Engage in a thought-provoking free community panel discussion on queer independence with Sam Avery, Dean Massey, and Clare McCarthy. Moderated by Lynette Fisher and Andy King, this panel will offer the opportunity to connect with diverse voices from across generations as they reflect on past, present, and future LGBTQ+ resilience, self-determination, and community support. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, learn, and celebrate the strength of queer identities. The Progress Flag Field Closing Ceremony will take place at 4 pm after the panel and final house tour. It will include readings and thoughts from panelists.
Registration includes admission to the Letters of Unity exhibit. House tours must be booked separately; see our website for details.
Panelist and Moderator Bios:
Samuel Avery Giardina is a 26-year-old photographer from Berlin, Connecticut. As a transgender artist himself, he’s dedicated his career to raising awareness for his community through his work. He started taking photos in 2020, the year he started his transition, and has since then found a passion for telling trans stories through his photography. He’s been able to capture his own journey through his self-portraits while using them as a driving force in creating advocacy for the trans community. He then started documenting other trans people’s experiences through his editorial photography work.
Dean Massey is an urban planning researcher at Northeastern University and lives in Providence, Rhode Island. He has strong ties to Connecticut: he grew up in a small-town east of the river filled with historic cemeteries, studied at Connecticut College, and worked at the Connecticut General Assembly. In his spare time, he enjoys visiting house museums, tracking down gravestones by masters like Zerubbabel Collins, and hiking in the woods. He has visited every Connecticut Landmarks property, starting with the Nathan Hale Homestead as a child. Dean found his way to the Palmer-Warner House last year where he shared his love of cemetery history through Following Death: Cemetery Walk & Talk.
Clare McCarthy is, first and foremost, an educator. A former Latin teacher of 33 years, she is skilled at communicating complex and often unfamiliar material clearly and in engaging ways. She opened Transqat Enterprises, a transgender advocacy business, in 2022 to combat mis- and disinformation on the topic and to provide a safe space to learn. Clare produces and hosts Transqat the Podcast, a series of long-form conversations with a wide array of exciting and informed guests. An engaging and thoughtful public speaker, she works with organizations of all sorts to promote a better understanding of trans issues, blending humor, vulnerability, research, and lived experience. Clare is an author with Oliver Heber Books, and she freelances as an authenticity reader with Penguin Random House.
Andy King (he/they) is a museum interpreter for the Palmer-Warner House and the Hempsted Houses. They received their B.A. in History and M.A. in Public History from Central Connecticut State University. Andy worked at the LGBTQ+ Center and served as the Vice President of Pride Club, hosting community events, running trainings, and providing resources for the campus's queer community. For his M.A. capstone project, he amended the National Register of Historic Places nomination form to include Frederic Palmer's life and work in the site's historic narrative. Andy manages interpreters at Mystic Seaport Museum and volunteers for Stonington Pride.
Passionate about the LGBTQ+ community, Lynette Fisher is the Site Administrator for Connecticut Landmarks Southeast Region, which includes the Palmer-Warner House, Hempsted Houses, and Amasa Day House.
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