Join us for an online event in celebration of Pride Month, where we’ll discuss El Paso’s vibrant LGBTQ+ community.
Panelists Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Adri Perez, and Diamond Briseño come from wide-ranging corners of El Paso’s queer community, with work in the arts, political activism, nightlife, and advocacy and community-building. Moderator and El Paso Matters journalist René Kladzyk will lead our panelists in a lively conversation, exploring challenges queer El Pasoans face while also celebrating the beauty and vitality of the local LGBTQ+ community.
Attendees will also have a chance to ask the panelists questions.
More about the panelists:
Benjamin Alire Sáenz is an award-winning author of poetry and prose for adults and teens, and professor of creative writing at the University of Texas at El Paso. His collection of short stories “Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club” is the winner of the prestigious 2013 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, as well as a Lambda Literary Finalist for Gay Fiction. Saenz’s young-adult novel “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” has received widespread critical acclaim as a coming-of-age exploration of sexual identity.
Adri Perez is a life-long El Pasoan, UTEP Graduate, and Policy & Advocacy Strategist for the American Civil Liberties of Texas, where they lead LGBTQIA+ advocacy on the Sexuality & Gender Equality team. Adri represents ACLUTX in statewide coalitions, trains and educates families of trans kids, and advocates at the Texas Legislature on bills that affect trans Texans. Adri’s intersectional experience motivates their advocacy as a native fronterizx, transgender, queer educator and abortion storyteller.
Diamond Briseño, an El Paso native, is the co-volunteer director for El Paso Sun City Pride. A graduate of UTEP’s class of 2017, Diamond has been involved in awareness programs like Trans Awareness for Queer Students Association at UTEP, diversity symposium at El Paso Community College , and has received awards for her work in providing support to the local LGBTQ+ community. She is also active as a performer and event host in El Paso’s queer nightlife.
This event is the third of many conversations we will host with El Pasoans working in all sectors of the community. Have a suggestion for our next guest(s)? Email us at news@elpasomatters.org.
