This event takes place in person at Charis and on crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Click here to register to attend virtually. Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event.
Charis welcomes local subjects who participated in the creation of the book, Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Nonbinary People and Their Families, edited by Peggy Gillespie for a celebration and book signing.
Georgia participants will share about their experiences of being in the book and what it means to participate in a project like this during our current political moment. Charis Circle Executive Director E.R. Anderson will emcee. Local contributors include: TAYLOR ALXNDR, Sam Landis (They/Them), Christian Zsilavetz (he/him/his ), Noël Heatherland (they/them/theirs), Heather Hastings (she/her/hers), Emma Hastings (she/her), Zoe Hastings (she/her), Dalia Kinsey, Feroza Syed, and Dee Dee Chamblee. Signing and meet and greet to follow the program. Children of all ages are welcome! This event is co-sponsored by Southern Fried Queer Pride (SFQP), a queer + trans, arts + advocacy organization centering Southern queer communities and Transparent ATL a volunteer-run organization providing parents and caregivers open, nonjudgmental opportunities to connect, exchange resources, grow, and advocate for our trans and gender-expansive community.
About the book:
Groundbreaking in its depictions of joy and community, Authentic Selves celebrates trans and nonbinary people and their families in stunning photographs and their own words. Foreword by transgender activist Jazz Jennings and her mom and fellow activist, Jeanette Jennings.
So often trans and nonbinary people's stories are told only through the lens of their struggles and challenges, including their political battles for legal rights, but trans and nonbinary people live rich and fulfilling lives full of joy and community too. Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Nonbinary People and Their Families is a sweeping compilation of life stories and portraits of trans and nonbinary people, as well as their partners, parents, children, siblings, and chosen family members.
The compelling stories in Authentic Selves provide a glimpse into the real lives, both the challenges and the triumphs, of these remarkable people and their families.
Developed in collaboration with PFLAG National and Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund.
About the Editor
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Peggy Gillespie, MA, CSW, is the co-founder and director of Family Diversity Projects, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping eliminate prejudice, stereotyping, bullying, and harassment of people who are discriminated against due to sexual orientation, gender identity, race, national origin, religion, and disabilities of all kinds. The organization tells the stories of real people presented in award-winning traveling photo and text exhibits. These exhibits tour communities nationwide in schools, universities, houses of worship, libraries, workplaces, museums, and other institutions. Gillespie is the editor of all of the exhibits and books, including Love Makes a Family: Portraits of LGBT People and their Families, among others. She is also an actress and performed recently in the award-winning show A 24-Decade History of Popular Music starring Taylor Mac.
This event is free and open to all people, especially to those who have no income or low income right now, but we encourage and appreciate a solidarity donation in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Charis Circle's mission is to foster sustainable feminist communities, work for social justice, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/CharisCircle?code=chariscirclepage
In-person event guidelines:
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All attendees must wear a face mask at all times inside the building
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We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.
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This event will be live-streamed via crowdcast. Click here to register to attend virtually.
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As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.
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If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304
Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. We are actively learning the best practices for this technology and we welcome your feedback as we begin this new way of connecting across distances.
By attending our virtual event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.
Groundbreaking in its depictions of joy and community, Authentic Selves celebrates trans and nonbinary people and their families in stunning photographs and their own words. Foreword by transgender activist Jazz Jennings and her mom and fellow activist, Jeanette Jennings.