Interviewed by Kaitlyn Mielke.

Tell us a bit about Minnesota Deaf Queers - what's the history behind the establishment of this organization?

Jessalyn: You may remember the LGBTQ+ Annual Awards Program, we just celebrated 12 years. That event, and the growth, membership and members of the group is what established the Minnesota Deaf Queers official organization. Thirteen years ago, there were community members who were looking for ways to connect, needing resources, many were coming out and needed support and connections and the Annual Deaf LGBTQ+ Awards program served that purpose. It started with 25 in the home of one of our allies, and grew to over 150-200 people. At these events, community. members expressed their needs for service gaps, to socialize, connect, volunteer, and be with people who were just like them.

Over those years, we had small gatherings, events, developed relationships and partnerships which helped us cement Minnesota Deaf Queers. Minnesota Deaf Queers is an evolving organization that is made up of volunteers who give of their time to create opportunities, pursue personal passions and share it with like members, and to celebrate our existence. One of the biggest reasons that these events continued to succeed was not only our members who gave of their time but our allies! Our allies carried us all these years to continue to do this work, while our community was surviving in the world (13 years ago), where our rights to marry, get same sex benefits, adopt children, insurances, buying a home, resources and programs that supported us in daily life, or supported our kids in schools were non existing.

Tell us a bit more about community partnerships - what are some of the other organizations that Minnesota Deaf Queers has partnered with over the years?

Jessalyn: One of our strongest partners has been Twin Cities Pride. Since the Annual Awards Gala 13 years ago, Twin Cities Pride has sponsored and supported us. Through the years, they have given us support, resources and encouragement to continue to establish a strong organization that serves our community. Other partners, have been Smitten Kitten, Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing, Deaf Equity, Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens, ASLIS, KIS, and now more organizations have recognized our work, PFUND, Lavender, No Place Like Home Real Estate, Mitsubishi Bear, Dendros, and many personal sponsors and donors.

How can folks get involved with Minnesota Deaf Queers? How would you like the community to get involved with MDQ?

Jessalyn: Minnesota Deaf Queers is always looking for volunteers and people who want to take leadership roles to continue to evolve and cement MDQ as a strong organization for our future LGBTQ+ members. You can visit our website, subscribe, follow us on Instagram, follow us on Facebook, send us an email, sponsor our events, partner with us on upcoming events, we welcome it all.

What does the future look like for Minnesota Deaf Queers? Any projects or activities that you hope to do in the future?

Jessalyn: MDQ's future goals is to have more family friendly events for our LGBTQ+ parents, children who are deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing. We are currently piloting a mentor project for Adults with Youth, or Adults with Adults who are coming out. We also want to be a resource for families who have children that have come out but are not sure what to do. Since we are a small organization and our community is small, we rely heavily on partnerships with hearing agencies who understand our community, language and can provide services to our members.

We would like to offer more support groups with trained facilitators, educational opportunities for our members to grow and learn, and work with policy to ensure that agencies who have a bigger capacity to provide services and resources also include our community by offering interpreters, direct communications with a deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing staff member or other accommodations as needed.

What are some current issues and or hot topics that are affecting MDQ, and how can the community get involved with these?

Jessalyn: Hot topics in our community right now are securing funding for support groups, working on trans issues to be sure that our community has what they need, and being a resource for deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing members who want to escape their current state to be in Minnesota. How can you get involved? Help us with our fundraisers, know any funding, share it with us, support us with the small things such as Interpreting, web development, social media needs, and partner with us. As a small group, we rely on the capacity of partnership with larger scaled groups to be able to do all the work we need to do.

Is there anything else you would like to add to share with the community about Minnesota Deaf Queers?

Jessalyn: As we always tell people, we may be a small organization serving a smaller population (vs. hearing population) that are LGBTQ+ but we are a meaningful and purposeful group that serves our specific group in their native language, understanding their culture and needs. We are often overlooked for funding or sponsorship opportunities because you can't measure the impact, or you don't see 500 people instead you see 50-100. I can't tell you how many times the LGBTQ+ Annual Awards Program has saved a life. During many of those events, people were so scared to come out, seeing people on stage, showing their authentic self, seeing the community come together to support them, helped them come out. One year, a person who was thinking of ending their life, did not because of that community of LGBTQ+ and allies coming together validated their existence. The powerful work, the kindness of our community members, in this organization, partners, volunteers, and allies makes a difference in our lives every single day! So your support to our small organization is worth it. Our future generation deserves to have a space that they can check in with, get resources and support when needed.

Contact Info:

Email: mndeafqueers@gmail.com
Website: www.mndeafqueers.org
Facebook: @mndeafqueers
Instagram: @mndeafqueers