| | Dear John, We had a blast at the 8th Annual Virginia Transgender Information & Empowerment Summit (TIES 2021) from Wednesday, October 20 through Saturday, October 23, 2021. This event was made possible thanks to our generous sponsors, including our conference sponsor Gilead and our signature sponsors, Virginia Pride, Kaiser Permanente, and Mosaic Interpreting Services. This event also could not have happened without the time and effort of the TIES Planning & Equity Committee, a group of LGBTQ folks of color and Spanish speakers from all backgrounds, who came together to shape the direction of the conference.
TIES once again took place over multiple days and occurred completely virtually. Even after a record-breaking 2020, this year was our most successful TIES yet, with more participants than ever before thanks to the digital format! This year’s TIES theme was mental health and wellness, and the conference continued a strong focus on language accessibility, racial justice, and connectedness. See what all the hype is about by checking out our TIES 2021 recap page. |
| | This unique conference is designed to address the needs and interests of transgender and nonbinary Virginians of all ages as well as their friends, family members, partners, and allies. More than anything else this meant building connections and strengthening our communities.
We are grateful for the amazing presenters, volunteers, interpreters, providers, community voices, and legal clinic partners who dedicated their time and resources to support the conference. Make sure to check out our online program to see all TIES 2021 had to offer. |
| What made TIES 2021 so special: - This year, over 730 participants interacted with TIES from across Virginia and the world. That makes this year’s conference the most attended TIES ever!
- The conference offered 18 unique workshops, featuring 25 presenters and facilitators, on topics varying from school advocacy to health care access to emotional wellbeing, and so much more.
- TIES hosted four powerful keynote discussions featuring trans and nonbinary young adult leaders as well as Black trans and nonbinary changemakers like Tona Brown, Aurora Higgs, and Charley Burton.
- The TIES conference app, Whova, allowed hundreds of participants and dozens of community partners to connect with each other virtually, chat one-on-one, schedule meet-ups, post photos, and plan their days.
- Daily social events including a talent show, open mic, speed friending, and dance party!
- Interpretation in Spanish, American Sign Language (ASL), and English was available for all main conference events at TIES for the first time ever! Conference materials were available in Spanish and English thanks to volunteer translators. Lea más sobre TIES 2021.
- The TIES Legal Clinic served 34 people with free assistance on the name and gender marker change process.
- Participants made over 20 appointments at the TIES Wellness Center, which offers free conversations with trans-affirming medical and mental health providers.
- This year, EV massively expanded community involvement in the conference with the TIES Planning & Equity Committee. We are so grateful for the 23 participants who showed up to create an incredible space where LGBTQ people of color and Spanish speakers of all backgrounds came together to make decisions about all major aspects of the conference and shape its direction.
Hear from attendees: “Community connection, resources, and information!” “I was very impressed by how the conference incorporated and addressed racial justice this year.” “I was very impressed by this. This is the first conference I've attended that had such an intentional stance toward accessibility and language justice. Keep it up!” “It feels like a great sense of community.” “La diversidad de talleres, los temas fueron bien distribuidos a lo largo de la conferencia.” |
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| Record-Breaking Support Your support for this year’s TIES helped us bring in $3,072, which is over 60% our $5,000 goal! The team at Equality Virginia is grateful for your trust and support during the second virtual TIES celebration. The funds you raised make this conference possible and also keep it free for all to join in community with one another. If you didn’t get a chance to join or want to help us reach the $5,000 goal you can click here to donate. |
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| | Thank you as well to all of our sponsors who supported key aspects of TIES! |
|  | We cannot wait for you to see what’s in store for next year’s conference. Thank you to everyone who made this incredible event possible!
In gratitude,
Thalia Hernandez
Program Director |
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| Equality Virginia
530 E Main St Ste 600 | Richmond, Virginia 23219
(804) 643-4816 | [email protected] |
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