Lea Roselyn is worried about how the rise of fascism on global and national scales is slamming queer and trans people’s nervous systems in Lawrence.

“If we’re on social media or looking at the news, we are bombarded with constant suffering and oppression in our country and in the world, facing images of genocide and violence,” she said.

Then, on the local front, transgender Kansans are confronting Senate Bill 244, a new state law that invalidates driver’s licenses and birth certificates for people who have changed their gender markers, while criminalizing folks who use bathrooms that align with their gender identity over bathrooms that align with their sex assigned at birth in public buildings. 

“It’s feeling much closer to home with SB 244, the policing of our bodies, the dismantling of our freedom and our rights,” said Roselyn, who identifies as a dyke and a queer person. “I think many people in our community are feeling real, deep terror, and we’re worried about our freedom, we’re worried about our safety, we’re worried about being able to move free from oppression.”

Roselyn’s remedy is to host free, weekly Queer + Trans Mindful Movement & Meditation class exclusively for queer and trans people at Be Moved Studio, 2 E. Seventh St. The first session will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 19.

Although there’s no cost, attendees must register at this link so Roselyn and the studio know how many people to expect. The studio is only accessible up one flight of stairs. 

The event series isn’t some “‘love and light’ Becky b.s.,” Roselyn wrote. It’s tailored to embrace the full, gnarly range of emotions participants might be grappling with.

Each class will be layered with a short introduction to a mindfulness concept, mindful movement/dance, sitting/laying meditation and a community closing circle. The closing circle will be a time for queer and trans folks to “let it all out.”

“I’m offering and holding a space where we can all hold each other, and that is so powerful,” Roselyn said. “Like, to really enter a space with your full, authentic self and not be asked to mask in any way, not be asked to compartmentalize, not be asked to code switch, not be asked to shut down … that can be such a f***ing relief just to show up authentically.”

Without a dedicated space to unwind, Roselyn said the signs of nervous system impact can be easy to ignore or miss — the telltale but persistently tight chest, rapid heartbeat or buzzing in the ear. 

Nervous system or trauma responses will show up in each body differently, Roselyn added. Some folks may find that they’re less spacious emotionally and physically, which means they could feel short, snap at others or have less tolerance for ambiguity. In her case, she’s felt the constant background thrum of anxiety.

“Just to get by day to day, there’s a certain part where we consciously or unconsciously close off our heart and close off our feelings,” she said. “It’s like we have to compartmentalize to get through our day.”

Elevated levels of this type of stress can also break down the immune system, causing folks to get sick more frequently.

Roselyn said that many of the self-care regimens she’s seen focus on bubble baths and the privilege to escape reality, which can lead to isolation. For her, addressing the physical and emotional harm in community is necessary to dismantle the political and social milieu that instituted the harm in the first place.

“While tyranny and fascism may be able to hijack our social and economic and political systems for the moment, it does not have the right to hijack our bodies as well,” she said. “And that is something that we can try and have some control over, so that we have greater space and freedom and ourselves to then go and be active and protest or call our representatives or show up for that systematic change.”

She said that the classes might sound intimidating for those uninitiated in meditation and conscious movement, but she hopes people of all ages and experiences will come as they are.

“It really is a space where all bodies, all queer and trans people are welcome,” she said.

Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.

Read their complete bio here. Read their work for the Times here.

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