The Femme Conference 2012: Pulling the Pieces Together will be held in Baltimore, Md., Aug. 17-19. We spoke with conference organizer Jennifer Valles recently to uncover the many layers of femme identity and expression and find out a little more about the conference itself.
Windy City Times: What was the impetus behind creating The Femme Conference?
Jennifer Valles: I wasn't around when the Femme Conference was founded, so I can't speak to this directly. I came on during planning for the 2008 Chicago conference, though, so I was fortunate enough to work with some of our founders—Christine De La Rosa, Jessica Eve Humphrey, Angie Ward and Dr. Kathe Young.
From what I understand from working with them and from my current co-chair, Krista Smith, who has been organizing since the 2006 conference, the founders wanted to create a conference about and for femmes that was by femmes. The intention was for the conference to be a place for queer femmes of all genders to gather, discuss and celebrate our femme identities and to provide a space for organizing and activism within queer communities. This is very much what we try to achieve with the conference still. It is, hands down, one of the most affirming and transformative spaces I've been fortunate enough to experience.
WCT: Why do you feel it is so vital for the femme community to utilize the tools and resources available to them?
Jennifer Valles: I think it is vital for people to do whatever it is they need to do for themselves. That doesn't always mean that people have to utilize the tools and resources available to them, assuming there are any. I do think it's vital to make sure that people have tools and resources available and have access to them if that's what they want! That's why I ultimately decided to help organize the conference and [the reason] I've stayed a part of it for so long. [The conference] is such an amazing resource and it is so important [that] it continues.
WCT: What are some unique obstacles and stigmas directed toward femmes, specifically?
Jennifer Valles: This is such a difficult question to answer! When you consider all the varied femme communities, there is just no simple answer—or, at least, there is no answer that is universally true, especially when you start to consider all the ways in which people's femme identity intersects with their other identities.
Prevalent themes, especially those we've seen presented at the conference, though? Femme misogyny, femmephobia, invisibility, the devaluation of femme/ininity…
WCT: Was there a moment in your life where you connected with a particular obstacle directed toward the femme community?
Jennifer Valles: Well, I have (and still do) often have to defend my queer identity because of my femme presentation. I definitely experienced being told I was femme before I considered it part of my identity. People were constantly assuming that I must be femme—or were insistent that I was femme even, sometimes especially, if they knew I didn't actively identify that way. I was always struck at how people that I knew would never have assumed, let alone insisted, on other people's identities but were so comfortable to do that with the femme identity. Femme is often actively devalued and I suppose this [experience] was a representation of that.
WCT: The Femme Conference 2012 will be hosted in Baltimore, Md. on Aug. 17-19. What goes into pulling all of the pieces together for a groundbreaking event such as this one?
Jennifer Valles: There is so much that goes into this conference that I could barely begin to scratch the surface [of it all] in an interview! We're all volunteer-run and not only do the organizers donate their time, they also commit to directly contributing to the conference financially as well.
In addition to the two conference chairs, Krista Smith and myself, we currently have 10 main committees—Accessibility and Awareness, Film, Fundraising, Logistics, Media, Outreach, Performance, Programming, Registration, and Volunteer. Each of these committees has one to three chairs and most of them have additional working committee members—and we're always in need of more help!
Also, because we're still relatively small, we're always in need of donations. In the past, we've really had to rely on the generosity of our contributors and collaborators to pull off the conference successfully and have not been able to offer some of the services we consider to be essential—or have not been able to guarantee those services early enough for them to be truly useful to our attendees. In 2012, I'd love to see us have enough funds early on to provide services like ASL [American Sign Language] interpretation and child care without relying on people to volunteer their services—and to be able to guarantee those services as early as possible.
Our fundraising committee has been just amazing this year and has already completed one campaign, "Honor a Femme," where people could donate to the conference in a femme's honor. It was so well received that we may relaunch it again in the summer.
WCT: Past Femme conferences were held in 2006, 2008 and 2010 in San Francisco, Chicago and Oakland [respectively]. How does the participation vary by location? Does the conference specifically target top femme demographic areas?
Jennifer Valles: In terms of choosing location, we consider a number of factors in our decision-making process. We spent over a month choosing our location for 2012! We invited all of our 2010 attendees to fill out an online survey that asked where they would like to see the conference held. We then took that info, looked at our capacity as a committee, and considered where we would be wanted, needed and successful. We try to strike a balance between heading toward where we have a base and areas of the country that may be lacking in access to femme-centered resources.
We have definitely seen a lot of flux in our numbers depending on host city location, but it's hard to attribute attendance rates solely to our location; we're still young as conferences go and I'm always having people tell me that they didn't even know there was a Femme conference! Even of the people who do know of the conference, many of them aren't sure it's for them. (If you're femme-identified, or a questioning femme or a femme ally, it is!) I think the flux we've seen in numbers can be attributed to our outreach efforts and the kind of support we have on the ground as much as anything else.
Our media team this year has been so awesome. In January—in collaboration with the Heels on Wheels Glitter Roadshow and a dozen of the Beyond Visibility NYC event organizers—we launched a Femme Week of Action to spark conversations, build alliances, celebrate each other, have fun—and instigate the January launch of the calls for performers and workshop proposals for FemmeCon. Eight cities hosted events, so hopefully we're really getting the word out there so far!
WCT: Specifically, referencing Chicago's role in the conference, can you tell us about the organizers and organizations involved in making it a success? We understand there is a deep Chicago base.
Jennifer Valles: In my opinion, Chicago was one of our more difficult conferences to organize. We didn't have many steering committee members that year, so a very small number of us were trying to pull off a successful conference. We were so fortunate to have had the local support that we did! I came on late in that organizing and was chairing the Awareness and Accessibility committee. Even being hyper-focused on the specific responsibilities of my committee, Early 2 Bed, Women and Children First and Center on Halsted really stuck out to me as important supporters of that conference.
WCT: There is a call for performers and workshop presenters for the upcoming 2012 conference. What traits and qualities will help a candidate stand out this year? Also, how might interested parties apply?
Jennifer Valles: Anyone interested in presenting or performing at the conference can find our call for submissions on our website: www.femme2012.com . We look for workshop proposals, art submissions, films and performances from as many different voices from within our femme community as possible. Even if you are a first-time presenter, don't hesitate to apply! In fact, our film chair this year has launched a new process for 2012 where she's encouraging femmes—regardless of experience—to create short films specifically for the conference—you can even shoot it on your iPhone. She'll also mentor budding filmmakers who are interested in creating a film for the conference!
Submissions that relate to 2012's theme, Pulling the Pieces Together, are encouraged. Beyond that, we're looking for well-thought-out, well-planned submissions that recognize and respect the array of queer femme experience, and we are interested in work that challenges systems of oppression.
WCT: If a city is interested in hosting The Femme Conference 2014, where might they apply?
We don't currently have an application process for cities who are interested in hosting the conference, although it is something that we've considered in the past. We're not quite at the point where we can entertain bids, but we are super accessible (and approachable!), so folks can always reach out to us with suggestions and we'll add those to the list of potential host cities.
It's essential for us to have organizers on the ground in our host city, so if you've got a strong organizing group already in place and are interested in hosting the conference in 2014 or beyond, please let us know. We're also still in need of some local Baltimore organizers—especially those who are strong in logistics—so if you're local or know of someone who is and might be interested in organizing the 2012 conference, hit us up at info@femme2012.com!
See www.Femme2012.com .
