Hosted by Barnard Center for Research on Women:
Join activist Tourmaline and cultural historian Steven Watson for a conversation on the potential of queer and trans archives today. This online event will take place on Wednesday, November 19th from 6:30 – 8pm EST. This event is free, open to the public, and will stream online on BCRW’s YouTube page. ASL interpretation and live transcription will be provided. Registration is preferred.
For over forty years, cultural historian Steven Watson has documented the stories and artwork at the leading edge of artistic and cultural movements, including the movement for queer and trans liberation. Working in collaboration with filmmaker William Markarian-Martin, Steven recently launched Artifacts, making his collection of rare, firsthand accounts from pioneers such as Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Holly Woodlawn, and many others accessible to students, researchers, and anyone interested in connecting to queer and trans history. Watson’s archival collection foregrounds the importance of engaging with and animating trans and queer histories in order to combat the present-day erasure of trans lives.
Watson will be in conversation with trans artist and activist Tourmaline, whose work on narrating, preserving, and celebrating Marsha P. Johnson’s life has drawn extensively on Watson’s Artifacts. Tourmaline’s repertoire of film and book projects on Marsha includes the first full-length biography on her life, MARSHA: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson (Penguin Random House, 2025).
ABOUT TRANS AWARENESS WEEK
Transgender Awareness Week (November 13 – 19) leads up to the Transgender Day of Remembrance every year to help raise awareness of transgender, gender diverse and non-binary people, the issues facing communities, and the ways people can get involved as allies to improve lives and create a more fair and equal world for everyone. Transgender Awareness Week is a week when transgender people and their allies take action to bring attention to the trans community by educating the public about who transgender people are, sharing stories and experiences, and advancing advocacy around issues of prejudice, discrimination, and violence that affect the transgender community.
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