Gender Unbound: Austin Festival Showcases Trans and Intersex Artists

By Josh Watkins

Boundaries will be pushed, identity celebrated, and community built at the second annual Gender Unbound Art Festival in Austin, Texas. This one-day talent showcase of trans and intersex artists, musicians, and performers run by the community for the community is set to take the city on September 2.

The festival is run by Gender Portraits, a sponsored nonprofit project of the Austin Creative Alliance. The project’s creator, Drew Riley, documents and advocates for gender diverse people by telling their stories through painted portraits and written word. Riley’s advocacy has since evolved to include the Gender Unbound Art Fest, which further amplifies Gender Portraits’ mission of using art to advocate for gender and sexual minorities.

With Gender Unbound, Riley seeks to focus on celebrating gender diversity and expression—recognizing that larger LGBT festivals tend to focus more on sexuality than gender. She notes that trans and intersex-centric events are often confined to medical conferences and days of remembrance for lost community members. Gender Unbound instead gives trans and intersex people a chance to celebrate themselves and their creativity.

The festival’s inaugural 2016 event was met with great response and featured approximately 400 attendees, 13 artists from across the country, three Austin-based bands, and multiple community organizations. “It was something special for me to walk around and see people on dates, friends hugging, and for some trans and intersex people to be connected to their own community for the first time,” Riley recalls. She hopes the 2017 festival will experience even more growth, and shares that this year, the event will include more live performances and an added darkened theater room for screenings of short films and documentaries.

Gender Unbound also provides an educational opportunity for the general public to learn about a community that is often overlooked, and to experience “the strength, complexity, and beauty of transgender and intersex voices.” “[The festival] creates the opportunity to educate the general public in a context outside of celebrity coming out stories and bathroom legislation,” Riley says, adding that Gender Unbound also connects guests to much-needed services such as trans and intersex social groups, voter registration, and HIV testing.

Additionally, the festival presents the unique opportunity for trans and intersex communities to come together and learn from one another. “The issues that our two communities face share similar topics like gender markers, birth certificates, bathrooms, gender identities, the pressures of gender conformity, and surgeries,” Riley explains. She adds that—while transgender issues are currently in the spotlight—if intersex issues are left out of the conversation, progress will be hindered. Gender Unbound aims to create a safe space for these discussions to occur, using art as a catalyst to open hearts and minds.

While Gender Unbound is a celebration of trans, intersex, and gender nonconforming individuals, the festival welcomes all who wish to experience this dynamic community. “Our voices are vibrant, kind, and diverse,” Riley says. “I wouldn’t want [anyone] to miss any of it.”

Gender Unbound Art Fest will be held at Vuka North Lamar (5540 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, TX) from 4-9 p.m. on Saturday, September 2. Information and tickets can be purchased at genderunbound.org. Supporters of the festival also have the opportunity to sponsor tickets (which will be dispersed to local support and social organizations) for trans and intersex community members in need.