- Author: Michael Hsu
UCCE advisor outreaches to LGBTQ+ community, partners with Karuk Tribe in Northern California
Costumed as river creatures with papier mâché heads and dressed as the Army Corps of Engineers, Cleo Woelfle Hazard and a performance art group called The Water Underground dazzled the biennial Bay Delta Science Conference a few years ago.
Woelfle Hazard – then a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley – and his companions performed numbers from the film they were making, a “queer slapstick musical” about salmon migration. They soon got 150 scientists, engineers, resource managers and other conference attendees singing along to their songs.
“Meanwhile, some of my professors were in the audience, and they were saying, ‘Well, he's also a scientist, he doesn't just do this art stuff!'” recalled Woelfle Hazard, who started at the beginning of this year as the UC Cooperative Extension fire advisor for Humboldt and Del Norte counties.
Identifying as a “queer trans masculine person,” Woelfle Hazard has spent much of his career bringing together gender studies with his professional interests – a quest chronicled in his book “Underflows: Queer Trans Ecologies and River Justice.”
Prescribed burn training to help shape queer fire ecology
In his new role, Woelfle Hazard is organizing a prescribed burn training for people who are 2SLGBTQ+ (2S is a common abbreviation for Two-Spirit, which refers to people of Indigenous North American descent who identify as having both masculine and feminine qualities). The sessions, which began in the middle of Pride Month in June, will continue over three more weekends in the fall when participants conduct forest thinning and prescribed burns.
Inspired by the WTREX (Women-in-Fire TRaining EXchanges) burn trainings for women organized by UC ANR Fire Network Director Lenya Quinn-Davidson and her colleagues, Woelfle Hazard is excited to grow skills and foster connections within the LGBTQ+/Two-Spirit community.
“I try to be ‘out' in different contexts that are not particularly queer,” Woelfle Hazard said. “And the queer burn training is one way that I'm trying to increase the visibility of queer people in fire.”
He has been overwhelmed by interest in the training – with over 100 people already registered – and is looking forward to learning how subcultures within those diverse communities can contribute to a nascent “queer fire ecology.”
“I do social science and I do ecology, but my core field is feminist science and technology studies,” Woelfle Hazard explained, “which is a field where we're looking at the social context of science and who asks the questions and how the questions change if a Native person, or a Black person, or a queer person, or an immigrant is asking those questions.”
Working alongside Karuk Tribe on Klamath River floodplain restoration
The book “Underflows” also explores the intersectionality of queer theory with Indigenous conceptions of kinship and belonging – building on Woelfle Hazard's extensive experience working with tribal communities.
During his undergraduate years, Woelfle Hazard edited an anthology, “Dam Nation: Dispatches from the Water Underground” and contributed a chapter on tribal-led dam removal efforts, including those of the Karuk, Hoopa, Yurok, and Klamath Tribes in the Klamath Basin. In graduate school, he also participated in the UC Berkeley-Karuk Collaborative, started by UCCE specialist Jennifer Sowerwine and others.
Later in his career, as a faculty member at the University of Washington, Woelfle Hazard had an opportunity to work more directly with the Karuk Tribe. Seeking to bring students to the region for field sessions, he contacted Lisa Morehead-Hillman, who directed the Píkyav Field Institute, the educational wing of the Karuk Department of Natural Resources.
In return, she asked if there was a way her Karuk students could benefit from the experience as well – and Woelfle Hazard said he would be glad to host them in Seattle. “She had never had anyone from a university make that offer before, so that was really the foundation of building trust,” he said.
From there, Woelfle Hazard connected with Leaf Hillman, the founder of the Karuk Department of Natural Resources, and they co-developed a project to look at how reconnecting the Klamath River with its floodplain could restore ecological processes and eco-cultural practices such as basketry.
Working alongside Morehead-Hillman and University of Washington students Jocine Velasco and Ry Yahn, they produced a Storymap, patterned after the Karuk creation story of “Coyote's Journey,” recounting the historical impacts of mining, dams and fire suppression in the region. They are now working on a follow-up Storymap that will describe the tribe's plans to restore the floodplain and revitalize the Tishániik ceremonial site.
Navigating intersections of science, culture
Earlier this month, Woelfle Hazard brought climate scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to Orleans in Humboldt County, where the Karuk Department of Natural Resources is located. NCAR scientists had developed a climate model that describes changes to the Klamath Basin under a variety of future fire regimes, and Woelfle Hazard presented on how well the model meets the needs of local communities.
“Our activity kind of broke their model, which they're pretty happy about, actually,” Woelfle Hazard said. “There's a lot of learning just about what is actually useful for the tribe and other organizations; we're working with the Western Klamath Restoration Partnership, which is a tribal-led partnership with the Forest Service and a number of NGOs in the Klamath Basin.”
