Community Corner

Storytelling Event Features Local Artists, Tales of 'Coming Out from Under'

The Initiative for Transgender Leadership is hosting a fundraiser at Square Cafe featuring Vanessa German, Phat Man Dee and more.

The Initiative for Transgender Leadership is presenting Stories on the Square Sept. 16, an evening featuring local artists and performers who will share their tales of coming out from under.

“We know that the whole East End area is very queer-friendly, and the East End is also very literary, so having a storytelling evening seemed like a great way to bring people together,” said Madeleine Hershey of , who also leads ITL. “We also want more people to find out about ITL because we haven’t really had a region become aware of us.”

Held at , the event features Vanessa German, Phat Man Dee, Brian Broome and Christina Springer. Tickets are $45, which includes appetizers and soft drinks.

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Judi Diven of Regent Square, who is helping to organize the fundraiser, said she and Hershey were discussing ways to raise money for the organization and talked about using Square Cafe as the venue.

Based on “The Moth,” in New York City, the storytelling format seemed perfect for the group, Diven said.

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“We also realized that by using the cafe, we could have a full evening event,” Hershey said. “This is almost like dinner theater, where people can have a high-end experience.”

The ITL was founded in the spring of 2009 and has a mission of helping transgendered people break into the workforce, assume roles of leadership in the community and fight discrimination.

“Young people face barriers to professional and leadership development because they don’t have world experience yet, and trans young people face barriers based on gender discrimination and a host of other problems that are specifically challenging to them,” Hershey said.

The organization started with the idea of raising $2,000 for a local project that would create a resource for young transgendered people.

Today, it has become a fellowship on its way to raising $20K.

“We have come to see ourselves as a leadership and professional development incubator for trans young people, so the fellowship is rounding its final bent, and then ITL will figure out what leadership opportunity we want to do next and we will do that,” Hershey said.

Hershey said the stories are not all gay-themed for the event, but simply surround the themes of life.

“I love the idea that when a group of people get together, each to tell a story, it becomes a kaleidoscopic view of the way individuals interpret and experience life,” Hershey said. “Our theme, which we didn’t want necessarily to be ‘coming out’ stories, we called it, ‘coming out from under—stories of emergence,’—we wanted to leave it broad enough so people wouldn’t feel pigeon-holed.”

Five stories will be told that evening. Hershey may share one of her own as well.

“My story has nothing to do with sexuality or gender-identity, it’s just a story of emergence for me coming out from under something in the sixth grade,” she said. “We have no idea what is going to be coming out of the story tellers’ mouths, and that is part of the excitement.”

Diven said she is looking forward to having a great time at the event.

“We are hoping people will then learn more about ITL, visit the blog and get more involved,” she said. “First and foremost—we want people to have a good time.”

Tickets are available at or by emailing TransLeadership@gmail.com. For more information, visit http://transyouthleaders.blogspot.com.


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