Announcing PFLAG Connects: Two-Spirit and Indigenous Circle

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“Meeting the needs of our Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ Indigenous relatives and their families requires deeply immersive work. I am proud to help PFLAG National strengthen its service and partnership with the addition of the Two-Spirit & Indigenous Circle to the PFLAG Connects: Communities program.” – Sarah EchoHawk, Vice Chair of the PFLAG National Board and convener of the Two-Spirit and Indigenous Parent and Family Advisory Council

Biography

Sarah EchoHawk has been a longtime ally to the LGBTQ2S+ community. Her family is well known throughout Indian Country as being progressive and politically engaged, and they have always viewed LGBTQ2S+ rights as a human rights issue.

Sarah began her formal allyship work in the early 2000s as a member of the Community Funding Panel for the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado, a program of the Gill Foundation. The panel’s primary work was to review and award grants to Colorado-based organizations. She has continued this advocacy through staff and board positions with several national Native nonprofit organizations that have established programs and initiatives to support the Native LGBTQ2S+ community.

Sarah currently serves as President of AISES (Advancing Indigenous Science and Engineering Society), where she has led since 2013. Under her leadership, AISES has woven LGBTQ2S+ inclusion into its signature gatherings. The Native American Color Guard presents the Pride flag alongside the U.S. and Canadian flags, and the Council of Elders facilitates a Rainbow Talking Circle at the annual national conference. AISES events also include pronoun buttons and sessions specifically targeted to or presented by members of the Native LGBTQ2S+ community.

PFLAG is important to Sarah personally as the parent of a transgender son who came out at 13 and is now an adult. As a parent, she understands how critical it is for LGBTQ2S+ children to have the support of parents, families, and friends throughout their lives. Sarah feels tremendously privileged to be on this journey with her son and, like most parents, wants him to live a happy and fulfilling life.

Sarah is personally committed to dismantling the systems and beliefs that oppress her child for simply being who he was born to be. She is thankful that her family shares this commitment and that her son has been supported by other LGBTQ2S+ family members throughout his life. She is also grateful that pre-colonial traditional Indigenous beliefs, teachings, and values not only support LGBTQ2S+ people but promote a deep respect for them; Sarah sees them as unique gifts to our people.

Sarah was elected to the PFLAG National Board of Directors in 2022 as the first Indigenous person to serve on the board. She currently serves as Co-Vice Chair of the Board. She views her service as an opportunity to connect families in Indigenous communities to critically needed LGBTQ2S+ support and resources.

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“An important factor connected to wellness for our 2SLGBTQ kids, is having a supportive family member. Making sure our Indigenous families have culturally informed support ensures less barriers for families to support their kids. That’s why serving on the PFLAG National Two-Spirit and Indigenous Parent and Family Advisory Council is important to me. We are raising the bar from survival and asking what is needed to thrive.” – Sarah Adams, (she/her), citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Two-Spirit advocate for Indigenous culture, education and rights

Biography

Sarah Adams is a Two-Spirit advocate for Indigenous culture, education and rights. She is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Sarah and her partner Kendra co-created an intertribal, empowerment organization called Matriarch that serves Indigenous women, 2 Spirit and nonbinary people in central and NE Oklahoma. Matriarch is celebrating its 10th year of work in Oklahoma. They also created a support group for 2SLGBTQ Indigenous youth called Cousins.

Sarah serves on the board of directors for the ACLU of Oklahoma, The Auntie Project, Culture Hub, Respect Diversity Foundation and has served two terms as Activist in Residence at the University of Oklahoma.

Sarah has worked alongside other advocates to see Indigenous Peoples’ Day recognized in OKC and to eliminate Land Run Reenactments and Native mascots in schools. In addition to her advocacy work, Sarah creates beadwork, ribbon skirts and other Indigenous wearable art. She attended Cottey College and the University of Oklahoma and has two children, Blu and Alex. Sarah works for her family’s company, RedLand Sheet Metal and lives in Moore, Oklahoma. She is an enthusiast of warm tea, tribal sovereignty, Frankoma Pottery, a good cigar, the color yellow, Rage Against the Machine and loves hosting Bead&Tea gatherings at her home.

Biography

Alison Black is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma (Cheyenne) and resides in Red Rock, OK with her family. Her mother is the late Freda Roman Nose-Primeaux and Alison’s Cheyenne name is, “Standing” after Roman Nose’s wife who survived the Sand Creek Massacre. Her father is the late Burgess Charles Primeaux, a Ponca Tribal member and descendant of the Osage Nation, and Prairie Band Potawatomi people.

