Meet Juli Myers

Today we’d like to introduce you to Juli Myers.

Hi Juli, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
There are two main facets to the work I have done in Phoenix. The first, community education, arose out of an invitation to speak to one sociology class in 2012. Far too many people don’t understand the first thing about trans issues and our realities. When this is combined with the natural reluctance of many trans people to be as vulnerable as such education requires, I felt it imperative to step up.

My work in the arts came about by pure chance and the best luck. When I was working as a nonprofit development director in 2016, I planned a large special event with the help of Jeffrey Lazos-Ferns. It was love and magic at first sight, and soon we were working together full-time producing events and, most importantly, promoting the arts. I had never been a devotee of art until walking into a gallery in Scottsdale and discovering pop surrealism. There was no turning back after that.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been smooth at all, but Lord, it has been interesting. My transition had placed an expectedly great strain on my marriage, and the nature of my work, especially the arts work and all of the financial ups and downs, didn’t help. In the end, I gave up everything for a while, including my Self, to try and save my marriage. Ultimately, it didn’t work, and I have reclaimed my self and my work.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am currently working with my partner-in-arts, Jeffrey Lazos-Ferns, curating a large queer art exhibit, Gaytablos, which will be hosted September 3 through October 23 at the Arizona Latino Arts and Cultural Center in downtown Phoenix. The exhibit has grown out of my love for traditional and contemporary retablo art and the desire to help inspire queer artists to create works that speak to their innate divinity. For too many of us, our nascent spirituality and faith were cut off by the attitudes within the churches, synagogues, and mosques of our childhood, and I wanted to see art that represents a new awakening of awareness of the divine within our queer souls.

I am dividing my time between Phoenix and my home state of Pennsylvania, largely because of a lack of easy access to health insurance in Arizona that would cover the medical and surgical care necessary to complete my transition. Aside from Gaytablos and the events I have produced, I am most proud of my community education work. I must have spoken to sixty different classes over the last eight years, and each time I walk away knowing a little more about myself and full of hope for the LGBTQ and Two-Spirit youth who will inherit a messy world indeed. They are much better prepared than we ever were, and they give me so much optimism.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
As much of an open book as I am, I doubt there is much that would surprise anyone about me, but here is a trivial bit of Juli trivia: I can recite all the Presidents of the United States.

Contact Info:

• Email: thejulimyers@gmail.com
• Website: www.gaytablos.org
• Instagram: @deviantdocent
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julimyers
• SoundCloud: Check out Juli Myers on #SoundCloud https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/sBMUo