The Gathering of Nations is an annual mega-pow-wow in Albuquerque, New Mexico that brings in thousands of Indigenous dancers, drummers, and singers for a high-profile, high-flyin' time in Indian Country that boosts pride and re-affirms the vibrancy and resiliency of Indigenous cultures. But to some Native Americans, the annual Gathering of Nations event has been missing something, something the Two-Spirits especially noticed....them! The photograph above is of the Bay Area American Indian Two Spirit Society from 2016.
So last year the founders of a group called Bands in Action founded the Gathering of Queer Nations so the underground culture of Indigenous lesbian, gay, queer, and trans people can be brought center-stage in a celebratory event that includes musical artists, poetry, and a fashion show. The necessity for a separate event is the result of European colonization: many Indigenous people, communities, and tribal nations today reject their LGBTQ2 relatives. Much of this is due in part to the effects of the Indian Boarding School brainwashing that enforced heterosexual-only beliefs and shamed Indigenous beliefs that included and respected LGBTQ people, among many other traumas.
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