Native American & Two-Spirit Communities

You only have to turn on the TV or flip through a magazine to know that representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Native American and Two Spirit people don’t reflect the diversity of our community.

We can help you make a difference. Because at GLAAD we know that what people watch on TV or read in the newspaper shapes how they view and treat LGBT people. To increase the visibility of Native American LGBT and Two Spirit communities in the media, we offer:

Media Trainings – tools and strategies for effective media work.
Spokesperson Trainings – preparation for persuasive media interviews.
Media Advocacy – responses to problematic media images of Native American LGBT and Two Spirit people.
Resource Guides – culturally competent LGBT terminology and facts for accurate news coverage.
Media Consultations – story ideas and Native American LGBT, Two Spirit and allied spokespeople.
Script Consultations – fact checking and advice for authentic storylines about Native American LGBT and Two Spirit people.

To find out more, contact us at nativeamerican@glaad.org.

Did You Know?

The term Two Spirit firsttook hold during the 1990 Third Annual Intertribal Native American/First Nations Gay and Lesbian Conference in Canada. Most leaders selected the term as a replacement for the outdated – and inappropriate - term berdache, which was imposed on Two Spirit Native Americans by people outside the community.
Although Two Spirit nowadays often refers to both LGB and transgender Native Americans, it did not start as an all inclusive term.
Historically, more than 155 Nations had roles for Two Spirit people, and each had a specific name, meaning and traditions, including: nàdleehé (Navaho), winkte (Lakota), alyha and hwame (Mohave), and he’eman (Cheyenne).
Two Spirit Native Americans were greatly respected in their communities in the past, but the anti-LGBT sentiment found in other American communities is often the norm in Native American communities today.
Images of Two Spirit and LGBT Native Americans are extremely rare in mainstream media – only one openly LGBT character of Native Alaskan (Tlingit) descent was a series regular on scripted broadcast T.V. during the entire 2007-2008 season.

Supporting Organizations

2SPR – Two Spirit Press Room
A media and cultural literacy project that focuses on the cultural and spiritual inheritances and rights of Native LGBT and Two Spirit people. Its work is centered in cultivating accurate portrayals of Native LGBT people in the press, community-building, and affirming the leadership of Native youth, women and transgender community members.
Phone: (612) 267-1682
Contact: Richard (Anguksuar) LaFortune
Email: twospiritpressroom@yahoo.com
Website: http://home.earthlink.net/~lafor002/

The Fred Martinez Project
An outreach and documentary project, the Fred Martinez Project will be releasing the film Two Spirit in 2008 and will make use of the documentary film as part of an outreach effort to educate the public, media, policy-makers and others about violence against Two Spirit people.
Contact: Cathy Renna (media inquiries) or Say Yes Quickly Productions (information/volunteer)
Email: cathy@rennacommunications.com or mail@syqproductions.net
Phone: (202) 745-0440 (Renna Communications) or (818) 861-7590 (SYQ Productions)
Website: http://www.twospirits.org/

NativeOUT
NativeOUT, founded in 2004, is a grassroots social organization in Phoenix, Ariz. actively working to build bridges between communities by educating society about our traditions, advocating for relevant issues and promoting LGBT visibility within our community.
Email: info@nativeout.com
Website: http://www.nativeout.com/

International Two Spirit Gathering
An annual intertribal meeting of the LGBT Native community, hosted across the United States and Canada each year since 1988.
Email: twospiritpressroom@yahoo.com
Phone: (800) 818-0466 (USA/Canada) or (612) 813-0050
Website: http://www.intltwospiritgathering.org/

National Native American AIDS Prevention Center
A national organization that helps to address the impact of HIV/AIDS on American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians through culturally appropriate advocacy, research, education and policy development in support of indigenous people. NNAAPC offers programs specifically targeted to LGBT and Two Spirit Native Americans in addition to more broad HIV/AIDS resources for Native communities.
Email: information@nnaapc.org
Phone: (720) 382-2244
Website: http://www.nnaapc.org

If you would like more information related to LGBT Native Americans or if you are a media professional working on a story, please contact us.