ISU student Layha Spoonhunter addresses LGBT issues in national webinar; represented UNITY in Washington, D.C. this summer
September 2, 2015
POCATELLO 鈥 色花堂app student Layha Spoonhunter wwas among four Native American youths who shared their perspectives on LGBT issues during a national webinar sponsored by the Two Spirit Journal on Tuesday, Sept. 1., at 11 a.m.
The title of the webinar was 鈥淲e Are All One Family, Let鈥檚 Not Make This 鈥楯ust a Dream.鈥欌
Spoonhunter, a sophomore in history, also shared his views on this topic earlier summer at United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) conference in Washington, D.C., during a trip that he was also able to meet First Lady Michelle Obama. At the UNITY conference held in July, Spoonhunter gave the invocation to more than 1,000 Native youth attending the event.
The conference was addressed by the U.S. secretaries of interior and housing, and the First Lady.
鈥淎 highlight was meeting Michelle Obama,鈥 he said. 鈥淪he was very supportive of the issues we had addressed and for me it was very exciting because I had also met the President.鈥
Following the UNITY White House gathering, Spoonhunter hosted UNITY鈥檚 first workshop on Native LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) and two-spirited issues that was also sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign. 鈥淭wo-spirited鈥 is a term used by some Native Americans to describe people within their communities who have both male and female spirits within them, according to Spoonhunter, who ISU NAU鈥檚 reigning Mr. ISU Two Spirits.
鈥淚n the 39 years of UNITY this was the first time they had hosted a workshop that specifically addressed what Native LBGT and two-spirits face on a daily basis,鈥 Spoonhunter said.
He said that the Sept. 1 webinar will also be unique because this one focuses on the youth perspective of Native LGBT issues, whereas previous webinars focused on the adult perspective.
For more information on the Sept. 1 webinar, visit the webpage http://twospiritjournal.com/?p=85.
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