As part of the NCAR Innovators project, which intentionally pairs social scientists with NCAR scientists, Woelfle Hazard also studied the researchers themselves, interviewing them about their experiences and looking at ways they can better partner with tribes and grassroots organizations.
“It's been a really complex project, putting together lots of different forms of knowledge – Karuk science, climate science, and I'm in the middle, trying to translate between them,” Woelfle Hazard said.
Native and Western ways of knowing. Social sciences and natural sciences. Fire and water. Artist and scientist. In work and in life, Woelfle Hazard has sought to deconstruct binaries that obscure more complicated realities – and blur those distinctions to illuminate greater truths.
During Pride Month and throughout the year, he said it's important to celebrate progress while also continuing to fight so all people can secure their basic rights and live their lives with dignity and purpose.
“Queer ecology is another frontline of the struggle; if you're a queer/trans/Two-Spirit person and you want to be a fish ecologist, you should be able to be a fish ecologist,” he said. “You shouldn't have to worry that people are going to be saying some stuff while you're out in the field getting into your wetsuit!
“This is work that we all have to do – dismantling these structures of racism, of sexism, of homophobia. And we have to do it all the time, every day.”
/h3>/h3>/h3>/h3>- Author: Mike Hsu
To commemorate Pride Month in June, the LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group at UC ANR has assembled links to articles and videos that offer historical context and additional information for the community.
Pride Month & General Information
Pride Month
https://www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/about/
https://youth.gov/feature-article/june-lgbt-pride-month
Milestones in the Gay Rights Movement: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/stonewall-milestones-american-gay-rights-movement/
The first Pride march in New York City was held on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising: https://www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/about/#pride-50th-anniversary (including footage of early Pride march)
Numbers in the U.S.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/329708/lgbt-identification-rises-latest-estimate.aspx
Stonewall Uprising
Stonewall Then and Now: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/06/harvard-scholars-reflect-on-the-history-and-legacy-of-the-stonewall-riots/
Arrest Reports from the 1969 Stonewall Uprising: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/documents/arrest-reports-from-the-1969-stonewall-uprising
How the Stonewall Riots Sparked a Movement (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9wdMJmuBlA
The Stonewall You Know Is a Myth (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7jnzOMxb14&t=86s
NYU Documentary celebrating 50 years of the Stonewall riots (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31CX1Y0cen8
The Day the Stonewall Riots Shook America (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCFwOJcMjM0
https://www.biography.com/news/stonewall-riots-history-leaders
https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/stonewall-era
History of the Pride flag (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMM-ybN3K5g
Wanda Sykes Take Us Through the History of LGBTQ+ (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkzwDOCEDCo
Practices for Inclusion of Individuals of All Genders and Sexual Orientations (4-H PLWG - Program Leaders Workgroup)
LGBTQ America (2016): A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/lgbtqthemestudy.htm
This Is What LGBT Life Is Like Around the World | Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols | TED Talks (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivfJJh9y1UI
Aging as LGBT: Two Stories (video)
Exploring The Roots Of Chicago's Queer South Asian Community | NBC Asian America (video)
Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer history in the United States
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/lgbtqheritage/upload/lgbtqtheme-history.pdf
NPS, in collaboration with History Pin, a nationwide, web-based project, is now available to enable individuals, communities, and other organizations to “pin” places of LGBTQ history and heritage, making a truly crowd-sourced and image-rich map.
Lesbian & Gay Communities
Background information
Definitions: https://lgbt.ucsf.edu/glossary-terms
LGBT identification in U.S.: https://news.gallup.com/poll/329708/lgbt-identification-rises-latest-estimate.aspx
Two-Spirit People: Sex, Gender & Sexuality in Historic and Contemporary Native America
https://www.ncai.org/policy-research-center/initiatives/Pruden-Edmo_TwoSpiritPeople.pdf
Queer Latino podcast ‘De Pueblo, Católico y Gay' aims to fight LGBTQ stigma
What Do All the Initials Mean? (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE7bKmOXY3w
Two Spirits, One Dance for Native American Artist (video)
Journey of Indigenous Gender Identity (video)
When Black Lives Matter Meets Gay Pride (video)
What's it Like to be Latino and Gay? (video)
Inside the World Of Being Machismo And Gay In Latino Culture (video)
Tracing The Evolution Of Asian-Pacific Islander LGBTQ Nightlife Spaces | NBC Asian America (video)
Bi+ Community
Background information
Description of identity terms: https://rcsgd.sa.ucsb.edu/education/bi-education