Alison’s background is working with Native Youth and Indian Education. She is a former public school teacher and administrator from Oklahoma. She oversaw Indian Education programs in 3 different school districts and was the Superintendent of the first Indigenous Charter school in Oklahoma, Sovereign Community Schools before its closure by the current State Superintendent of Instruction. In 2015 she joined the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Council for Indian Education (OCIE) of which she founded the Advocacy committee and eventually led the organization as President. During her time she coordinated the first 2SLGBTQ activities for the organization such as hosting their first virtual 2LSGBTQ Town Hall and marching in the Oklahoma Pride Parade. Currently, she is finishing her term as Past-President of OCIE and serves as co-chair of the NCAI Native Languages Task Force. She also served on the Board of Directors for the National Indian Education Association as 1st Vice President and helped coordinate the statement from the board regarding the tragic loss of Oklahoma Choctaw student Nex Benedict.

Alison is the proud mother of a child who identifies as 2SLGBTQ and taught many students who identified the same way. She was particularly impacted when her child’s high school freshman class had 4 students who had to hide their sexual and gender identity for safety reasons. This particular class only had 20 students total. The school had an explicit policy of no same sex partners at prom yet allowed students to take relatives of the same sex to prom. Her child eventually left to attend a virtual charter school and by the time that same freshman class graduated, none of her former freshman peers who identified the same way were left in their former school district. They all left that school before graduating. Alison believes that school policies can have devastating effects on 2SLGBTQ Native youth and advocates for them to not only be valued within society at large but also within tribal communities.

Personally, she is an avid athlete dedicated to an active lifestyle and is featured in the Oklahoma Tribal Engagement Partner’s, Diabetes is Not Our Destiny campaign. In 2013 she joined Delta Pi, the professional chapter of Alpha Pi Omega and is a member of Matriarch of Oklahoma. She speaks publicly against the use of Native mascots, regularly educates school districts and others about Title VI, and believes in the power of building community.

Alison currently serves as the new Youth Leadership and Training Coordinator for the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) overseeing the Youth Commission, Wilma Mankiller Fellowship, and Empowering Leaders Program. She has earned an AS from Northern Oklahoma College, and a BS in Applied Sociology and an MS in Curriculum Studies, both from Oklahoma State University. In 2019 she was selected as 40 Under 40 by the National Center for American Enterprise Development (NCAIED).

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“Joining the PFLAG National Two-Spirit and Indigenous Parent and Family Advisory Council is important to me because it reflects the values that have guided my life and work: community, compassion, and belonging. As a Cherokee woman, I was raised to understand that we are all connected and that our responsibility is to care for one another. I will always choose to walk on the side of love, understanding, and acceptance. Through this role, I hope to help create spaces where Indigenous LGBTQIA2S+ people, their families, and their allies feel valued, supported, and empowered to be their authentic selves.” – Shelly Dreadfulwater (she/her), Cherokee Nation citizen

Biography

Shelly Dreadfulwater (Cherokee) is a Cherokee Nation citizen, educator, and community advocate with 20+ years of experience supporting students, families, and Indigenous communities. As Director of Community Engagement for AISES, she works to expand opportunities for leadership, education, and belonging in STEM. Throughout her career, she has championed inclusive, community-centered programs that help people feel seen, supported, and empowered to succeed. Shelly is honored to serve on the PFLAG National Two-Spirit & Indigenous Advisory Council and is committed to helping create spaces where all individuals and families are welcomed, valued, and celebrated. In her free time Shelly keeps busy building outdoor projects, creating indigenous wares/art, and spending time with her amazing family, friends, and community.

Biography

Se-ah-dom Edmo (she/her) (Shoshone-Bannock, Nez Perce and Yakama) brings deep experience in community organizing for racial and social justice work across the nation.

Prior to joining Seeding Justice, Se-ah-dom served as the Sovereignty Program Director at Western States Center where she was the coalition convener of Tribal History: Shared History (Senate Bill 13, 2017) in Oregon, which established and funded the teaching of Indian History and Sovereignty in K–12 schools across the state. Se-ah-dom is also the co-editor of the Tribal Equity Toolkit 3.0: Tribal Resolutions and Codes for Two Spirit and LGBT Justice in Indian Country and American Indian Identity: Citizenship, Membership & Blood.

A hallmark of her career has been fostering relationships and collaborations between tribes and organizations doing social, racial, environmental, and economic justice work across the region. She is an ALF Senior Fellow and a member of the Philanthropy Northwest Board and Oregon Worker Relief Board, and the chair of the board of Oregon Consumer Justice.

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Judith LeBlanc is a citizen of the Caddo Nation. She has been the executive director of Native Organizers Alliance (NOA) for eight years. She leads a national Native training and organizing network that supports tribes, traditional societies, and community groups, urban and reservation, in organizing grassroots political power to achieve Native sovereignty and racial equity for all.

Judith is a board member of the Movement Strategy Center and chair of the board of the NDN Collective. She currently serves on the Environmental Justice Working Group, convened by US Representatives Raul Grijalva and Barbara Lee. Judith was a 2019 Roddenberry Fellow. In 2022, she was a Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Harvard University.

