Gender Equity and creating opportunities for LGBTQ+ women is a fundamental priority of the New Haven Pride Center.
The first of this year’s Days of Action will take place the day before International Women’s Day and is dedicated to the diverse needs and struggles of LGBTQ+ women. We will explore how LGBTQ+ women create, organize, and lead our movement with their work and discuss the importance of queer women-centered spaces. This year’s event will focus heavily on elevating the voices of Black & Brown LGBTQ+ women.
Goals of the International Women’s Day of Action
- Bringing together queer and trans women to learn from each other so that we can take better informed action in our communities.
- Amplifying the voices of queer women creators and organizers at the forefront of movements for liberation.
- Establishing a sense of community and collaboration for queer and trans women in Connecticut.
Meet the Program Curator
Miranda Rector (they/them)
Women’s Program Officer
Questions? Contact them here
Thank You to Our Sponsors & Partners
Schedule of Programs
Opening & Welcome
March 7 | 10:00a (EST)
Join us for our opening session where we will set the tone for the day with a peotry / spoken word performance from local spoken word artist and Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter New Haven Sun Queen, a First Nations land acknowledgement, and a special welcome from LGBTQ+ Women’s Program Officer Miranda Rector.
Panel: Queer Women Create
March 7 | 10:30a (EST)
Join us for an in-depth coversation about the power behind creating as a queer female artist. How does your identity reflect in your art? What unique perspectives do they bring to the table?
Panel will feature perspectives from Hope Chávez, Siobhan Ekeh and Versatile Poetiq. The panel will moderated by artist, activist and founder of Nasty Women Connecticut Luciana McClure.
Panel: Queer Women Organize
March 7 | 2:00p (EST)
Join us for a panel discussion learn from queer women organizers how they organize and how their identities have impacted their organizing work. From leading the work on the streets to changing the policies at the capital, these queer women have had a huge impact on our community.
Panel will feature perspectives from Sun Queen (Black Lives Matter New Haven) and Leah Juliett (March Against Revenge Porn). The panel will moderated by activst, creative placemaker, and founder of Kamora’s Cultural Corner Kamora Herrington.
Coffee Chat: The Future of Women’s Programming
March 7 | 3:30p (EST)
Join Women’s Program Officer Miranda Rector for an open Zoom coffee chat to discuss women’s programming and organizing at the New Haven Pride Center.
Night of Action: Organizing the Vote
March 7 | 6:00p (EST)
Learn how to advocate for causes impacting queer and trans women during our first Night of Action. You’ll learn how to tell your story, write testimony, and more. Plus, you’ll be plugged into important events, such as National Women & Girls HIV/AIDs Awareness Day, World Doula Week, and Black Women’s Maternal Health Week.
This program is presented in partnership with Planned Parenthood Votes! CT
Meet Our Artists & Speakers (in order of appearance)
Sun Queen (she/her)
Sun Queen is a New Haven native. She is a Black queer woman whose passion, love, and activism are born out of her journey of self-exploration.Sun Queen is a co-founder of Black Lives Matter New Haven, established in 2015.
Sun Queen published her first poetry collection in a book entitled It Happened Within The Sun (2019). Black Girls are Sunshine is Sun’s trademarked brand, appearing on apparel, bags, aprons, etc. Sun developed this brand to remind Black women and girls—who are so often disrespected, dehumanized, and erased from conversations, history, and spaces— that they are special, unique, and have a special light within them.
Luciana Quagliato McClure (she/her)
Luciana is an independent contemporary art curator, activist , educator and practicing artist. She is the founding organizer of the Nasty Women Movement in Connecticut and leads Nasty Women Connecticut.
Luciana is an immigrant of Brazil and she currently resides in Connecticut where she currently is pursuing a Masters of Arts in Women and Gender Studies at Southern Connecticut State University, where she also works as a Graduate Teaching Assistant.
Luciana is a board member of Artspace New Haven, a member of College Art Association, the Connecticut Regional Coordinator of The Feminist Art Project and most recently a board member at the New Haven Pride Center.
Siobhan Ekeh (she/her)
Siobhan (she/her) is a rising senior at Jonathan Law High School and the Educational Center for the Arts. She began working with Justin Farmer’s campaign for state senate this summer, using visual art to represent Justin’s platforms. She is also working with other activists in her town to effect policy change regarding police accountability and funding. Siobhan plans to go to art school and continue to use art to fight for racial justice.
Versatile Poetiq (she/her)
Bio coming soon.
