In a 2/4/2011 press release, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality announced the publication of “Injustice at Every Turn,” a wide-ranging report which exposes “… the depth of discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming people in a wide range of areas, including education, health care, employment, and housing.”
Information: Click here for the complete press release and links to the report itself.
On Sunday this March 20th, dozens of health and wellness experts and providers will offer free presentations and information on LGBT health matters. It’s at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Albany and it’s completely free of charge. RSVP is necessary and a form can be found on the EXPO website. For updates and more information, or to RSVP, check the RAI Health & Wellness Expo web page.
The Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project, together with local and national sponsors, will hold its fourth LGBTQ family conference on Friday, April 8 through Sunday, April 10, 2011. It will be held at the RIT Inn and Conference Center, 5257 W Henrietta Rd, Rochester, NY. The 2011 Pride and Joy Families Weekend Conference is a unique opportunity for the adults and children in diverse families to experience a sense of community, relax and celebrate together, and find the support and resources they need to lead full, healthy lives. More than 250 from throughout Upstate New York are expected to attend.
A Pre-conference training will be held on Friday, April 8. “Straight Talk About LGBTQ Lives: Working with LGBTQ Individuals and Families in Professional Settings” is expected to attract 80 professionals and students in the fields of medicine, education and other health and human services.
Information: To register and learn more about the conference and provider training day, including opportunities to support the events, please visit www.PrideandJoyFamilies.org or contact Claudia Stallman at lebgayfambldg@aol.com, or call 607-724-4308.
On February 7, the nation will observe the 11th annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the first reports of AIDS in the United States.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, African Americans have been deeply affected by HIV. Black men who have sex with men and black women are particularly at risk. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, blacks make up just 14-percent of the total U.S. population yet represent almost half of those living with HIV and about half of those with AIDS who die each year.
The National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which now guides all federal HIV/AIDS-related efforts and programs, recognizes the disproportionate impact of HIV on African American communities. The strategy promotes HIV testing for at-risk groups and stresses the importance of getting people who are living with HIV into care. Prevention efforts should acknowledge the heavy burden of HIV among African Americans and target programs accordingly.
Federal departments and agencies with HIV/AIDS programs have developed detailed plans to implement the strategy, and are working together on cross-agency initiatives, like the 12 City Project, which supports comprehensive planning and cross-agency response in 12 communities hit hardest by HIV and AIDS. We are also working with our partners outside the government to support the strategy in communities around the nation. It will take all of us working together to put an end to HIV.
Please visit AIDS.gov to read the strategy and to learn how you can join with government, care providers, people living with HIV/AIDS, and others to help your community respond effectively to the HIV epidemic. Together, we can make the strategy real—and protect hard-hit populations, including African Americans, from the threat of HIV.
To learn more visit: www.AIDS.gov ; http://blackaidsday.org/; www.greaterthanaids.org
The SOGIProject
The Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Project at the University at Albany,
School of Social Welfare
presents
A Family is a Family: LGBTQ Foster Care and Adoption Issues
Wednesday, February 9, 4-6 PM
HS106A – Husted Hall Amphitheatre, Downtown Campus, SUNY Albany
This workshop will explore the fostering and adoption of LGBTQ youth as well as the unique role that LGBTQ individuals and couples play in creating families through adoption.
LGBTQ youth are increasingly visible in our families, communities and systems of care. Many of these youth are in the custody of child welfare or juvenile justice agencies. This workshop will review the Child Welfare Best Practice Guidelines in serving LGBTQ Youth in out of home care. We will discuss the success we have at Parsons Child and Family Center’s, Foster Care and Adoption Program, incorporating appropriate supports for this population and their families throughout the range of services we provide.
We will also review the public foster care and adoption process, focusing on building LGBTQ families through adoption. The goal will be to provide the participants with necessary background information and resources to use when working with LGBTQ individuals and couples considering adoption or engaging in the adoption process.
Damarise Alexander-Mann is the Director of Foster Care and Adoption at Parsons Child and Family Center in Albany, New York. She is a graduate of the School of Social Welfare at the University at Albany and her practice experience as a social worker and administrator in child welfare and education frames her interest in public policy for children and families. Parsons Child and Family Center is the largest multi-services agency in New York’s Capital Region dedicated to helping families and their children. Parsons holds to the belief that every child needs a stable living arrangement and should have the opportunity to learn and grow in a loving, caring environment.
Workshop is Free and held at Husted Hall Amphitheatre, Downtown Campus
Please email sogiproject@albany.edu or call 462.6138 (extension 12) to register.
The Gay & Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) invites you and your colleagues to present at their 29th Annual Conference. The GLMA Annual Conference is the ideal place for clinicians, researchers, public health professionals, and policymakers working in the area of LGBT health, to share information about their work and to engage other leaders in the field to advance LGBT health equality. The conference, which will take place September 21-25 in Atlanta, GA, is the world’s largest scientific meeting focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) health.
Information: To learn more about how to submit a proposal, visit www.glma.org.
Why blog?
Why not? RAI is about information sharing – specifically information about LGBT health and human services in the Capital District of New York. We want our friends, family and allies to understand the unique needs LGBT folk have in regard to their health, and we want providers to be culturally competent and responsible in their delivery of services. So we share information that will hopefully improve outcomes for all those involved.
What better place than a blog, eh?
There will be more than 50 educational, entertaining and thought-provoking workshops and forums, featuring an impressive line-up of transgender advocates, educators, medical professionals, authors and friends from our incredibly diverse community. There will be something for everyone and you won’t want to miss a single presentation.
More information is available at www.transeventsusa.org/empire or by calling 610-759-1761.
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