"The Indigenous peoples that first inhabited North America (Turtle Island) had complex cultures that were interwoven with nature. This included the recognition and acceptance of multiple gender identities. A Two-Spirit person was considered to be embodied with both male and female spirits and was gifted with many skills and abilities of both sexes. The Two-Spirit tribal member was identified with an honorable term in the tribe’s language. As such, the Two-Spirit person was often a medicine person, healer, custodian of the language and culture of the tribe, a counselor, a conflict strategist, an educator, teacher, and a parent to orphans and caregiver to elders. The respected Two-Spirit tradition was eradicated with the origination of European colonization and the imposition of the Binary Model. In 1990, queer Indigenous people created the term “Two-Spirit” as a broad replacement for the many traditional terms that were abandoned."

- Hudson Tibbetts, Eastern Cherokee Band, and Lenape-Nanticoke | Co-Chair

 

The City of Angels Two-Spirit Society began formed in late 2012 by a diverse group of Native American LGBTQ peoples in the Los Angeles Basin on Tongva territory. While the Red Circle Project of AIDS Project Los Angeles provided exclusively Indigenous gay male and trans feminine social and educational spaces, the community voiced a need for a CATSS space inclusive of Indigenous lesbian and bisexual women and the diverse families of CATSS members. The first 2013 meetings took place at United American Indian Involvement in Westlake west of downtown LA. The LGBTQ Center of Long Beach also hosted subsequent meetings. Over the years, members partnered in educational projects involving Two-Spirit and LGBTQ education, HIV prevention, pow wows, media, medical services, writing circles, and counseling. CATSS members have been proud to serve on the Indigenous Pride LA executive committee since its inception in 2018.

 

To learn more about Two Spirit, please visit Indigenous Pride LA's "Education" page.