All Posts

  • What does hope make possible? December 20, 2022What does hope make possible?
    “To hope is dangerous, and yet it is the opposite of fear, for to live is to risk.” – Rebeca Solnit, Hope in the Dark Dear Lavender Phoenix Community, My heart split open when I first learned about Jaxon. Jaxon, a young gay ...
  • Welcome LavNix’s New Leaders! November 23, 2022Welcome LavNix’s New Leaders!
    Dear Lavender Phoenix Community, I’m excited to welcome two new staff leaders to Lavender Phoenix: eri oura (they/them) and Cynthia Fong (they/them)! eri, our new Development Manager, is an experienced fundraiser, educator, and builder of trans and queer BIPOC communities. Cynthia, ...
  • Trans Love Transcends Generations: A Zine Launch November 20, 2022Trans Love Transcends Generations: A Zine Launch
    Letters to Past and Future Selves is a collaborative zine created by the Lavender Phoenix community in honor of Trans Day of Remembrance 2022; through creative submissions including collage, illustration, poetry, playlists,  and other offerings, our community sat in vulnerability to ...
  • What LavNix Does Was Impossible November 4, 2022What LavNix Does Was Impossible
    On the eve of my 18th birthday, in the starting-to-become-summer month of May of 1980, I got to sleep in the arms of my boyfriend Danny. Having spent an overnight with him, in a friends spare bedroom, making love (before ...
  • I learned the power of being honest. August 25, 2022I learned the power of being honest.
    Growing up, I could not imagine anyone accepting me for my queer and trans identities. I viewed these parts of myself as a burden that I had to carry, something ugly and unlovable. Believing that I could never show my ...
  • We weave stories across generations August 25, 2022We weave stories across generations
    I grew up in a traditional Hmong household that practiced under a patriarchal system with gendered roles and a religious belief of Shamanism, the belief that spirits are intertwined with our physical reality. These traditions taught me that queer Hmong ...
  • 2022 LEX: Virtual Letters to the Future August 24, 2022
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/amY5PhvtxU8 Transcript Iris (she/they): Hello future LEX participant!  Elyse (they/chanh): Hi there! Ishita (ze/them): Hi!  Iris (she/they): I hope you’re ready for what’s to come. I can promise you it’s going to be amazing.  Elyse (they/chanh): Entering the space that has been so carefully and tenderly ...
  • Don’t make things harder for yourself. June 20, 2022Don’t make things harder for yourself.
    These were the words my mother responded with after I came out to her on a sunny day in our backyard. At the tender age of 19, I felt emboldened to be honest with my family, but hearing her words ...
  • Welcome LavNix’s New Cultural Strategy Organizer! June 13, 2022Welcome LavNix’s New Cultural Strategy Organizer!
    Dear Lavender Phoenix Community, We have exciting news: Bisma Farzansyed (they/them) has joined Lavender Phoenix as our Cultural Strategy Organizer! Bisma is an experienced organizer, a budding herbalist, and a medicine-maker. They’ve organized powerful digital campaigns and created heart-centered spaces for ...
  • Lavender Phoenix: Our New Name April 27, 2022Lavender Phoenix: Our New Name
    I’m excited and proud to announce that we are changing our name. From today onwards, we will be known as Lavender Phoenix.
  • What is Healing Justice? April 14, 2022What is Healing Justice?
    “What is healing?” is the question I have been asking APIENC’s Core Committee ever since we established Healing Justice as a key pillar of our new Theory of Change. In our movements, healing is all the buzz, yet what does ...
  • 2022 Summer Organizer Program – Apply by March 1st! February 1, 20222022 Summer Organizer Program – Apply by March 1st!
    Do you want to work with trans, non-binary, and queer Asian and Pasifika communities?Do you have a commitment to social justice, liberation, and collective transformation?Are you ready to learn concrete organizing skills and build movements for change? The APPLICATION for APIENC’s ...
  • What time is it on the clock of APIENC? January 28, 2022What time is it on the clock of APIENC?
    Dear APIENC Community, “What time is it on the clock of the world?What time is it on the clock of APIENC?” When Michael—APIENC’s end-of-year Core Retreat facilitator—asked these questions inspired by Grace Lee and James Boggs, my breath softened. After a year ...
  • Welcome APIENC’s New Leadership Development Coordinator! January 26, 2022Welcome APIENC’s New Leadership Development Coordinator!
    Dear APIENC Community, We are thrilled to announce Shivani Chanillo (they/them) has joined APIENC as our new Leadership Development Coordinator! Shivani is an incredible educator and organizer who brings years of leadership development experience. They demonstrate a passion for building relationships, ...
  • Cultivating Growth and Leadership: Reflections on Sammie’s Time at APIENC December 15, 2021Cultivating Growth and Leadership: Reflections on Sammie's Time at APIENC
    I first met Sammie in 2015 when I chaired the Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women & Transgender Community (APIQWTC) scholarship committee, and we awarded Sammie one of the scholarships. On paper, Sammie already had an impressive track record of social ...
  • Shivani Chanillo November 23, 2021Shivani Chanillo
    NOV 2021 | Shivani Chanillo Image description: Shivani smiles with a big smirk at the camera. They are outdoors with a white door and wall behind them. Shivani Chanillo (they/them) has been involved with APIENC for about a year and is part ...
  • A message from Yuan, APIENC’s Incoming Director October 7, 2021A message from Yuan, APIENC’s Incoming Director
    On a hot summer day in 2018, Sammie first welcomed me into APIENC. It was the first day of my Summer Organizer Program, and I didn’t know what to expect. As folks filtered in, Sammie sat our group down and ...
  • Living at the Intersection of Queer and South Asian Identities September 1, 2021Living at the Intersection of Queer and South Asian Identities
    For a huge portion of my life, I’ve been in denial that South Asian society is ready to fully support my sexuality and attraction to the same gender. I’d replay the thoughts in my head: “If they didn’t support me ...
  • I am reminded I am enough August 25, 2021I am reminded I am enough
    Image description: A black & white photo of Sajneel’s right forearm. There is an abstract tattoo of a person’s head exploding and three bold eyes flying in different directions. When my time as an APIENC Summer Organizer came to a close, ...
  • We need to extend humanity to ourselves. August 18, 2021We need to extend humanity to ourselves.
    I sat in a Zoom room with 30 other people—most, I didn’t know, and all, I had never actually met in-person. It was our first weekend of LEX—APIENC’s API Queer Justice Leadership Exchange—and I felt a mix of anxiety and ...