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tion to thematic workshops on biphobia, transpho- panel will be followed by caucuses tackling sexism,
bia, racism and sexism in LGBTIQ communities, racism, transphobia and biphobia in the LGBTIQ
non-sexist language and inclusive meeting dynam- community.
ics, LGBTIQ history in the United States and faith On Saturday evening, the full conference will
issues in LGBTIQ communities. come together for a keynote speech by Ignacio Ri-
Photo by Eric Velarde
Carolina's campus will be filled with colors again for this year's UNITY event.
The weekend will kick off with check in and din
ner catered by Bon’s Home Cookin’ in the Carolina
Union Cabaret. At 8 p.m., American-Sri Lankan
slam poet D Lo will perform her one-person show,
“Bom into a Tmail-Sri Lankan Hindu family, raised
by Hip-Hop” in the newly renovated Gerrard Hall. A
dance party will be held for people ages 18 and old
er. All ages are also welcome to attend the Triangle
Dance Festival for AIDS taking place that night at
Memorial Hall.
Saturday will feature four workshop sessions with
over 24 options, including “Gay Pornography and
the Eroticization of Gay Citizenship,” “The Queer
Gene ... and Not the One We’d Like to Unzip” and
“There are No Gay People in Japan” (about man
ga and anime). A plenary panel on breaking down
ethnic barriers will take place before lunch, with
longtime activist Mandy Carter, Rev. Rodger Hayes,
Alba Onofrio and moderator Pam Spaulding. The
vera, a Latino male-to-female transgender activ
ist, who will lecture on multi-issue organizing and
how media can be used as a tool for advocacy. Kate
Bomstein, transgender playwright author of “Gen
der Outlaw,” “Hidden: A Gender,” and “My Gender
Workbook,” will perform a piece specially catered to
the conference theme.
Sunday morning will see one last workshop ses
sion before the closing plenary with journalist Craig
Stevens, who will discuss being an out, gay man in
journalism, followed by a musical performance by
Magdalen Hsu Li, whose work deals with being an
out, bisexual, Asian-American woman in the music
industry. The conference will conclude with lunch
on the upper quad, once again catered by Bon’s
Home Cookin’.
Robert Wells (rewells@emaiLunc.edu) is a
senior majoring in English.