The Esprit Committee is pleased to announce\u00a0Zane Alvarez\u00a0<\/strong>as our Esprit 2025 Keynote Speaker.\u00a0He will share his journey being Trans in the Military and his educational support\u00a0\u00a0in the Community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was stationed in Augusta, Georgia, and one day, when a Starbucks barista accidentally addressed him as a male, it just felt right. This gave him an intense epiphany. He talked to some of his transgender friends and began to realize why something never felt right: he wasn\u2019t a lesbian. He was a transgender man. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Esprit Committee is pleased to announce that\u00a0Eve Palay<\/strong>\u00a0will be our Gala Keynote Speaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eve Palay<\/strong> is heavily involved in Trans groups in North Kitsap as well as Je\ufb00erson County. She\u2019s part of Rainbow Crew NW, Bainbridge Pride, Poulsbo Pride, Transfriending (a support group for families of Trans youth), the Queer Elders Group of the Senior Center, Transgender Alliance–North Kitsap, as well as the Pride representative on the local Interfaith Council. She has spoken to di\ufb00erent churches in their services and to the city councils in Poulsbo, Port Townsend, and Bainbridge. Eve also led the TDOR event at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art since 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The filmmaking team is also fully dedicated to the privacy concerns of our community and protecting our members. If the Esprit Committee agrees to move forward- in addition to our normal photo policy, we will also have a process at Check-In where you will be able to opt-in your willingness (or not) to be captured by their cameras- and this status will be made visible on your Esprit badge. Additionally, there will be a back stop further down the road with an opportunity to review a fine cut of the film to call out any potential privacy or anonymity issues prior to the film\u2019s final cut. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to tell the story of Esprit they are looking for a specific group of attendees to follow closely for the week and would love to meet with all of you who may be interested in participating in a bigger way. If there\u2019s a chance you would be open to this you can sign up for a zoom meeting this coming weekend at the following link<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zane Alvarez<\/strong>\u00a0(he\/him)\u00a0was assigned female at birth, but as a child, he prayed to become a boy. At this young age, he didn\u2019t know what to make of these feelings, and he certainly didn\u2019t have the words to explain it since gender issues were still far from the mainstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alvarez came out as a lesbian in his teens and began dressing more masculine, but this identity still didn\u2019t feel completely right. He graduated high school, and six years ago, he went on to join the Army as a behavioral health technician.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gala Keynote Speaker- Eve Palay<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Potential Esprit Documentary<\/u><\/strong>
A team of filmmakers including Luke Willis (Lady Like), and Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine (Boys State and Mayor Pete) have contacted the Esprit Committee and are interested in attending the conference this year and making a documentary about Esprit. These filmmakers all have a passion for and a record of making inspiring films that celebrate and demonstrate the power of communities to provide hope for its members and the world. Luke is a queer filmmaker and a Peace Studio fellow who is specifically dedicated to telling stories within the LGBTQIA+ community that offer hope, healing and build bridges to the world outside our community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n