PFLAG Greater St. Louis

SQSH is organizing a community photoshoot & open mic event for queer St. Louisans. We aim to empower queer & trans St. Louisans to speak up on social justice issues you care about through empowering mini-interviews facilitated trained peer counselors, while promoting visibility for SQSH’s mission, programs, and merchandise (community “swag”). This is an outdoors social gathering featuring music, food, a fashion runway, and an open mic, with the goal of promoting peer support, mental health, and solidarity among St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community.

Given recent community tragedies, this is an opportunity to strengthen our community’s resilience, highlight possibility models, and create safe spaces where we can be our authentic selves. We know that radical healing occurs when we are able to be critically conscious about systemic oppression and envision personal and collective liberation. Through this project, we aim to promote the 5 anchors of radical healing for queer & trans St. Louisans: Collectivism, critical consciousness, radical hope, strength and resistance, and cultural authenticity and self-knowledge.

This will be our first return to leading an in-person community event since COVID started. We require masking and encourage social distancing during the event, and encourage vaccination/booster and testing prior to the event. We'll have masks and hand sanitizer available.

Basic Details:

• Date: Nov 5 (Saturday), 1-4pm CT
• Backup Date: Nov 12 (Saturday), 1-4pm CT
• Location: Tower Grove Park, Humboldt North Pavilion
• Tickets available on a $0-40 sliding scale basis (learn more at Triangle Wellness Collective's Blog

Who’s Invited?

• LGBTQIA+ / Queer & trans St. Louisans and supportive people in your lives (you get to decide!)
• Black and Brown trans youth will be centered

Event Goals:

• Create a safe, affirming space to build community
• Promote peer support, mental health, solidarity
• Speak up on social justice issues we care about
• Uplift forms of queerness that are marginalized White supremacist, Eurocentric, ableist, & fatphobic beauty standards

Event Outline:

1.00-2.00pm: [Connection]

• Music, food, picnic
• Face-painting, peer-led interviews, art build

2.00-3.00pm: [Visibility]

• Open mic
• Fashion runway

2.00-3.00pm: [Wholeness]

• Wellness services
• Photoshoot, art build

What’s the photoshoot?

• Photographers will take photos of 6-12 queer St. Louisans wearing gender-euphoric clothing and/or SQSH merch (shirts, tote bags, and water bottles)
• Models bring home free, high-quality copies of your photos
• Photos will be used in a digital campaign to promote queer & trans visibility
• Dress code: Weather-appropriate, gender-affirming clothing that promotes gender euphoria (as defined you!)

COVID Guidelines:

• Highly encouraged: Masking, social distancing, vaccination/booster and testing prior to the event

Accessibility Factors Available:

• ASL interpretation (1-2pm)
• Childcare on-site
• Community safety marshalls (no police)
• Masks, hand sanitizer

Join us for good books, good tea, and good company as we discuss books about queer community and experiences. This month's pick is “When the Moon was Ours” Anna-Marie McLemore. Books are available for checkout through the library’s catalog, but reading the book is NOT a requirement to attend. This program is hosted in partnership with The SPOT youth center, and is intended for ages 16-24. St. Louis Public Library requires all participants ages two and older in its youth programs to wear face (...)

For more information go here:
https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/events/62d6c337430d43bee77f9901

Please join us as we honor all the transgender people whose lives were lost this past year to anti-transgender violence and learn more about the violence affecting the transgender community. The ceremony will include poetry and music, information from local LGBTQ+ community organizations, and reading of the names of those lost. 


This is an outdoor event at the gazebo behind the Youth in Need building in St. Charles. If it rains, the event will be canceled.