November marks the celebration of National Native American Heritage Month. This is a time to honor the many achievements and contributions made by Native Americans.  Within the American Indian culture are many different practices, legends and people to celebrate.

Some people in the Native community may identify as “Two Spirit”. The term “Two Spirit” describes the cultural perspective, supported by many Native teachings, that some males are balanced by strong feminine identities, and some females are balanced by strong masculine characteristics. The term also describes many Native identities, including gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and other identities.  Not all Native LGBT individuals identify as Two Spirit.

The National American Indian and Alaska Native ATTC, one of the partners of the YMSM + LGBT CoE, has a Native LGBTQ/Two Spirit Curriculum titled “Honoring our LGBTQ Relations” which will be available for Training of Trainer events (TOTs) within the upcoming year.

 

 

To learn more about the Native American LGBT Two Spirit population please join us for our next webinar on November 20, 2015 with Harlan Pruden.  Register today at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/V5WSXLF .