Nai Damato speaks on panel on Gender-Based Violence & Marginalized Populations

Along with Ilana Alazzeh and Renleigh Stone, WMDSC Board Chair Nai Damato spoke last Monday on Gender-Based Violence and Marginalized Populations at American University as part of a panel presentation moderated by Sara Yzaguirre for Domestic Violence Awareness Month :

The flyer is split into 2 columns. Left column: The top row has the AU logo, CDI logo, and OASIS logo. Those are the sponsors. Domestic Violence Awareness Month Panel Event Gender-Based Violence: Marginalized Populations When October 26, 2015 6:30pm-8pm Where Mary Graydon Center (MGC) Room 4 (first floor) 4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20016 For disability accommodations, contact asac@american.edu, 202-885-3360 www.facebook.com/events/1072308792793158 Right column: Free event Open to public Sara Yzaguirre OASIS, Coordinator for Victim Advocacy Services Ilana Alazzeh Alumnae of Harvard Kennedy School genderfluid and queer, mixed radical anarchist interfaith muslim labor activist Nai Damato Student, Gallaudet University Survivor, non-binary female-designated-at-birth multiply-disabled transnational adoptee Renleigh Stone Student, Georgetown University Co-chair GU QPOC genderfluid, omnisexual activist

Renleigh Stone is depicted as a black person wearing glasses who is also wearing all black clothing and smiling. Their long hair is twisted and they are wearing a thick black headband. This photo was part of a Georgetown University campaign to give visibility to "out" queer students. This campaign photo reads that Renleigh is #lowkey, center stage, and omnisexual. Under that text it reads that Renleigh is "out" for questioning normatives, intersectional dialogue, and the forgotten. Under this text their name, Renleigh Stone, is printed in cursive. The banner at the bottom of the photo has Georgetown University’s LGBTQ Resource Center’s logo and website. To the right of that is “GU Pride” indicating which group Renleigh was then associated with. To the right of that is a hashtag #OUTforGU with the words "out" and "GU" in caps. The whole picture is filtered so that it is tinged with teal.

Meet a panelist: Renleigh Stone

Student, Georgetown University

Co-chair GU QPOC

Pronouns: they/them/their

Renleigh, a genderfluid junior at Georgetown University, is a Justice and Peace Studies major with a concentration in Gender & Justice. Renleigh seeks to help bring awareness of trans/nonbinary narratives to the queer dialectic. Renleigh has survived sexual and domestic violence as well as abuse; these instances of trauma manifested a call to advocacy to be answered. Renleigh has been a US student ambassador and is the co-founder of a student club at Georgetown, QPOC, pronounced “KYU-pock.” This student club was created out of a need to build community for queer people of color on their campus and to create positive spaces where real conversations can take place without the responsibility to cater to white homonormative standards. Renleigh can be reached by email: rd347@georgetown.edu or by Facebook under Renleigh Stone

Mixed raced femme looking human with thick curly black hair put to the side. They/she has a nose ring, thick eye brows and is smiling with a red T-shirt on. Their red lipstick matches the shirt

Meet a panelist: Ilana Alazzeh

Alumnae, Harvard Kennedy School

Pronouns: She/her/hers and They/them/their

Producer, video-editor and writer for the Service Employees International Union. Radical interfaith feminist multiracial Muslim involved with Occupy, founder of Muslims Against Homophobia and LGBT Hate, Immigrant Stories and Ask An American Muslim. Has been invited to the White House and State Department several times. Featured in Washington Post,NPR, State Department Blog, RT America and frequent guest on Huffington Post Live.

She has given lectures at Georgetown University, Mt. Holyoke College, Smith College, Gettysburg College, Rhode Island College, American University, Deerfield Academy and UMASS Amherst on Islam, interfaith activism, community organizing, religion and science, and gender and sexuality.

Alumnae of Smith College, Harvard Kennedy School, Central University of Tibetan Studies in India and Ewha Womans University in South Korea.

White person with sunglasses and short hair in a black button up shirt with a collar

Meet a panelist: Nai Damato

ASL Interpreter and Assistive Technology Specialist

Pronouns: They, them, theirs or any non-binary set (ze/hir, xe/xyr, ey/em, etc.)

Nai loves life, languages, music, acupuncture, and “being the change”. Nai is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual violence, abuse, and neglect in both childhood and adulthood. Nai’s lived experience as a non-binary female-designated-at-birth multiply-disabled transnational adoptee has fueled their passion for intersectional social justice. Their experiences of DV and SV have guided them to their professions of ASL interpreting and training deaf-blind adults and blind children on braille computer technology. Nai co-founded the Washington Metro Disabled Students Collective with Lydia Brown, with the goal of building truly inclusive and welcoming communities for multiply-marginalized people in an anti-oppression framework. Nai believes in the healing power of transforming fear into knowledge and pain into perception, thereby freeing us from cycles of abuse and creating upward spirals of love.

Smiling white woman with short dark hair, wearing dark clothes and a chain necklace

Meet the moderator: Sara Yzaguirre

Coordinator for Victim Advocacy Services
The Wellness Center

Pronouns: She, her, hers

Sara Yzaguirre joined American University in November of 2014. Born and raised in the DC-Metro area, Sara is a proud product of the Arlington County public school system. Sara received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia, where she focused on gender and minority politics. After several years in the private sector, Sara returned to school to earn her Master’s of Social Work at the Catholic University of America. Sara has practiced clinical social work in homeless shelters, clinics, rape crisis, and campus settings. She is especially passionate about trauma treatment and sexual violence prevention programming.

Degrees
BA in Government and Sociology, University of Virginia; MSW, Clinical Concentration, Catholic University of America.