QTAPI Listening Circles

An Invitation from Alma Soongi Beck


Hello Beloved QTAPI Community.

As we brace from the inauguration of and first week of actions from our new U.S. Presidential administration, including the signing of dozens of Executive Orders designed to impact, create chaos, instill fear, confuse, and paralyze us, our families, and our communities, I'd like to remind folks a few important things have been resonating to me these past few weeks, from what I've been learning from long-time activism and movement builders over the decades.  

We are part of a strong, established, experienced, wise, thoughtful, and effective QTAPI community.  We have been present, central, leading, and backing leadership in crucial social movements for decades.  Our presence, our minds, and our actions are significant and powerful, and we are significant and powerful.  Our presence and our voices matter, and we have the ability to move people and conversations toward insight in ways that the world needs, including now.  We have succeeded in many crucial ways even in the most dire of times, and we continue to learn from our failures in the places that we have not (yet) succeeded.  This is true no matter how much the forces of oppression and disconnection try to convince us that we are otherwise.

In that spirit, your are invited to join us for the next QTAPI listening circle:

  • Sat., Feb. 8, 5:30 - 7 p.m. Pacific time

  • on Whereby (a video platform similar to Zoom but more secure)

The first one in 2025 was on Sunday, Jan. 12, and our plan for now is to continue the group, alternating between Saturday and Sunday evenings (with occasional exceptions), as long as there is interest and availability... potentially for the next 47 months!

Why a QTAPI Listening Circle?

  • The listening circle is a space for QTAPI folks to share and listen to what other QTAPI people are thinking, feeling, and trying to figure out.  It is a space to listen fully, to have our full thoughts, and to help us process, empathize, learn, build our thinking on where and how to act.

  • We ask people to keep confidential who attends and what people say, with the hope that it increases safety and thinking.

  • It breaks our isolation, which makes us vulnerable to despair, and in turn, to our internal demons, to conspiracy theories and to disinformation.

  • It's a simple enough model that, if you like it, you can replicate it in any group, any movement, any collection of people.

Testimonial from the Jan. 12 listening circle:

I'd been feeling anxious for the past few months (sleeping at 4 or 5 a.m.), but right after the QTAPI listening circle, I was finally able to sleep and get rest at a "normal time".... After listening to folks and sharing my experiences, fears, and uncertainties, I felt a sense of calm and a surge of joy to be in community with QTAPI folks, as a queer immigrant Filipina who recently moved back to the Philippines.  Thank you for convening, and thank you to everyone who shared their time and words.

Join Us:

If you're interested in joining and have not already reached out to me about your interest for Feb. 8, please email me directly at almaonclimate@proton.me to be added to the list and for the Whereby link.

With love and community,
Alma Soongi Beck 백숭기 (she/her)

Dino Duazo