Hope Chávez (she/her/ella)
Hope is a creative producer, facilitator, and non-profit arts consultant. Hope is the Artistic Producer at Long Wharf serving as the lead producer on staff and chief deputy to Artistic Director Jacob Padrón. Prior to her appointment at Long Wharf, Hope spent 8 years in New York City working as a creative producer for organizations like The 24 Hour Plays, The Public Theatre, and La Mama and as an arts service worker at A.R.T./New York managing grant programs and piloting programs centering disability accessibility, sexual harassment prevention, and EDI training. In addition to her service at Long Wharf, Hope maintains a practice as a facilitator and consultant for arts organizations specializing in artistic and educational programs, anti-oppression work, sexual harassment prevention policies, budgeting for small to mid-sized organizations, and organizational change management. She has been a guest lecturer at Juilliard Drama and The King’s College. Hope is a proud alum of the 2019 artEquity Facilitator Training Cohort and the 2018 cohort of the Leadership Through Mentorship Program administered by Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA). Hope attended The King’s College and received a Bachelor of Arts in Media, Culture, and Art with a minor in Business Administration.
Kamora Le’Ella Herrington (she/her)
Kamora Le’Ella Herrington is a mother first, in all of the ways that a mother is. She is the founder and visionary of Kamora’s Cultural Corner; a Black Queer Afrocentric organization dedicated to creating the Brave Spaces necessary for and is active in the field of cultural humility. Through the years she has worked with numerous organizations and groups committed to marginalized communities and has a proven track record of “creating spaces where families are free to love their children”.
Kamora is a member of the National Black Justice Coalition’s (NBJC) Leadership Advisory Council, a founding member of CT Black Women as well as a current board member of Pride in the Hills.
“I’ve lived a life that has placed me in positions where I could either uphold the status quo, or share truths that may not be pleasant, but are necessary,” ‘we are the ones we’ve been waiting for’; humans willing to step in when necessary and step out when it’s time.”
Leah Juliett (they/them)
Leah is an award-winning writer, speaker, organizer, and advocate from Connecticut. Leah is the Founder and Executive Director of March Against Revenge Porn, a global digital advocacy nonprofit and political action campaign combating revenge porn through organizing, advocacy, and technology justice. Leah currently serves as Miss Greater Rockville within the Miss America Organization, and is believed to be the first openly non-binary titleholder within the organization. Previously, Leah served as Writer for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Social Media Associate at Lesbians Who Tech & Allies, and Youth Engagement Coordinator at GLAAD. Leah was recently named a L’Oreal Paris Woman of Worth honoree for their work with March Against Revenge Porn, and has been awarded Glamour Magazine’s 2018 College Woman of the Year, recipient of the Rising Star Award by GLAAD and the Accelerating Acceptance Grant from Delta Air Lines. Leah graduated from Western Connecticut State University in 2018 with an honors degree in Political Science, Justice and Law, Gender Studies, and Conflict Resolution, and is currently pursuing a Masters degree at Prescott College.
Leah has discussed social justice on national and international press outlets like CNN, BBC, MTV, TED, NBC, BuzzFeed, Teen Vogue, the Huffington Post, The Daily Mail, Seventeen, and Glamour Magazine. When Leah is not actively working, they are enjoying time with their cat-children Piper and River Jane.
Tiara Mack (she/her)
Tiara is a youth organizing specialist at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England and board member of the Women’s Health and Education Fund—an abortion fund that ensure abortion is financially accessible for RI residents. She recently won the Democratic nomination for State Senate in Rhode Island’s District 6.
Gretchen Raffa, MSW (she/her)
Gretchen is Director of Public Policy, Advocacy & Strategic Engagement for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England (PPSNE) and Planned Parenthood Votes! Connecticut. She leads the effort to increase and deepen relationships with existing statewide and national coalition partners and develop new strategic relationships with groups and individuals on behalf of PPSNE. She oversees the development of the yearly policy and organizing plan for the Public Policy & Advocacy department and is responsible for the supervision of the organizing staff leading the agency’s constituency organizing and community engagement. She serves as chair for the CT Coalition for Choice and represents Planned Parenthood on a number of coalitions focused on health care, workers’ rights, LGBTQ+ rights and immigrant rights and at the state Capitol. Gretchen has dedicated her professional career to advocating for reproductive, health, rights and justice. Her passion and energy stems from the stories of women she counseled in Planned Parenthood health centers and the activists she works with everyday. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies from the University of Connecticut (1997) and her MSW with a concentration in Policy Practice at University of Connecticut School of Social Work in 2012. She is an adjunct professor at Southern CT State University in the Department of Social Work, BSW program and MSW program.