9:30am - 5pm with a lunch break; all are free to come and go! | Shapeshifters Studio at the Cotton Mill | Tutorial with Eli at 11AM
  Sewing on a kitchen table or a tiny desk? Latest project been sitting in a corner? Or would you just like it if all your pants fit, and had pockets too?
  If you sew things and you could use a nice big space to work, bring your project to the Shapeshifters studio and take advantage of our huge worktables, industrial machines, and shared expertise among the group! For beginners, Eli will run a tutorial on how to mend and install pockets. This all-day workshop is open to folks of all skill levels and aspirations. There will be spare fabric available for use!

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 28

8:30-9:30 AM - registration/welcome (Breakfast available for those who slept over Friday night; coffee/tea available for all)

9:30-10:15 - Welcome Circle

10:15-10:30 - break

10:30-12:30 PM - SESSION 1

12:30-2:30 LUNCH + SWIMMING (for more details about swimming see below)

2:30-4:30 - SESSION 2

4:30-4:45 - Break

4:45 - 5:15 - Large Group Session (with breakouts) - choose one conversation/activity (based on checkmarks participants give during the day)

5:15-5:30 Closing, Announcements, & Group Photo

6:00-7:00 - Dinner

7:30-sleep Evening activities


SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 29

7:30-8:30 AM - breakfast

9-11:00 - SESSION 3

11:00-11:15AM - break

11:15-11:45- Large Group Session (with breakouts) - choose one conversation (based on checkmarks participants give during the day)

11:45-12:15 PM - Closing circle

12:15 - ​lunch (provided)

1:30 on - Clean-up, depart

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

• SATURDAY 10:30AM-12:30PM

  • ​EMBODYING LIBERATION - In this session we will explore somatic and embodiment practices to identify how oppression manifests in our bodies and practice ways to cultivate liberation and presence. Practices will include working with the breath, mindfulness, movement, and sharing. There may be some group practice and partner practices - none of the practices will involve touching other bodies. All activities are optional, modifiable and appropriate for any body with any degree of interest or experience with somatics, including no experience! FACILITATOR: Emily Megas-Russell

  • INVITATION TO PLAY - Play can be radical, absurd, enlightening, soothing, challenging and transformative. This workshop will explore key theories on why people play, and include opportunities to mess around with art, words and movement. Participation absolutely voluntary and self-directed. FACILITATOR: Morgan Liecher-Saxby​

  • HEALING OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE MORE-THAN-HUMAN WORLD - Bringing ourselves into less domineering and violent relationships with the earth and other animals can improve our relationships with each other, reduce feelings of estrangement and alienation, enhance our connection to place, and awaken neglected parts of our selves. FACILITATOR: pattrice jones

  • ​EXPLORING FOUNDATION FUNDING - Hey, did you know there are Foundations that might support your work? If you are involved with a 501(c)(3)/non-profit organization or your organization can secure a fiscal agent that agrees to accept funding from a Foundation to support your work, come to this session to learn more about how to write and submit a grant/funding application. FACILITATOR: Sue Hyde

• SATURDAY 2:30-4:30PM​

  • QUEERNESS AND CLASS: AN EMERGENT CROSS CLASS CONVERSATION - How does your rural queerness connect to class and economic inequity? Is thinking about class new to you, and you're looking for a starting place to begin this conversation? Do you have a lot of feelings about class, and not many places to learn, listen, and talk about it? Come listen, share, vent, and connect about and across class with Vini Kate-Divine and Kendra Colburn, two rural poor/Upper White Trash queers. We can't (and don't want to!) stop thinking and talking about class...JOIN US! FACILITATORS: Vini Kate-Devine & Kendra Colburn

  • GROUP READ: THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS STAGE SCRIPT (2017) - Come sit with Eli and a bunch of other queer theater nerds to read through the stage adaptation of Ursula K. LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness. LeGuin's classic 1969 sci-fi novel brings us to a world of human-adjacent aliens with no set gender and bodies in flux, from the point of view of a cis Earth diplomat who just keeps getting it wrong. Developed with the author's input at University of Oregon in 2017, this script version of the 1969 novel picks out the themes of borders and refugees, fleeing from war and forging close bonds. It comes in at just over 68 pages, with 18 scenes and 7-11 roles. Roles can be split up and/or combined for read-through purposes. Content warnings for torture, police shootings, and vague mentions of alien incest. FACILITATOR: Eli Coughlin-Galbraith

  • ​MOVING QUEERLY: HOW DO WE CREATE QUEER GYM SPACES? - Binary locker rooms, looks from straight/cis people, body-shaming and ableist language plastered on the walls: going to the gym can be tough for queers. What would a gym space for queers of all bodies, abilities, and experiences look like? Join us for a 30-45 minute Richard Simmons "Sweating to the Oldies" video (move around or just watch/listen) followed by a discussion about our queer gym homes and dreams. FACILITATOR: Mel Motel

