Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network Names J. Gia Loving New Co-executive Director
Oakland-based organizer, trainer, writer and facilitator Juniperangelica Gia Loving (she/her), has been named Co-Executive Director of the Genders and Sexualities Alliance (GSA) Network effective September 1, 2022. She will hold this role in collaboration with current Co-Executive Director Ginna Brelsford (she/they).
Loving, a transgender Latina graduate of Citrus College and University of California, Berkeley, has been on staff with GSA Network, a next-generation LGBTQ+ racial and gender justice organization that empowers and trains trans, queer, and allied youth leaders to advocate, organize, and mobilize an intersectional movement for safer schools and healthier communities since 2015.
Prior to this appointment, Loving was Director of the Gender Justice Leadership Programs at GSA Network and Transgender Law Center. In this role, she has led the two organizations’ national collaborative trans youth programming for the last several years.
“Gia’s move to become GSA Network’s new Co-Executive Director is a win, win, win,” said Ginna Brelsford, GSA Network’s current Co-Executive Director. “It is a win for our organization, which will benefit from her deep wisdom and tremendous trust in the TQ2S (trans, queer, Two-Spirit) community. It is a win for our movement, which will benefit from her visible leadership and vision. And it is a win for Gia, who will be able to put her talents and skills to use in a new way, in service of the queer youth she holds at the center of her work.”
Loving, of El Monte, California, is a mom, writer, facilitator, and frequent speaker, trainer, and teacher at universities, conferences, and convenings from coast to coast and has been an organizer in the transgender community, queer community, and on campus at UC Berkeley.
“With trans youth under relentless attack from politicians and the media, there is no better time for me to move into this role,” said Loving. “This moment demands that we fight like hell to make sure that every queer kid, no matter where they come from or what they look like, has the freedom to learn, thrive, and pursue their dreams.
“I remember being a young queer kid dreaming far beyond society’s boxes, so I am incredibly grateful to help shape the future of our young people and our community in visionary heart-driven co-leadership with Ginna,” Loving said.
“We all deserve the chance to be our best selves.”
