Three community service organizations have joined together to present a series of workshops focusing on issues affecting people of color in the GLBT community.

Sandra Clayborn of Umoja, Jess San Roque of the Asian Pacific Islander Community AIDS Project (APICAP) and Carolina Ramos of The Center’s Latino Services Project have been working collectively for the past year to present a two-month series of weekly workshops. The series, already halfway through the schedule, continues through Oct. 23.

“This is Sandra’s idea; this is her baby,” said San Roque. “She wanted to create some type of venue for people of color to come together and talk about different issues.”

The idea behind the workshops started at a weekly gathering hosted by APICAP. Each Friday, a group would gather and chat about current events while enjoying a home-cooked lunch.

“There are not too many places for people of color to come and feel comfortable. When I would come here on Fridays, I always felt I was welcome,” Clayborn said.

San Roque added, “At those lunches, we would just talk about different things – what happened the night before, who people are dating, religion, politics – just different things. That’s what motivated us, because some of the workshop topics are some of the issues we talked about during those luncheons. We wanted to make it more of a formal discussion and invite facilitators who are experts to lead these discussions.”

During the past year, the workshops took various forms throughout the planning process, from weekend, day-long workshops to shorter mini workshops. In the end, the organizers chose a series of mini workshops that would encourage attendance and cover a number of topics within a short period of time.

The formal discussions started in September and have addressed issues related to addiction, discrimination, youth, religion, sexuality and disability.

“I think we are doing pretty well,” Ramos said. “Some of the issues get pretty heavy, but we’ve had some great speakers and great dialogue.”

This month the workshops will cover issues related to HIV/AIDS, seniors, bisexuality, transgenderism and relationships.

“We picked topics that we feel are important to our community. We want to make sure everyone is included: the youth, seniors and the disabled,” San Roque said.

This Saturday’s workshop, “On the Down Low,” discusses a trend among married and straight men who have discrete and anonymous sex with other men.

“It appears that the black men in our community do not want to admit they are having sex with men. They lead these normal lives of having girlfriends and wives and kids, but yet they are still having sex with men,” Clayborn explained. “It’s a cultural thing. Homosexuality is not accepted in our community … and that’s a bigger issue in our community because most of us grew up in the churches.”

On the Down Low begins at 11:00 a.m. at Latino Services Center at The Center, located at 3909 Centre St. in Hillcrest.

APICAP hosts a discussion for people 50 and over living with HIV/AIDS on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 6:00 p.m. APICAP is located at 4776 El Cajon Blvd.

“The Elephant in the Room,” a workshop about bisexuality, is scheduled to take place at Bienestar Human Services on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 11:00 a.m. at 3020 North Park Way.

On Oct. 19, Bienestar hosts “Transgender Myths and Facts” at 6:00 p.m.

On Oct. 22, there will be two workshops focusing on relationships: “The Power of Healthy Relationships” takes place at the Latino Services Center at The Center at 11:00 a.m. The second workshop, “The Power Exchange in a Relationship,” will follow at 1:00 p.m., and will address a variety of topics including sadomasochism (S&M).

The workshop series ends on Oct. 23 with a “Recognition Gathering” at the Arts and Entertainment Center, located at 3026 University Ave. This is not a formal discussion, but a casual party.

“That is the end of all the workshops. We’re going to come together like we did on Fridays and eat and celebrate,” Clayborn said.

Halfway through the workshop schedule, the organizers decided the program will evolve into an ongoing presentation.

“This is not going to stop on the last day,” San Roque said. “We’re going to make sure we repeat some of those workshops, hopefully at the beginning of the year. My goal is to be able to do this on a continuing basis.”

“I think we need to open as many doors for people of color to have a space to talk about topics,” Ramos added. “I think we need to continue these dialogues as often as possible.”

Each workshop is free and open to the public and everyone is welcome. For more information about the series, visit APICAP on the Web, at www.APICAP.org; the Latino Services Program, at www.thecentersd.org; and Umoja, at www.umojaprojects.com. Information can also be obtained by calling Sandra Clayborn at (619) 269-3245.