  • PLANT WALK WITH TINY PONY APOTHECARY - Join us for a ramble through forest and field to meet edible and medicinal plants of the southern Vermont woodlands. We'll cover some basic botany, herbal preparation, traditional and contemporary usage of medicinal plants, and building relationships across species. Dress for the weather and woods! FACILITATOR: Naomi Ullian

• SUNDAY 9-11AM

  • NOT TOO TIGHT, NOT TOO LOOSE - What is resilience and how do we self-resource through direct experience? How do we engage and stay present for ourselves and our community at times of immense uncertainty? Bringing in contemporary queer Buddhist philosophy of Angel Kyodo Williams and Llama Rod Owens, we’ll open space for self-relationship with our love and our fatigue. This workshop continues exploring meditation and embodiment practice. Optional breakouts: quiet time outside, community-led meditation space, and discussion space for expanding equity in meditation communities. ​FACILITATOR - Riis Whitworth

  • A HIKE WITH THE VENTURE OUT PROJECT - Join us for a hike to connect with each other and connect with land. The Venture Out Project gathers queer community to experience the fun and beauty of the wilderness together, by running outdoor trips lead by and for queer people. We will climb Black Mountain, a 2.5 mile hike with 1000 ft of elevation gain, and some sections of steep, rocky trail. FACILITATOR: Lucy Kahn. NOTE: this hike will leave Camp at 8:30AM and return at 11AM.

  • OPEN TOPIC - is there a conversation you are dreaming of having this weekend that we're not already offering? Did your morning session spark something that you must continue? Were you so deeply inspired by your experiences on Friday that you want to do more? Think about holding this open space! We will support you!

  • EVERYBODY WRITES - Its true! Come write however you do it—with friends, by yourself, in the grass, upside down (very impressive)! This is a friendly, unstructured space/time continuum for writing, whether it’s stories, poems, journaling, weird lists, or whatever comes out when you pick up a pen. Optional prompts/exercises will be available if desired, and we’ll close with a mini-open mic for sharing and appreciating each other’s words. FACILITATOR: Desmond Peeples

 Registration, Accessibility, Location, and Lodging

Registration

• Registration details are coming soon! Watch this space and we'll open registration early in Summer 2019. We will have a waitlist this year and expect the Summit will fill up.

• You must be registered to attend and we'll post updates when the event is nearly full and at capacity.

• We have reserved spaces for those who are unable to pay the registration fee. If this is you, please email HB to discuss. There is no volunteer requirement for a subsidized ticket.

Accessibility

• If you need an American Sign Language or another language interpreter, please contact HB Lozito by August 31, 2019.​

• We will have on-site childcare for this year's Summit! There will be space on the registration form to let us know if you need childcare and give some details.

• Only service animals will be allowed at the Summit. Please leave all other pets at home (or another safe place!).

• Dietary restrictions and other food-related needs can be shared with us during the registration survey.

  • ​This year, we will be providing a simplified menu designed to meet most dietary needs with add-ons available. Since we'll be staying over at Green Mountain Camp, The Summit will provide breakfast, lunch, & dinner on Saturday, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday. We will also provide coffee and tea throughout the day. This is a shift from past years! Feel free to contact us with questions.

• We are striving to make this event fragrance-free. GMC will provide unscented soap for our use during the weekend. More information on how and why to be fragrance-free below:

  • Please come without fragrances on your clothes, body, or hair so that members of our community with chemical sensitivities can participate without getting sick. More information about why and how to do this is available here: http://www.therootsjc.org/fragrance-free.html

  • Further Information
    More explanation about chemical sensitivities, and a list of fragrance-free products that are widely available (including many PoC-specific products), can be found at http://eastbaymeditation.org/accessibility/scentfree.html.
    
    Some useful thoughts about chemical sensitivities, fragrances, race and gender can be found at http://www.brownstargirl.org/blog/fragrance-free-femme-of-colour-realness-draft-15 .

• There is space on the Summit registration form to share any additional accessibility-related needs you have with the organizers. We will do our best to reasonably accommodate those needs.

Location

This year, all Saturday and Sunday activities will be at Green Mountain Camp in Dummerston, VT. If you signed up for a Friday Field Trip, you will be receiving separate location details!

There is no alcohol or tobacco use on campus. We will share details about smoking areas off-campus during the Summit (or can share those with you before as well! Just email for details).

Housing

​We are so thrilled to be able to offer housing on-site this year! Accommodations at Green Mountain Camp are shared cabins. No one under 18 will be staying over on-site. If you have questions, please let us know.

Additionally, of course, there are many other area options.