Sam Bullington
Sam Bullington is a public speaker and workshop facilitator, college professor and spiritual counselor, and founder and director of Phoenix, Colorado’s Trans Community Choir—the longest existing trans choir in history! Sam is nonbinary trans with a Ph.D in global gender and sexuality studies. Sam regularly gives talks and leads workshops on unlearning racism, decolonizing the classroom, self-care for activists, healthy masculinities, reimagining our vision for social change, trans leadership, reigniting passion, and the future of gender and sexuality. Sam sang with the Santa Cruz Gay and Lesbian Chorus in its first season (1994) and was co-chair of TransVoices, the trans choir that was generated from the Trans Voices Festival sponsored by One Voice Mixed Chorus in 2004. Sam went on to sing with One Voice, driving 8 hours each way to attend rehearsal each week for an entire year after being hired at the University of Missouri. Sam went to his first GALA Festival in 2012 with Harmony Chorale in Denver (where he was on the board) and it was the lack of trans visibility at the 2012 Festival that prompted Sam to start his own trans choir in 2015. Sam loves gospel music and, in additional to GALA choruses, has sung with 3 gospel choirs, including a decade with the One World Inspirational Choir at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. Sam is also very involved with the Dances of Universal Peace and is on their Liberation Committee, the DUP North America equivalent to the GALA New Harmony Task Force. Sam has done research in South Africa since 1997, including with Gender Dynamix—the first trans organization on the African continent, and hopes to start a trans choir in South Africa as well! Sam received the Women’s Studies Social Justice Award from the University of Minnesota, the Catalyst Award (Honoring those who speak up and out and often) from the University of Missouri, and the Kevin B Winge Award for Community Leadership from the Philanthrofund Foundation. Sam is in the midst of completing 3 books: Gender Diversity in Music Education: A Primer with Sarah Bartolome (Routledge), Learning from Polyamory: A Spiritual Seeker’s Guide to Love (Beacon Press), and Transgender Wisdom: What I’ve Learned about Gender and Life from Living in the Grey Areas. Sam was a founding member of GALA’s New Harmony Task Force and Sam’s passion is creating a world in which we all can thrive.