Newsletter Archive

Happy New Year everyone! We hope you had a great New Year’s Eve and are starting out 2026 in good spirits (and not all of them come in a corked bottle) With a lax December and some snow flurries that kept us in from the cold, we’re excited to start off the year with a bang and a second round of holiday cheer– this time, it’s especially queer!
We are hosting our annual Winter Social on January 9th at the ECM (1204 Oread Ave, Lawrence, KS 66044) from 5:00pm – 8:00pm. We have a couple of exciting events happening that are totally optional, but that phrase ‘the more the merrier’ always rings true, so we we would love you to join in the fun!

Graphic that advertises the TLC Winter Social event taking place on January 9th at the ECM.

White Elephant Gift Exchange: This is a gift swap game where people bring a wrapped gift to be pooled with items brought from other guests. Participants will take turns choosing a gift from the pool or “stealing” from others until everyone has a gift. Feel free to re-gift something you don’t adore, an old object in need of love, or a handmade craft! Don’t feel obligated to spend any money, and let’s try to keep item values to around 20 dollar maximum.

Cookie Swap: There is an option to bring cookies (homemade or store-bought) with a list of ingredients to share and swap with others. If you make a bunch of extras to share with everyone, we won’t mind (especially if they’re pecan shortbread)!
Potluck: Bring along your own homemade meals to share with the party! We ask you to bring an ingredients list (or be prepared to write one) to help identify allergens for other guests.

Craft Time: There will be several group crafting activities during with crafting supplies provided. You can also bring your own craft if you’d like to work on it there.
If you plan to bring cookies to swap or potluck items, please RSVP at the following link: https://forms.gle/gWs8Vo3X1ReB8fML8

We are excited to celebrate the new year with you and hope you’re able to join us!

A second graphic for the Winter Social with additional information about events and the White Elephant gift game.

Thank you to everyone who joined us during our familiar favorites in December like Youth Crafternoon, Early Bird Karaoke (merry-oke edition), and QT Teatime! Speaking of, as noted on our January events calendar, QT Teatime will now begin at 10AM (and lets us sleep in an extra hour on the weekends). We also have a few new events starting in January including a new creative co-working club, TLCreate, and a triumphant return of Trans Gym Day featuring our homegrown queer gym, BEEF! There may be other new opportunities yet for outdoorsy adventure groups as the weather warms in the spring, so keep an eye on the events calendar for future information.

Finally, we’d like to direct your attention once more to our documentary efforts! We’re in the home stretch for filming and gathering media, but we need YOU to help make this the piece of history it deserves to be. We invite all your readers, event participants, community members, and trans-identifying Lawrencians and their allies to self-tape an ‘interview’ to become a part of our collective story, all from the comfort of your own home. Simply follow the directions outlined in the graphic below and request a media drop folder. Once you’ve recorded your interview (no editing required), send us an e-mail at tlcdocumentary@gmail.com with subject line ‘self tape submission’.

If you’d still like to offer your voice to this project but aren’t comfortable appearing on camera, we are now accepting audio-only submissions. We would like to capture as many of our community members as possible as a portrait of trans joy and resilience in what has been a very difficult year. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to shine for other communities and represent our Unmistakable city.

January’s member spotlight is on Raine Toxtle Flores-Peña!
Raine is a two-spirit transgender man of the Nahua tribe and uses he/him pronouns. He has been a member of TLC since 2023 during its very first political actions. He was friends with founding members, pissed about Senate Bill 180, helped with our first sign making event, and created the flyer for the “Party Like It’s 9999” event after the ordinance passed. He’s been a consistent member and volunteer ever since.
Raine’s biggest supporter has always been his mom. She’s still a big part of his life because she respects his identity and is “just a cool woman!”
His “nerdiest” memory was going to the 2018 TFCon in Chicago and getting to meet, and get a comic book signed by, James Roberts. Roberts is the author of Raine’s favorite comic book series, More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light! (CYGATE 4EVER)
You don’t need to know Raine for long to recognize his love for textiles. He loves sewing and sells leatherwork made of moose and deer hides. He primarily sells medicine bags, small charms, and keychains. It is no surprise that one of his coolest experiences was learning to weave on the backstrap loom during an artist residency in Oaxaca, Mexico.
When I heard Raine was learning a new language, I had to ask more. He said, “I am learning the Indigenous language Nahuatl! It is the language of the Nahuas, my tribe, and the language of my paternal grandparents. The reasons why I want to learn are countless, but basically I want to better understand my roots as a Nahua person. Language and culture are intrinsically connected and there’s a reason why colonialism targeted it so viciously.”
I hope you enjoyed getting to know such an interesting person as Raine in this month’s Member Spotlight!

Do you know someone who deserves the spotlight or has something important to share? Is it you? Feel free to chat with the author of Member Spotlight, Ericka on our Discord server.

Trans Lawrence Coalition

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2026

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