Vogueing our way into the archives

Mamma Mia! Our day was jam-packed full of learning, delicious food, and dancing! 

We started off our day by going to class with our instructor Katie and learning about the trans people in Amsterdam and how they became the community they are today. We had an in-depth discussion about the trans community along with how they are represented. After that, we had a group talk with one of the representatives from ILHIA about how Amsterdam treats the LGBTQ+ community, as well as how it connects to our home communities in the USA. IHLIA is an archive organization run by LGBTQ+ representatives who archives, restores and researches LGBTQ+ histories and present-day realities in the Netherlands. They are located in a very big public library close to the Central train station. ILHIA has a very valuable, rich and unique LGBTQ+ collection which they aim to make as accessible as possible to everyone. One of the main aims of ILHIA, as the representative who spoke with us said, is to make diversity in society visible to everyone through LGBTQ+ history.

During our discussion at the library, we looked for ways to help create a better environment for the LGBTQ+ community, as well as how to accurately educate others about the issues and struggles people in the community encounter. After that chat, we went over to Vapianos, where we had delicious Italian food like pizza and pasta. It truly was an incredible lunch, and there are no words to describe how incredible it was, except Mamma Mia! After our lunch, we went to Body Works, where we learned about the human body. It was very interesting, and it sparked a conversation about how the LGBTQ+ community is represented in day-to-day life. After a couple of hours of free time, we all met up at the Vogue workshop, where we were taught by Amber Vineyard how to truly express ourselves. We had the time of our lives and looked incredibly fierce while doing it. 

All in all, today was an amazing day full of educational activities, dancing our hearts out, and food that was truly the epitome of lekker! 

This blog post was contributed by Leili Grzybowski - the amazing singer and member of our group we mentioned in our previous blog post!