BGSQDBureau of General Services—Queer Division
BGSQD
How do we build love and community when our world and communities are being violently pulled apart? Join queer feminist sex activist relationship coach and author of Polyamory for Dummies, Jaime Grant, writer-comedian-nurse Kelli Dunham, and activist chronic illness advocate JD Davids for a conversation that goes beyond relationship logistics and into the radical possibilities of polyamory as a survival strategy.
Too often, polyamory is framed as a lifestyle choice for the privileged—but what if it’s actually a blueprint for collective care? How do we move beyond individualism and scarcity models of love to build networks of support, abundance, and resilience? This conversation will explore the ways polyamory intersects with mutual aid, disability justice, caregiving, and the fight against systemic oppression.
Doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned polyamorous organizer, a burnt-out activist seeking new models of connection, or just someone trying to figure out how to get your polycule to agree on a group chat app, you have something to contribute to this discussion.
Bring your questions, your stories, and your radical love.
To reserve a copy of Polyamory for Dummies (For Dummies, December 24, 2024, paperback, $24.99) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Polyamory for Dummies for March 27 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!
This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.
Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.
Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:
The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.
We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Dr. Jaime M. Grant is a queer feminist sex activist and relationship coach. Grant is best known for her sex workshop primer, Great Sex: Mapping Your Desire and her groundbreaking report Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Polyamorous since her 20s, Jaime is glad to be focussing on collective love as a revolutionary strategy as we face the political moment.
JD Davids (he/him) is a chronically ill and disabled writer and strategist with decades of work in world-changing social movements, policy advocacy and journalism. Most recently, he founded and co-directed the national Long COVID Justice project. Currently, he is writing and conducting research at the CUNY Graduate Center’s Biography and Memoir program as an “illder”– a term he coined to represent those mentoring each other in confronting chronic illnesses and an ableist society alike – committed to sharing movement history, health information and unique approaches to living with illness. In this time of mass disabling pandemics, he shares stories and strategies through The Cranky Queer Guide to Chronic Illness, where he braids his experiences as a longtime HIV and disability justice activist, research advocate, and life as a queer and transgender parent, harm reductionist and sexual liberationist. His recent and upcoming publications include authored or co-authored chapters for The Long COVID Survival Guide, Liberation Stories: Building Narrative Power for 21st Century Social Movements, Unfolding Corpus: Vulnerability and Radicality in Times of Plagues, and Race, Justice, and HIV: Visions for a Society Without Bars.
Kelli Dunham is the nonbinary ex-nun storytelling nurse author trauma-informed comedian so ubiquitous in modern Brooklyn. Kelli is the author of seven hilarious books about not hilarious subjects including a bestselling book on puberty and the forthcoming Almost The Best Medicine: Intentional Humor For Nurses And Others With Impossible Jobs (FoundVoice Publishing 2025). Kelli has appeared on Showtime, BBC4’S Sunday Religion in Culture Program, the Discovery Channel, the Moth Mainstage and the occasional livestock auction.
Kelli’s show Second Helping: Two Dead Lovers Dead Funny was called “a love letter to queer community” by the Bechdel Theater and “drop dead hilarious” by Go Magazine. PGN recently named Kelli one of “48 LGBT Creative People Of Influence” and former NYC mayor Bill DeBlasio once called Kelli “a show off.” To Kelli’s face.