Sabina Neem will lecture about LGBT+ community building
By Erasmus Baxter
Sabina Neem has been involved in transgender liberation and racial justice work for two decades. Now, seven different campus organizations are partnering together to bring Sabina Neem to Western on Thursday, October 20. She will speak about “building solidarity with LGBTQ peers in the current context of social movements with particular awareness of institutional racism, homophobia, transphobia, and class consciousness,” as well as creating transformational spaces, and communicating inclusively.
Her talk begins at 7 p.m. in Arntzen Hall 100.
Neem has a degree in anthropology from Columbia University and Master’s degree in Social Service / Law and Social Policy. She is currently works at Wellspring Counseling in Seattle as an Independent Clinical Social Worker.
Previously, she has co-chaired the City of Seattle LGBT Commission, served on the board of the National LGBT Access Project, and worked as the Associate Director of Seattle University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs. In Philadelphia she co-led the “Young, Trans, & Unified” program, and was a founding staff member for the Trans-health Information Project. She also was involved in working to expand access to city services for trans people, served on the Mayor’s Advisory Board on LGBT Affairs, and was involved with the LGBT People of Color Coalition.
The evening before her talk she will be conducting a training with Western’s counseling office. Ian Vincent, who works in the counseling center’s Men’s Resiliency program, says that they’re excited to get the training as well as the talk.
“I feel like a lot of the students within this particular community feel marginalized,” Vincent said. “This is becoming such a huge concern across the country, so it’s great that Western is taking initiative and addressing this.”
Neem’s training will focus on the mental health needs of LGBTQ+ students, focusing on generational differences and helping non-binary and trans students.
Neem will also meet with student groups on campus including the AS Queer Resource Center to get a sense of students’ concerns on campus, according to Vincent.
The groups sponsoring Neem’s talk include Men’s Resiliency, BRAVE, LGBT Advocacy Council, Equal Opportunities Office, Prevention and Wellness Services, AS Queer Resource Center, and T.A.G. club, according to the Facebook event.
Additionally, on November 16, the Counseling Center is bringing actor and poet Carlos Andres Gomez to campus to speak.
“He speaks a lot about unhealthy forms of masculinity,” Vincent said.
Gomez is author of the book “Man Up: Reimagining Modern Manhood” and will deliver a keynote on “reimagining modern manhood.”
