Presentation: Finding Home

Explore the concept of  'home' amidst a shifting landscape, featuring writers  from The People’s Book of Human Sexuality as they discuss themes of identity and belonging in a world of constant change.

The panelists share experiences from growing up on opposite coasts, navigating the absence of queer-affirming media, finding home with the land as an indigenous Chican through yoga, experiencing migration, language  and embracing new Canadian experiences. 

Moderated by editor Bianca Laureano, featuring panelists Karen B. K. Chan, Juan Fernandez, and Serina Payan Hazelwood.

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Karen B. K. Chan (she or they) is an award-winning sex and emotional literacy educator in Toronto, Canada. Their favorite ways to learn and teach are through stories, metaphors, diagrams and things that make people laugh. In 2014, BK was named "Service Provider of the Year" by Planned Parenthood of Toronto for their work in sexual health. BK can be found doing sex ed in front of 6 year-olds, mortified teens, as well as grown-ups. They also do curriculum writing and counseling for everything from pleasure and pain to gender-affirming health care, from puberty to peacebuilding for folks who have caused sexual harm. BK has written in a number of publications about sex, love, and family, and their 2013 animation video "Jam" has been used as a teaching tool worldwide. They are also particularly jazzed about a recent opportunity to make stop-motion educationals for SIECCAN's (Sex Information & Education Council of Canada). And, whatever they may be doing, BK's hope is to have hard conversations that are real, transformative and kind. 

Juan Fernández, MA (he/el) is an arts producer and cultural observer at the intersections of Chicano/a/x Studies, media theory, and queer activism. He analyzes the various ways digital social media is used by contemporary Chicana/o/x artists & cultural producers. Juan earned his M.A. in Media Studies + Social Change at Queens College, CUNY. He is also a graduate of UCLA holding a BA in Chicana/o Studies & LGBTQ Studies. His thesis focused on the performance of ethnicity, gender, cultural citizenship and sexuality within social networking apps like Instagram and the effects of the digital identity on the reflected community. His previous work as a scholar/activist has focused on gay Chicano fiction & storytelling, performance, and archiving Queer Chicana/o/x cultural productions. This includes archiving the work of the Maricón Collective for the UCLA Chicano Studies Resource Center. He also created & produced the Movida Storytelling Project in collaboration with the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance. 

Serina Payan Hazelwood, CSES (she/her) is a queer, Indigenous-Chicana, scholar and somatic community collaborator. She is a certified Holistic Sexuality Educator and yoga teacher dedicated to liberatory praxis through Indigenous Knowledges. Her work is rooted in the cosmologies of the land. Reclamation, ritual and renewal are the guiding value systems that inform the human experience of her work. Hazelwood is transdisciplinary and her work is influenced by the Nahui Ollin Mexican Indigenous Epistemology (Way of Knowing). The anti and decolonial, queer and feminist of-color methodologies support the andro-heutagogy (self-determined) and Indigenous pedagogies that create collaborative and sustainable learning spaces. Hazelwood is a 48-year-old daughter, mother, sister, partner, friend and Pisces with a Gemini rising. Born and raised on the Hohokam, Tohono O'odham, and Akimel O'odham sacred lands (Phoenix, Arizona), her matriarchal ancestors descend from New Mexico, Chihuahua, Mexico and colonizing Spain. Her patriarchal ancestors are settler-colonists from England, Scotland and Ireland. Hazelwood regenerates from the systems of white supremacy by finding radical joy in gardening, rollerskating, reading, cooking and dancing (solo and with the community.) 

Connect: Chingona Yoga Website | Chingona Retreats Website | Payan Medicine Website

Bianca I. Laureano, PhD, MA2, CSE, CSES (dr / she / ella) is an award-winning educator, curriculum writer, and sexologist. She is a founding member of the Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WOCSHN) and The LatiNegrxs Project. Her most recent project is ANTE UP! a virtual freedom school for justice workers offering professional development and courses we need for the world we have inherited. Laureano has spent her entire adult life working on topics of sexuality, racialization, justice and gender. She has earned a BA from the University of Maryland, College Park in Latino Women’s Health (2000), a Master of Arts degree from NYU in Human Sexuality Education (2002) and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Maryland, College Park in Women’s Studies (2006) with a focus on race and racialization where she was a CrISP Scholar trained in intersectional and feminist theories and supported the creation of the Intersectional Research Database. She has written several curricula that focus on communities of color: What’s the REAL DEAL about Love and Solidarity? (2015), Communication MixTape: Speak On It Vol 1. (2017), the sexual and reproductive justice discussion guide for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (2018), Crip Camp Curriculum (2020), I Didn’t See You There discussion guide (2023), and Sex Is A Funny Word curriculum (2023). Bianca has been on the board of CLAGS, the LGBTQ Center at CUNY and The Black Girl Project, SisterSong, and the San Francisco Disability Cultural Center board. She currently resides in California with her core partner G and is an AASECT-certified sexuality educator and supervisor. 
Connect: Bianca I.  Laureano - Website | Bianca I. Laureano - Instagram