{"id":1054,"date":"2021-06-07T17:21:46","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T00:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twospiritjournal.com\/?p=1054"},"modified":"2021-08-09T16:59:15","modified_gmt":"2021-08-09T23:59:15","slug":"visibility-matters-listing-of-two-spirit-and-or-indigenous-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twospiritjournal.com\/?p=1054","title":{"rendered":"Visibility Matters: Listing of Two-Spirit and\/or Indigenous First"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Last month, I was asked by a colleague working on a Two-Spirit community resource for Indigenous communities. The resource used the acronym \u201cLGBTQ2S,\u201d and I asked if \u201c2S\/LGBTQQIA*\u201d (Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and sometimes an asterisk or plus sign to indicate that other sexual or gender minority identities including pansexual, demi-sexual, non-binary, gender-free can be read in) could be used instead. What prompted these request for \u201c2S\u201d to be listed first is to better reflect the communities\u2019 wishes, work, history, as well as\u00a0 it is in line with the spirit of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP).<\/span><\/p>\n

Background\/context of Two-Spirit:<\/b>
\n\u201cOn August 4th, 1990, Two-Spirit was adopted at the 3rd Annual Gathering of Native American Gays and Lesbians that was held near Beausejour, Manitoba,\u201d as noted in the Two-Spirit Journal\u2019s August 3, 2020 post.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTwo-Spirit\u201d is an organizing strategy or tool, and not an identity. In other words, it is a way to identify those individuals or peoples who embody diverse sexualities, genders, gender-identities and\/or gender expressions<\/span> and who are Indigenous to Turtle Island<\/span> and is Nation specific (Pruden, 2019). Additionally, Two-Spirit does not make sense unless it is contextualized within Indigenous frameworks\/communities and, in a traditional (pre-contact) setting; it was tied to gendered labor roles within communities and not seen as an enduring \u201csexual orientation\u201d (Cannon 1998; Pruden 2019).<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, most people associate the term with LGBTQQIA* Indigenous peoples; however, the work of the Two-Spirit elders, leaders, community members, and organizations is often more akin with these pre-contact\/\u2018traditional\u2019 understandings and the relevancy and applicability of these ways within a contemporary setting (Pruden, 2019). Even though this association exists, there is a marked difference between Two-Spirit and non-Indigenous LGBTQQIA* identities and communities. As a result of this positionally and history, the Two-Spirit movement is about the reclaiming and restoring of traditional and Indigenous ways, while challenging the western (foreign) frameworks, concepts, or identities of LGBTQQIA*.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why 2S should be listed first?:<\/b>
\nTwo-Spirit Indigenous people <\/span>were the first sexual and gender minority people of Turtle Island<\/i><\/b> (University of Manitoba). This is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the framing and use of \u2018Two-Spirit” as it predates western frameworks, concepts, or identities of LGBTQQIA*.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In September 2007, the United Nations passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). It covers 46 issues important to Indigenous people, including:<\/span><\/p>\n