Nika Bartoo-Smith
Underscore Native News + ICT
Across the country, the current administration has worked to dismantle 2SLGBTQ+ rights since Day One, particularly when it comes to care for transgender and Two Spirit people. But some organizations and individuals continue to show up despite all this, creating spaces of love, safety and resource sharing for 2SLGBTQ+ relatives.
“This is a moment where it’s suddenly more political to be trans now than it was a few months ago, and that’s very scary,” said Itai Jeffries, Occaneechi, project manager and director for Two Spirit Support Boat, a new online hub created for Indigiqueer people, by Indigiqueer people.
In part as a response to the wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rhetoric, organizations and individual allies from across the country worked together to create the virtual hub, Two Spirit Support Boat, launched during Pride Month on June 27 at the Indigiqueer Festival in Seattle. The hub came from a collaboration of many, working together to share knowledge, tell stories and create an online community.
Building an online hub meant archiving resources, creating videos, graphic design work, developing a space for site users to ask questions, and so much more.
Some of the organizations involved in the hub include: The Raven Collective, Seeding Justice, Turtle Island Media Group and Project Rainbow Turtle.
“I am scared for my Two Spirit relatives but I’m happy we can offer this lifeline of support, and just do our part to help in this bigger picture,” said Alicia Edwards, a member of the Colville Tribe Okanogan Band, who helped build the Two Spirit Support Boat website.
The hub is for trans, Two Spirit, other gender diverse and queer Indigenous folks, as well as people who love and care for Indigiqueer relatives. It was created almost entirely by Indigiqueer people.
Resources on the site are geared toward 2SLGBTQ+ Indigenous people (particularly those that are trans and gender expansive), parents and caregivers of Indigenous 2SLGBTQ+ youth and clinicians and advocates working to support Indigenous 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
For clinicians, there is a Clinician Consult Warmline that can be used for providers to receive support meeting the needs of 2SLGBTQ+ clients or patients.
There is also an Events Calendar offering information on 2SLGBTQ+ events, especially in the PNW.
Other resources include information on medical care, mental health, traditional medicine, cultural connection, legal resources, and more.
“The hub is the support boat, but we’re centering the community that is navigating turbulent waters,” said Jeffries. “So the support boat is everything to make sure that those folks have what they need, and what we need, to continue to stay above water.”
The name for the hub comes from support boats that accompany canoe families as they paddle during Tribal Canoe Journeys.
“In many ways, our 2SLGBTQ+ relatives are paddling through perilous waters — navigating systems not built with them in mind, and often actively working against them,” reads a press release from The Raven Collective announcing the hub.
“The 2S-SupportBoat is our way of saying: You are not alone. We are here. We see you. We will paddle beside you.”
Once logged onto the site, viewers are greeted with a video full of smiling faces welcoming them.
The landing page also shares some “Stories of Resilience” shared by some of the Indigiqueer relatives who helped create Two Spirit Support Boat.
Another section of the hub, “Ask Your G’Uncle!” invites site users to share some of their story and ask for advice that will then, with their permission, be shared anonymously on the site for others to connect with.
“One of the things that we’ve gotten, probably the most common response, is the response of, ‘I’m currently very isolated, and I’m looking for ways to connect to other Indigiqueers, other community,” said Jessica Leston, Tsimshian, when talking about feedback given as people register to use the site.
The team behind Two Spirit Support Boat intentionally tried to create an online community for just that reason.
“We were able to produce a place that when you land there, it feels like a home,” said Leston, owner and partner at The Raven Collective who helped create the hub. “It feels like a warm hug. It is welcoming. It’s beautiful. It’s soft and colorful.”
Safety concerns factored heavily into the creation of the hub, which does require people to register before being granted access to the site. These questions stem from a need for safety in a time of heightened transphobia and anti-trans policies on the federal level.
One of the questions is about why site users want to access the site and what type of support they are looking for.
The team at Two Spirit Support Boat says they hope to use this information to continue to grow the online hub and create access to resources that community asks for.
The hub initially began as a way to archive vital information since many resources cannot be found elsewhere online because organizations that were providing services have begun removing resources and important information — like how to access gender affirming care and mental healthcare — due to the continuous flow of anti-trans rhetoric and policies plaguing the country.
“This hub exists as a counter-current: a living library of knowledge, culture, protection, and care,” The Raven Collective press release states.
The site itself is seen by those who created it as a living and ever—evolving hub, according to Leston. It is a testament to a community that continues to show up and support 2SLGBTQ+ relatives.
“I think that silence right now isn’t neutral, and it’s not safe,” Leston said. “It’s really dangerous. It’s dangerous for people as individuals, and it’s dangerous for organizations. We know, this work is sacred, and to us, LGBTQ+ people are sacred, and those sacred people, and that sacred work, has to be protected, and you can’t be silent to keep those things and people protected.”
*Correction: The story has been updated to correct the spelling of Okanogan and to clarify that Jessica Leston’s tribal affiliation as Tsimshian.