Rise Up!: A National Conference For Queer and Trans Youth Organizers

What: A FREE, ONLINE conference

Who: Queer and trans/nb youth (and allies) between the ages of 13 and 24 years old

When: July 28th – July 31st, 2021

Where: The conference is hosted on Zoom and Discord, and pre-registration is required for all Zoom-hosted workshops!

Accessibility: All Zoom sessions will have live captioning from Otter.ai

Ever wanted to learn more about what it means to be a youth organizer?
Are you already engaging in organizing and activist work in your community, and want to find community with other youth organizers?
Are you interested in learning more about movements for social change like climate action, police-free schools, and gun control?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you should register for Rise Up!: A National Conference For Queer and Trans Youth Organizers.

A Look at the 2021 Rise Up! Schedule:

Wednesday, July 28th– WHERE We Are

1-8 pm EST

Conference Opening
Queer History Workshop
Open Discord Chat Rooms
Queer Short Film Festival

Friday, July 30th– WHAT We Want

1-8 pm EST

Workshops on Advocating for Survivors, Queer Sex Ed, Advocating for Trans Students, and Creative Empowerment
Open Discord Chat Spaces
Voices Rising Open Mic Night

Thursday, July 29th– Who We Are

1-8 pm EST

Workshops on Decolonizing Queerness, Undoing Whiteness, Neurodivergence, and Queer Futurity
Open Discord Chat Spaces
Virtual Art Space

Saturday, July 31st– How We Get There

1-8 pm EST

Workshops on GSAs & Community Action, and Organizing a Student Protest
Open Discord Spaces
Conference Closing: Together We Rise

What is Rise Up?

Rise Up! is a free, online conference that explores what it means to be a young queer organizer today. The conference is open to any queer, trans/ nonbinary and ally youth ages 13-24 years old, with access to the internet.

Workshops will focus on everything from the intersection of race and queerness, to creating sustainable activism, to exploring how we can expand our scope to include transformative and healing justice in our organizing. Our conference prioritizes the voices, organizing, and safety of black and brown queer and trans youth of color. Some topics we’ll cover are listed below:

Understanding the relationship between power, privilege, and intersectionality
LGBTQ+ history
Gender beyond the binary
Transformative justice
Safer Sex & Healthy Relationships for queer + trans folks
Organizing against the prison industrial complex
Youth organizing for gun violence prevention

In 2021, Rise Up is planned in partnership with 3 LGBTQ youth-serving organizations– SMYAL, Kaleidoscope Youth Center, and Freedom Oklahoma.

Have questions? Visit www.smyal.org or email Ty Kitchen, Youth Leadership Manager, at Ty.Kitchen@SMYAL.org for more information.

Thank you to our incredible youth artist, Grey Bayliss for creating our logo for Rise Up! 2021. Follow them @_.bayliss._ on IG.