Meet Gabrielle Evans | Sexuality Educator & Researcher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gabrielle Evans and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gabrielle, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I guess I should start off by saying that I actually have two business – The Minority Sex Report and gabriellesemora. I co-founded The Minority Sex Report in 2017 because my co-founder and I saw a need to provide comprehensive sexuality education to Black and Native communities. Growing up in rural towns in North Carolina we did not receive comprehensive sexuality education from people who looked like us nor people who were properly trained. So, the goal of The Minority Sex Report is to ensure that adolescents receive education from people who are trained in reproductive justice and use sex-positive approaches. After a few years and diving deeper into research, I realized that I had additional interests relating to sexual health that didn’t fall into the scope of The Minority Sex Report. I love being on the ground and working in the community – prior to moving to Texas and ultimately the pandemic, I was always at different community health fairs, festivals, and events doing public health and sexual health work. My thought process behind starting gabriellesemora was being more vocal about how I got into sex ed and also providing something for the community, which includes highlighting sexual and reproductive issues faced by Native American adolescents and women, expanding Native sexual well-being, and creating a shame-free space for them to explore their sexuality.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
gabriellesemora is dedicated to expanding Native American sexual well-being, as well as highlighting and addressing sexual and reproductive issues faced by Native American adolescents and women through research and community education. Although I haven’t physically gotten back out in the community, I’m still including the community in my work and creating a shame-free space for Native American adolescents and women to explore their sexuality. I also believe in the community being able to have access to information, but in a way that’s understandable for them. No matter how far I get in life, I will stay true to my roots while also being professional at the same time. I’m going to always use “y’all” and not going to throw around big words just for the sake of doing so. Plus, I’m a country girl, and that country grammar messes with my ability to say certain big words anyway. As I continue to grow and build my brand, I want the world to know that I’m not just doing this for myself. I’m doing this for my people; for every Native American woman and girl who has been underrepresented or had their voices taken away from them, particularly when it comes to sexual health. I want our voices to be heard.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Ooh so I’ve been in Houston for almost 3 years now and there are still so many places that I have yet to visit. But we have a full week so I can work with that! We would definitely take a day trip to the beach and spend a day or two in the museum district. As far as food goes, we have to go to The Breakfast Klub, J&J Seafood (the BEST fried fish plates), and Frank’s Pizza. Sunday Funday is a must! Seaside, Kamp, The Address, and Cru are all great places for Sunday Funday so we’d have to hit up one or two of those. As far as places to just hangout out – really anywhere in downtown or midtown. There are so many murals to just walk around and see or parks – Buffalo Bayou, Discovery Green, Hermann Park. Sometimes I like going to Buffalo Bayou to watch the dogs at the dog park – I’m a true dog person lol.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are sooo many people who have contributed to my success! In an effort to not leave anyone off, I’m going to dedicate my shoutout to my support system – they know exactly who they are! I also want to recognize every Native American girl, adolescent, and woman because, without them, I would not be doing the work that I’m doing.

Website: gabriellesemora.com

Instagram: @gabriellesemora

Twitter: @gabriellesemora

Facebook: @gabriellesemora

Image Credits
Alexis N. Taylor