Have you been wanting to get into media but not quite sure how? Are you a seasoned expert looking to add to your network? ClexaCon is the perfect atmosphere for both. The first ever media and entertainment convention for LGBTQ women and our allies is happening March 3-5 in Las Vegas, so pack your bags and meet us there.
Among the line-up of celebrity guests is out actress Jasika Nicole, who you might recognize from her performance as Astrid Farnsworth in Fox’s “Fringe.” Beyond her acting career, Jasika dives into artistic skills with drawing and creating her own red carpet looks.
Nicole told GO that holding space specifically for queer women in media means “respecting the experiences and opinions of marginalized communities enough to not speak over them or speak for them, but rather supporting their narratives and perspectives even if they are different than your own.”
“The biggest way we can lift each other up is to make sure we are always checking in with ourselves and making sure our own needs are being taken care of,” she said.
And with the current administration taking a very anti-media approach to dispersing news about legislation, much of which has a direct effect on many in our community, having conferences like ClexaCon (being held at the Baileys and Paris in Las Vegas) are more important than ever before. Communities and individuals need to be in charge of their own narratives.
“Although we have some incredibly smart and talented women calling the shots in various positions within the umbrella term of ‘media,’ there are not enough,” Nicole said. “For women to exist as roughly half the population, statistically we are nearly invisible, and of course populations of women, trans and POC in the LGBTQ community are shrunken down even further than that. I think that until more women/LGBTQ/POC are in executive, editorial, producer and CEO roles in newsrooms and corporations and networks, we will always be beholden to the decisions of the patriarchal establishment.”
Women are not only capable of taking on these roles, Nicole said, they are necessary so that a complete and honest reflection of society is represented. “Historically women have been assumed to take the position of providing for the needs of others while ignoring their own, the ultimate act of selflessness, and I think we need to challenge this idea because the truth is that women are capable of doing both,” Nicole told GO.
Intersectionality must be at the forefront of conversations about LGBTQ community and women in media. When those stories are told, it’s a reminder to society that LGBTQ people have complex and multifaceted identities.
“I think that by continuing to tell our stories, as openly and honestly as we can, the world will be forced to listen to them,” Nicole said. “Our community has been taught for so long to be ashamed of who we are, to force down the nature that we know exists in us, to keep quiet, to not talk about it, to show remorse, to try to change; that using our voices to amplify our experiences and histories feels like a radical act. It can be empowering for us as individuals, but it can also change the lives of others, both in and out of the LGBTQ community.”
Get your tickets to ClexaCon to join these important dialogues.