Merriam-Webster definition: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bisexual
Pansexual: https://lgbt.foundation/news/5-things-you-should-know-on-pansexual-visibility-day/161
Understanding Bisexuality: https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/bisexual
History of Bi+ Community: https://web.archive.org/web/20230604074642/https:/glaad.org/blog/us-bisexual-movement-biweek-history-lesson
Bisexual Resource Center
Information for Allies
https://biresource.org/bi-info/for-allies/
Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World
What Does It Mean to be Bisexual? (video)
Tania Israel: Bisexuality and Beyond | TEDxUCLA (video)
https://tedx.ucla.edu/project/tania_israel_bisexuality_and_beyond/
Tee Noir: Performative Bisexuality: Y'all Not Tired? (video)
Engage:
Follow @BiNetUSA on Twitter. BiNet USA is America's oldest advocacy organization for bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer-identified and unlabeled people. #BiWeek #BiMenExist
Asexuality & Aromanticism
Asexual Community
Timeline of asexual history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_asexual_history
Asexual history: http://wiki.asexuality.org/Asexual_history
Asexual pride flag: https://aceweek.org/stories/ace-flag-history
Asexual Census Summary Report: https://asexualcensus.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/2015_ace_census_summary_report.pdf
FAQ for Family/Friends: https://www.asexuality.org/?q=family.html
The Asexual Manifesto: https://www.scribd.com/document/414122159/The-Asexual-Manifesto-Lisa-Orlando
The Asexual Community is Predominantly White. Why?: https://medium.com/@Michael_Paramo/interrogating-the-whiteness-of-the-asexual-community-b5765a71f62b
Asexual Awareness Week (in late October): https://aceweek.org/
Laci Green and David Jay: “No Sex?! – Asexuality” (video): https://youtu.be/77o83_U8O5o
Yasmin Benoit: Asexuals Need Media Representation | TEDx (video): https://youtu.be/ifwRAT3DM2E
Aromantic Community
Ace and Aro: Understanding Differences in Romantic Attractions Among Persons Identifying as Asexual: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-019-01600-1
Aromantic pride flag: https://www.unco.edu/gender-sexuality-resource-center/resources/pride-flags.aspx
Introduction to Romantic orientations: https://asexuality.org/?q=romanticorientation
Definition of queerplatonic: http://wiki.asexuality.org/Queerplatonic
Coming out as Aromantic (video): https://youtu.be/Kox1NMdBVgg
Harassment and violence directed at ace and aro individuals (content warning)
https://www.reddit.com/r/asexuality/wiki/anti_ace_bias/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/asexual-discrimination_n_3380551
Sherronda J. Brown: Romance is not the only love that matters
On Black love and non-romantic relationships: http://blackyouthproject.com/romance-not-black-love-matters/
Anonymous: “Testimonio 17”
A Chilean blog shares testimonies in Spanish of people's experiences with identifying on the asexual spectrum (content warning: mentions of sexual assault): https://asearrochile.tumblr.com/post/629371145710387200/martesdetestimonio-con-identidad-demisexual
auraboo: “My Asexual Story”
A comic artist shares her experience with asexuality and relationships: https://auraboo.tumblr.com/post/172390677318/my-asexual-story-2018-another-little
Jackie Bussjaeger: “Aces in Space: An Asexual Reading of Star Trek”
An analysis highlighting the limited representation of ace and aro characters in media: https://www.startrek.com/news/aces-in-space-an-asexual-reading-of-star-trek
Trans*, Non-Binary & Intersex Communities
Trans* Community
https://glaad.org/transgender/transfaq/
Non-Binary Community
https://lgbt.foundation/who-we-help/trans-people/non-binary
Intersex Community
https://www.hrc.org/resources/understanding-the-intersex-community
What and When is Transgender Day of Remembrance?
https://www.joincake.com/blog/transgender-day-of-remembrance/
Why We Ask Each Other Our Pronouns
https://www.hrc.org/resources/why-we-ask-each-other-our-pronouns
Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights in the U.S.
https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights
National Center for Transgender Equality
https://transequality.org/about-transgender
Toolkit for Allies
https://www.aclu-mo.org/en/toolkit-allies
Trans Agenda for Liberation
https://transgenderlawcenter.org/trans-agenda-for-liberation/
The Gender Unicorn
https://transstudent.org/gender/
National Center for Transgender Equality: Introduction to Transgender People (video)
https://www.facebook.com/TransEqualityNow/videos/vb.40078161989/10153582088701990/
5 Non-Binary People Explain What “Non-Binary” Means to Them (video)
Samy Nour Younes: A Short History of Trans People's Long Fight for Equality | TED talk (video)
Scott Turner Schofield: Ending Gender (video)
InQueery: What Does Intersex Mean? (video)
As/Is: What It's Like to be Intersex (video)
Know Trans Rights in the US
https://transequality.org/know-your-rights
National and State Action Centers
https://transequality.org/action-centers
Equality California
https://www.eqca.org/take-action/
Engage:
Follow @TransEquality on Twitter. The National Center for Transgender Equality is the nation's leading social justice advocacy organization winning lifesaving change for transgender people.
Follow @TransPOCC on Twitter. Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC) is the only national social justice organization that promotes the interest of Trans People of Color.
#WontBeErased #TransRightsAreHumanRights
/h2>/h2>/h2>/h2>/h2>