Workshop Tracks

A track is a curated series of workshops centered around a common theme or topic, creating opportunities for deeper engagement and helping attendees align their schedules and interests.

About our tracks

Art, Media, and Design

Queer and trans folks know a thing or two about entertainment, content creation, media, and design! Whether the goal is advocacy for a cause, mobilizing people around an injustice, tightening a community through art and music, or bringing laughter and joy to your followers, media and content creation is a strong tool for gender justice and sexual liberation.

Content in this track should focus on:

  • Supporting artistic and creative content creation by queer and trans communities

  • Representation, gaps in visibility, and analyzing the quality of queer and trans content in film, television, music journalism and other mass media

  • Using social media and creative platforms to build community, raise awareness and mobilize movements

Change on College Campuses

College campuses are key areas of influence for our conference attendees. The history of higher education is rife with instances in which queer and trans people are underrepresented in programming, initiatives, and opportunities. College students, educators, and practitioners play an integral role in expanding possibilities for our communities on campuses and improving campus climate for marginalized people.

Content in this track should focus on:

  • Experiences with student organizations and on-campus programming, events and advocacy

  • Ways to access support services and resources as a queer/trans college student

  • Advocating for improved campus policies and creating an affirming campus climate

Historical and Contemporary Identities

Brought to you exclusively by FEMME, the Federation of Experienced Multiple MBLGTACC Educators, the Historical and Contemporary Identities track explores sexuality, gender, history and community. This track is not eligible for external submissions.

Historical concepts of identity are essential to how we understand our community and ourselves and all too often our history can be inaccessible, or worse, inaccurate causing misunderstandings, frustration, and community turmoil. During sessions in this track you will learn about sapphic history from the 19th century through today. Presenters will delve into discussions of personal and community identity development and explore the implications of homophobia, transphobia, racism, and fatphobia on the words we use and the way we structure our lives.

Justice: Activism and Protest

Justice and rights will never be handed over by oppressive systems. They must be demanded. College campuses, urban centers, and rural communities have all been sites for direct action, protests, and other forms of activism in recent years specifically around issues of racial justice, police brutality, student loan debt, and climate catastrophes. Queer and trans folks are highly represented among those on the front lines, in medic tents, and leading mutual aid projects.

Content in this track should focus on:

  • Current movement work, mutual aid projects, direct action and other activism tactics

  • Analyzing movements and activism throughout history to extract lessons for us in today’s context

  • Policies and political actions that pose barriers to activism efforts

Self and Community Care

Experiences of burnout, disruptions to existing organization and education efforts, and constantly reacting to waves of injustice have weighed heavily on queer and trans communities. It is essential we dedicate time and attention to pleasure, joy, wellness, and healing in order to sustain ourselves, our communities and our movement.

Content in this track should focus on:

  • Personal and community care practices that support communities impacted by burnout, systemic violence, trauma and medical gatekeeping

  • Sexual health and safer sex practices including consent and boundaries, body image, kink/BDSM culture, relationship structures, and pleasure/desire mapping

  • Improving and understanding mental health outcomes for queer and trans communities, especially in the Midwest, Southern and Appalachian regions

Small Town Queerness

Communities outside of urban spaces are often disregarded by political campaigning and resource allocation, leaving marginalized communities to manifest their own models of advocacy, organizing, and activism. By focusing on the work being done in rural communities to bridge resource gaps, build extensive communities, and combat small town conservative ideologies, we expand our toolkit of possible tactics and strategies for social change.

Content in this track should focus on:

  • Queer- and trans-focused work within rural and/or small communities in the Midwest, South and/or Appalachia

  • Organizing, mutual aid projects and power building in rural communities

  • Unique experiences of LGBTQ+ people in and from rural and/or small communities

Advisors

We are huge fans of the folks on college campuses who dedicate themselves to supporting queer and trans college students as advisors, student support service staff or by way of “other duties as assigned.” The work performed by these individuals is often thankless or beyond their job description but plays a huge part in creating affirming spaces and experiences for queer and trans college students. We want to recognize this work and hold space for these roles who often attend the conference with their student groups and deserve a meaningful professional and personal development experience at MBLGTACC.

Content in this track should focus on:

  • Tools to support advisors, higher education practitioners and other roles that support college students

  • Aiding advisors and practitioners in navigating complex campus environments and overcoming workplace barriers, burnout and other hardships of their positions

  • Showcasing innovative and groundbreaking scholarship, research, programming and other initiatives that contribute to a culture of higher education in which sexuality and gender diversity is celebrated

FAQs (frequently asked questions)

What’s a workshop track?

Tracks are a series of workshops centered around a common theme or topic. Tracks help shape the workshop content and aid attendees in choosing which workshops to attend based on their interests, area of focus or future plans. Think of tracks like seasons of a TV show or podcast, there is a basic premise tying everything together but each episode covers something different or builds off of what happened in a previous episode.

How does this impact the workshop submission process?

In the workshop submission form, presenters will be asked if their session should be considered for inclusion in any of the tracks. This information is used by the review committee to assess the variety of topics overall and it is not required that your workshop submission align with a track.

When will workshop submissions open and close?

We'll accept proposals from April 10 through May 22, 2023.

Will my workshop idea have to align with one of the tracks?

Nope! But it’s encouraged. The tracks will be pretty broad and expansive, so there’s likely at least one track your workshop could fall under. But it’s not required that you shape your workshop to match a track.

Other questions?

Contact us to connect about suggestions or questions.

Workshop submissions open through May 22

Presenting at MBLGTACC can be an enjoyable, exciting, and rewarding experience. Do you have a workshop or workshop idea that aligns with the conference goals, theme, and/or the tracks listed above? We encourage anyone—students, staff, faculty, community organizers, and others—to consider what knowledge and experiences they can thoughtfully and confidently bring to a workshop of attendees, and to submit a proposal.

Stay Connected

Stay up-to-date on all events, news, announcements, and more.

We care about the protection of your data. Read our Privacy Policy.