Blood, Marriage, Wine, & Glitter

How does a polyamorous, transgender parent raise a child? Find out on Wednesday, Jan. 21, when the Charleston Jewish Bookfest presents S. Bear Bergman, acclaimed writer and lecturer on trans issues who will shed light on the issues of gender, sexuality, and family. Sponsored by Alliance For Full Acceptance (AFFA), there will be wine, hors d’oeuvres, and a book signing following the presentation.
Bergman, who admits to having been an “insufferable know-it-all” in high school, claims he is somewhat reformed these days. He is a storyteller, a theater artist, an instigator, a gender-jammer, and a good example of what happens when you overeducate a contrarian. He’s the author of Butch Is a Noun, The Nearest Exit May be Behind You, Backwards Day, The Adventure of Tulip, Birthday Wish Fairy, and his newest book Blood, Marriage, Wine, & Glitter. He’s also the co-editor of the multiple-award-winning Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation. Bergman is also the creator and performer of three award-winning solo performances and a frequent contributor to anthologies on all manner of topics.
Bergman is a frequent lecturer at colleges and universities regarding issues relating to gender, sexuality, and culture. He also works extensively helping LBGTQ cultural competency at universities, corporations, health care providers, and governmental organizations. This work has included training, policy development, policy reviews, and process/barrier audits, as well as cultural awareness consulting for external marketing.
As a Jew, Bergman also speaks extensively about how his religious and cultural lives have shaped one another and the intersection of identities, especially as it relates to being both Jewish and queer. He remains exceptionally pleased to have been asked to write the chapter on trans inclusion for Hillel International’s LGBTQ Resource Guide.
Less recently, Bergman was one of the five original founders of the first Gay/Straight Alliance, a frequent lecturer at high schools and colleges on the subject of making schools safe for LGBTQ students, and a founding commission member of what is now called the Massachusetts Safe Schools Project.
Bergman was educated at Concord Academy, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts. He currently resides in Toronto, Ontario where he has set up housekeeping with his husband and their son.
The cost for the program is $10  for JCC and AFFA members and $14 for non-members.  It will be held Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. at The Charleston JCC, located at 1645 Wallenberg Blvd. For more information, contact Sandra Brett at sandrab@charlestonjcc.org
or (910) 616-6119.