Morningstar Vancil (she/they) was born in 1959 in Cavite City in the Philippines, raised first on a US military base and later in the City of Cebu. Her father, Pete St. Denis, was part of the Cree tribe, a Native American tribe that forms one of Canada’s largest First Nations. Morningstar’s mother, Paz, was Filipino and Papua New Guinean. She acknowledges her grandmother as an important figure in her life who encouraged Morningstar to be her real, authentic self amidst homophobic and discriminatory environments. 

Throughout the 1970s, Morningstar found themself oscillating between two different worlds as they moved back and forth between the Philippines and the US. She recalls the first time she visited California in 1973, an event defined by radical self-acceptance. During this visit, they attended San Francisco Pride and met their hero, Barbara Cameron, founder of Gay American Indians. Soon after, she was taken to a meeting of Daughters of Bilitis, an advocacy group for lesbian rights founded in San Francisco in 1955, by Filipino butches. Morningstar recalls this time as the first moment they saw other butches of color. 

In 1984, her family officially moved to Canon City, Colorado, to gain political asylum as the Philippines came under martial law. Due to discrimination and homophobia, Morningstar lost both their jobs as a nurse and as a cop for the Adams County Sheriff’s Department in Brighton, Colorado. Morningstar moved to San Francisco, figuring that she would have a more accepting experience there, but found herself in unstable living conditions, often suffering homelessness and having trouble finding shelters that would accept her as a gender non-conforming individual. 

Morningstar’s other hardships have included alcoholism after their unfair firings, plus the rejection of their family after she came out, and to whom they didn’t speak until 2022. In 1997, she was diagnosed with diabetes, and in 2003, she was diagnosed with stage 3 uterus and ovarian cancer.

However, despite these challenges, Morningstar never stopped providing for their community. In 1999, Morningstar, alongside four other Native, mixed individuals, founded Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirit (BAAITS), a volunteer based organization that offers culturally relevant activities for Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ Native Americans. At the time of its founding, Morningstar felt there were too few Natives who had the ability to build a sweat lodge, and she wanted to provide this scarce service to queer, transgender Native individuals. 

In 2002, Morningstar was invited to serve on the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, where they worked on open hearings concerning intersex infant surgeries and advocated for people of color in areas of immigration, human rights, domestic partnership, and tribal alliance. During her time with the Commission, she protested against the board of commissioners, advocating for the inclusion of Marcus de Maria Arana’s name and tribal name as well as his essay in the front sections of the report “Discrimination by Omission: Issues of Concern for Native American in San Francisco.” 

Currently, Morningstar is a member of Fabled Asp, an archival, storytelling project that highlights disabled lesbian activism through audio-booth dialogues, video documentaries, creative pieces, and digital stories. She also serves on the LGBTQ+ Advisory Board of the Human Rights Commission in San Francisco.

Morningstar has brought immense recognition and representation for their two-spirit, Native American and Filipino communities to the various organizations of which they have been a part, and has emphasized the importance of including diverse voices throughout their career.

Bio Author: Eliana Contreras