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“Native people and the 2SLGBTQ+ community should not be an afterthought—we should be included from the beginning. I have challenged leaders and organizations to truly show up and invest in our communities, and I am grateful that PFLAG National has done just that. I never expected those conversations and connections to lead to the creation of an Indigenous Council, but I am hopeful this Council will ensure Indigenous voices are heard, respected, and included.” – Sheila Lopez (she/her/ella/asdzáán), Diné (Navajo) and Naakaii (Mexican), founder of PFLAG Native Metro Phoenix and the Arizona Two-Spirit Powwow

Biography

Sheila Lopez (she/her/ella/asdzáán) is Diné (Navajo) and Naakaii (Mexican) from Winslow, Arizona.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Northern Arizona University and is currently a Systems Software Quality Engineer at Intel in Chandler, AZ. In her spare time, she advocates for the 2SLGBTQ+ community and has been a member of PFLAG since 2009.  She joined the organization to support her two oldest children that came out as gay when they were in high school.

Sheila recognized the need to support the native community and founded the first Native-American-focused PFLAG chapter known then as “Native PFLAG.”  Under Sheila’s leadership Native PFLAG organized Arizona’s first ever Two Spirit Powwow which is now an annual event.

Sheila is a certified Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Safe Space trainer and has given numerous presentations on how to create inclusive spaces and shares her personal story of becoming an 2SLGBTQ+ ally.  Her passion and dedication to the community led her to be recognized as a LogoTV Trailblazer Parent (2015), Phoenix Indian Center’s Volunteer of the Year (2019), the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Blazing Flame Awardee (2019)  and the recipient of Intel’s Commitment to Diversity Leadership Award (2015).

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“I’ve seen how powerful it is when our stories are met with understanding instead of stigma. The PFLAG Connects: Two-Spirit & Indigenous Circle will be a place for relatives to learn from one another, celebrate our identities, and a space where Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ+ people they know they belong.” – Elton Naswood (he/him), Navajo, inaugural Executive Director of the Two-Spirit & Native LGBTQ+ Center for Equity

Biography

Elton Naswood is the inaugural Executive Director of the Two-Spirit & Native LGBTQ+ Center for Equity (2S Center), a national non-profit to address the needs for advocacy, resources, violence prevention, and healing in Two-Spirit and Native LGBTQ+ communities. He is originally from Whitehorse Lake, New Mexico, on the Navajo Reservation and resides in Denver, Colorado.

Elton was formerly a Senior Program Analyst in the Capacity Building Division at the Office of Minority Health Resource Center, a Capacity Building Assistance Specialist at the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center, and the Founder and Program Coordinator for the Red Circle Project, AIDS Project Los Angeles.

He received his Bachelors of Arts Degree in Sociology and American Indian Justice Studies from Arizona State University and attended the graduate degree program in American Indian Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Biography

Erik Stegman (he/him) serves as Chief Executive Officer of Native Americans in Philanthropy, a national organization advocating for stronger and more meaningful investments by the philanthropic sector in tribal communities. Previously, he served as the Executive Director for the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute. He has held positions at the Center for American Progress on their Poverty to Prosperity team, as Majority Staff Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and in the Obama administration as a Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Education. Erik began his career in Washington, D.C. at the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center.

He holds a J.D. from UCLA School of Law, an M.A. in American Indian Studies from UCLA’s Graduate Division, and a B.A. from Whittier College.

Biography

Dr. Malia Villegas is an enrolled member of the Native Village of Afognak in Alaska, where she also serves on the Tribal Council. Malia is Sugpiaq/Alutiiq (Alaska Native) with family from Kodiak and Afognak Islands in Alaska and O’ahu and Lana’i in Hawai’i. In her professional and community work, Malia endeavors to advance a philosophy of love, respect, and kindness as she has been taught in church and in leadership arenas. She is honored to serve with PFLAG National to foster safety, promote loving kindness, and hold space for difficult conversations to be had that lead to greater understanding and the elimination of violence.

Malia’s service on various boards and committees seeks to uphold these principles and has included: Data for Indigenous Justice Board (addressing issues related to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples), Genome Canada Precision Health Project Research Oversight Committee, the Spencer Foundation Indigenous Education Leadership Committee, the National Institute on Drug Abuse Collaborative Research Engagement Workgroup, the Native American Contractors Association Board, and the Alaska Federation of Natives Resolutions Committee.

Malia currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Community Investments for Afognak Native Corporation. She previously served as the Director of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Policy Research Center; co-Chair of the National Institutes for Health (NIH) Tribal Consultation Advisory Committee; Principal Investigator of several federal and private grants; Post-Doctoral Fellow at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, and Fulbright Dissertation Fellow at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. She co-edited a volume (with S. R. Neugebauer & K. R. Venegas) entitled, Indigenous Knowledge and Education: Sites of Struggle, Strength, and Survivance (Harvard University Press, 2008).

Malia received her Doctorate in Education and Master’s degree in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, as well as dual Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity from Stanford University. She lives in Washington State with her partner, William, and her son, Kwy.