Saturday, March 14, 1-4pm (facilitated portion of event will start at 1:30pm)
Ma-Yi’s Studio Space at 260 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
(space is accessible by elevator, kindly note that the bathroom is not ADA compliant)

This event is for Women, Trans, Femme, and/or Non-binary people part of the Asian and Pacific Islander diaspora to participate in a conversation around Asian Sexuality and the Power of Radical Agency. We will explore how we empower ourselves as individuals and our communities through claiming our subversive identities as Queer, Trans, Non-binary, Androgynous, and/or SuperFemmes,  Participants will get to engage in a discussion on sexuality and gender and how—as Asian American/Pacific Islander femmes, queers, trans people, and others—we connect with each other and our sexuality through a paradox of cultural familiarity and subversion.

With Ma-Yi’s support and resources during the production of Suicide Forest from February 25-March 21, 2020 (http://ma-yitheatre.org/shows/suicide-forest/), the production team is using this show as an opportunity to create space for discussion and engagement and to build community with WTFNB performance makers, artists, and activists who are part of the Asian and Pacific Islander diaspora.

Our event will open with a grounding ritual and then move into a shared storytelling. Guests will be invited to share their own stories about sexual identity discovery and be prompted to consider other ways of shedding constraints to continue their self-actualization. Our time will close with a bodily awakening of self percussive movement. This event and space will be facilitated and led by:
- Yao, Sex Worker and TGNC Rights Activist (queer, non-binary, gender nonconforming, trans, Han Chinese-American
- Yin Q, writer/producer of Mercy Mistress | co-director of Red Canary Song | founder Kink Out (Queer, Nonbinary, Sex Worker, first generation Chinese-American)
- Xen Nhà, artist, documentary maker and Curator of Red Pocket Press (queer, genderfluid, 2nd generation Vietnamese from unceded Wurundjeri Land in 'so-called Australia')

Our intention is to help build and strengthen relationships in this community while collectively figuring out the following:
- How do we claim our desires without constantly referencing that which has been historically imposed on the Asian sexual identity?
- How does our sexuality shift through age, generations, and cultural progression?
- How do we as a community and as individuals explore and express our sexual identities with authenticity and empowerment?

Additionally this event was co-organized with support from:
- Haruna Lee, Suicide Forest playwright & performer (queer, non-binary, Japanese-Taiwanese-American immigrant)
- Aya Ogawa, Sucide Forest director (Japanese immigrant & American)
- Melissa Liu, Suicide Forest community organizer, (non-binary first generation Chinese American)

Questions? Email Melissa Liu (Community Building and Outreach for Suicide Forest Production Team) at melissaemilee@gmail.com