QCC presents the opening ceremony for the 27th Annual Spring NQAF’s collaborative mural curated by BLOOM Collective and xtal azul.

Queer Cultural Center presents the collaborative mural “In Solidarity: Queer and Trans Artists for a Free Palestine.” as part of the 27th Annual National Queer Arts Festival. BLOOM Collective & xtal azul invite you to stand in solidarity with Palestine, as there can be no “business as usual” during Pride Month while the genocide continues in Gaza. This year’s installation at SOMArts Gallery affirms that queer and trans liberation are fundamentally intertwined with Palestinian liberation, Indigenous liberation, and global land back movements. Please join us in solidarity, mourning, and community as we come together to remember, honor, and call the names of Palestinian martyrs. This collaborative mural will run during SOMArts open gallery hours from June 7th-June 29th.

The opening reception will take place between 6 and 9 pm. Performances will begin at 7 pm (performers are listed below). K/N95 masks are required indoors & provided. Food and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided in the courtyard.

These events are free for Palestinians and others directly impacted by the ongoing genocide. We ask that all other attendees contribute a sliding-scale donation between $10 to $100. No one will be turned away for lack of funds, and larger donations will offset the cost of other attendees’ tickets. 50% of ticket sales will benefit QCC’s programming, while the remaining 50% will directly benefit queer and trans Palestinians in Palestine and throughout the diaspora through Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) mutual aid work.

We are very grateful for the support of Mx. Yaffa and the Muslim Alliance for Gender and Sexual Diversity (MAGSD) for their input on the curatorial process. Their expertise and guidance have been invaluable in shaping our efforts

Mx. Yaffa (They/She) is an acclaimed disabled, autistic, trans, queer, Muslim, and indigenous Palestinian. Yaffa is the executive Director of the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) and has received multiple awards for their transformative work around displacement, decolonization, equity, and centering the lived experiences of individuals most impacted by injustice. Yaffa is an engineer, peer support specialist, death doula, birthing doula, and yoga teacher. Yaffa is the author of Blood Orange, a poetry collection about displacement, colonization, and hope-building and the editor “Inara: light of Utopia,” about the current genocide and a free Falasteen, are out now.

The Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirit (BAAITS) drum group is a space for 2SLGBTQ+ indigenous people to learn and share intertribal songs and heal through the medicine of the drum. We are a community of Native, Indigenous, and non-native supporters who come together to cultivate welcoming spaces of art and ceremony.

Mama Ganuush is a liberated, multifaceted Trans Drag Artist, community organizer, and social justice activist.

ASL interpretation is available at all events and by request. If you are interested in attending an event and require ASL interpretation, please send your request to production@queerculturalcenter.org.

SOMArts is wheelchair/ADA accessible. Bathrooms are gender-neutral and ADA accessible.

Stay tuned for more information and follow @bloom.ecosystem and @qcc_sf on IG/Twitter, and Queer Cultural Center on Facebook.

We want to thank the Zellerbach Family Foundation for their support.

Queer Cultural Center would like to thank our 27th Annual National Queer Arts Festival sponsors and community partners:

SOMArts,

National Endowment for the Arts

California Arts Council

San Francisco Arts Commission

Bill Graham Memorial Foundation

California Humanities.

Queer Cultural Center can offer vital support to LGBTQ2S+ communities in the Bay Area thanks to the generosity of:

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Ruth Foundation for the Arts

Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation

Fleishhacker Foundation and

The Walter & Elise Haas Fund

Individual community members like you!