Steering Committee

Colin Ashley is a doctoral candidate in Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center.  His work primarily engages with theories of affect and aesthetics as pertaining to issues of race, sexuality, and public space.  He currently serves as one of the co-chairs of QUNY, the CUNY Graduate Center’s LGBTQ student organization.  Colin currently works as the logistics coordinator for the Social Justice Sexuality Initiative, one of the largest ever national surveys of LGBTQ People of Color and also as a researcher/analyst on the Gates Momentum Research Project, analyzing experiences of New York City community college students.  n April 2011, Colin co-facilitated a Queer Commons Community Workgroup on segregation in the queer community that drew over 100 participants (“Queers are segregated. So?”). He is a former steering committee member of the Counterpublic Collective.

Melanie Brown is a poet, blogger, and Queer Theory nerd. She has learned most of what she knows about Queer Theory from being in the community, engaging in discussions, and sitting in the kitchen deconstructing sex and gender with her friends. She’s particularly interested in the ways in which race and class affect queerness and the ways in which the B,T, & Q are sometimes invisible in LGBTQ discussions and organizing.

Ali Harris is a transmasculine, genderqueer queer activist who is committed to the visibility of transgender, gender non-conforming / gender fluid and queer rights.  He works in the health sector and does part-time digital design consulting for non-profits, currently focusing his efforts with Sideshow: The Queer Literary Carnival and volunteering his time with the development of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves resource guide.  Harris continues his work as a social media consultant for OUTmedia,  and has been a panelist and guest speaker for undergraduate LGBTQ programming, where he has been asked to discuss topics regarding gender, sexuality and discrimination in society. Most recently, he co-facillitated the Queer Commons Community Workgroup “The Right to Be Ill.”  He is a former steering committee member of the Counterpublic Collective and is now looking into graduate programs involving queer theory, history and discrimination in the law.

Michelle Mantione is a performer, producer and social media activist. Her work has been featured at various spaces in NYC including the Winter Garden Theatre / World Financial Center, Galapagos Art Space, Bowery Poetry Club, and chashama, Inc. In addition to performing, she serves as Project Manager for DISLABELEDtv and has worked as an Arts Administrator at the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts.  From protests and press conferences to performances and parades, Mantione’s work promotes full inclusion of people with disabilities within every aspect of society.

Karalyn Shimmyo, founder of The Queer Commons,  is a social worker, queer activist and community organizer. In 2008, she founded the Student Committee on LCSW Licensing Issues at NYU’s Silver School of Social Work. A longtime resident of Brooklyn, NY, she is the former chair of the Program Development Committee for the Brooklyn Community Pride Center, and served on their Board of Directors from 2008-2010. Karalyn is the former Executive Director of the New York State Coalition of LMSWs, and is a former steering committee member of the Counterpublic Collective. At present, she works with formerly incarcerated adults in the process of reentering the community.  Karalyn has been a panelist and workshop facilitator at schools of social work, and conducts in-service trainings on topics such as clinical work with LGBTQ people and incorporating a social justice model into clinical work with mandated clients. Karalyn is an organizer of the Queer Book Swap, and she is the founder of PsychOUT, a discussion group for LGBTQ Mental Health Providers.  In May of 2011, she facilitated the workgroup session “Busted, Broke & Queer: Radical Ethics and Poverty in Queer Communities.”

Adrien A. Weibgen is an advocate and activist focused on combating structural racism and expanding educational, employment and other opportunities for communities of color. A masculine-of-center person of color, Adrien has been active in queer community organizing since moving to New York in 2006. Adrien formerly served on the steering committee of Q-Wave and as a co-founder and steering committee member of the Counterpublic Collective. For the Queer Commons, Adrien is the editor of The Homosexual Agenda, a crowd-sourced events calendar, and in April 2011 co-facilitated a Queer Commons Community Workgroup on segregation in the queer community that drew over 100 participants (“Queers are segregated. So?”). An improbable optimist, Adrien believes firmly in the power of personal stories to spark radical social transformation and hopes to carry this perspective into future work as an attorney.

Rebecca Weinberger is a fat, queer, feminist, high femme who has been a sex educator since the age of 15.  A former ASL/English interpreter, Rebecca currently works as the Workshop Coordinator for Babeland.  Rebecca started mortifying her mother at a young age by declaring that our fear of fat bodies is about beauty standards instead of health and that our inability to talk about sex hurts everyone, but especially women and queers.  Rebecca enjoys overly tight clothing and reconceptualizing deviant bodies of all kinds, and recently facilitated one workshop on Healthism and another on Mixed Size Relationships at this year’s NOLOSE conference. She has been a guest lecturer at various universities around NYC, usually speaking about sex and culture.  In March 2011, Rebecca co-facillitated the Queer Commons’ first-ever Community Workgroup, “The Right to Be ill.”  Other Rebecca Weinbergers of note on the Internet include an unfortunate Zionist activist and a pretty cool seeming 8 year old who is making her own violin.  This Rebecca Weinberger is not either of those.

Simone Kolysh is a queer person involved in an open marriage and a mother of two beautiful children. Ze believes gender norms can be quite damaging to society and doesn’t feel either of the accepted genders describe who ze is, as a being and an individual. Simone is an activist, an atheist, a feminist and a vegan dedicated to living in balance with animals and the environment. Simone works with cancer patients on behalf of the American Cancer Society and was a co-founder and former steering committee member of the Counterpublic Collective prior to joining the Queer Commons. Simone left the Queer Commons in June 2011 to begin a PhD program in Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center.