At Chacruna: Queer Voices Speak to the New Psychedelia

Jeanna Eichenbaum, LCSW

On the evening of June first, about 50 or so participants at the Queering Psychedelics conference gathered in one corner of the Brava Theater in San Francisco to discuss what unique issues queer people might bring to psychedelic therapy for healing. As group facilitators. we both felt honored and moved by the turnout. After all, it was seven p.m. on a beautiful Bay Area day, and we’d collectively been in the space since about nine that morning. Personally, I was surprised that so many decided this topic important enough to stay after what was already such a long, full day. We’d learned much about the intersections of psychedelia and queerness throughout the history of the past 50 years, from the intense 1950s experiments and dialogues of Aldous Huxley and the probably queer Gerald Humphrey, through the early, dusty days of the Radical Faeries and Burning Man, and on to the glory days of The Coquettes and the early black and trans club scenes of New York City. We listened to a critique of the limitations of mystical experience definitions when they are done solely through the lens of being white, straight, and male. Perhaps, most importantly, we were reminded of the original inhabitants and caretakers of the land we were sitting on, as a presentation of Ohlone consciousness and mindfulness opened up the conference... continue reading.