Welcome.......
On behalf of the Femme2006: Conversations and Explorations Steering Committee, I welcome you! Femme2006 will be a conference for conversations about and explorations of Queer Femme, by Femmes and their allies. We hope you'll join us. Femme2006: Conversations and Explorations will take place August 11-13th, 2006 at the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco, CA..
This conference is something many of us have thought about and imagined for years. Working together to make it happen has been an inspiring experience (and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the new processing skills we've all learned: an eleven-person Steering Committee that functions is incredible, and I bow to the deity of your choice for bringing these Femmes into my life). Our Steering Committee is made up of Femmes of different races, classes, ethnicities, sexualities, sizes, and backgrounds. We're from different regions (though we're all living in the US), live and work in different communities, and understand our genders and identities in different ways. We're Femmes of Color, Feminist Femmes, High Femmes, Black Femmes, Tomboy Femmes, Diesel Femmes, Latina/Chicana Femmes, Stone Femmes, Asian Femmes, Lesbian Femmes, Femme Parents, Academic Femmes, Working Class Femmes, Femme Artists, Femme Tops, Bottoms, Switches and more. We're all kindsa different Femme, baby! We're Queer Femmes who want to create a space to talk about, learn about, think about, and explore Queer Femme as identity, gender, construction, experience, and way of being.
We've worked hard these past few months to lay the groundwork for what's going to be an exciting, challenging, and amazing conference. Our organizing structure is interconnected and mutually accountable, and we have a democratic process for making our decisions. Truth be told, we spent several weeks making sure we had a title we could all live with (in addition to making sure we had a site that was accesible, provided gender-neutral bathrooms, seating to accomodate fat folks comfortably, wasn't cost prohibitive but was in a city that provided many places of interest and was queer-friendly). We processed, dahlinks, we processed.
We want to be clear about the fact that for us, "Queer Femme" includes many different identities, genders, bodies, sexualities, etc. We explicitly include bi folks, trans folks, and genderqueer folks who identify as Femme in "Queer Femme." While you do not have to identify as "Queer Femme" to participate, present, or attend, we do ask that folks who identify as straight honor the fact that we're invested in creating a space that's explicitly Queer/LGBT/SGL focused. Submissions that engage with, examine, or think about the dialogue between Queer Femme and Femmeness that is not queer(ed) are welcomed and encouraged!
You might want to know more about who we are and why we're so invested in creating a space for dialogue about Queer Femme. Please check out our bios, read our Mission Statement, check out our Committees if you're interested in volunteering, and submit, submit, submit on our Call for Submissions page!
Welcome! We can't wait to meet you, learn from you, and we'll see you in San Francisco , CA August 11th - 13th 2006!
~Jessica Eve Humphrey
Conference Chair
Femme Ally Statement
Our femme allies stand beside us in support of our endeavors to be known, seen, respected and acknowledged; You know that we have always been a force in our community, you know that as femmes we have made our own journies, fought our own battles, and always had your backs. You want to remind us of our value in the community when we grow weary because some see us merely as ornaments or trophies. You are not afraid of our femininity or our feminism or our need to be visible in our own right. You resonate with our power and know that it compliments and supports your own. <more>
