LGBTQ2SIA+ people come from all walks of life, all races and ethnicities, all ages, all socio-economic statuses, all parts of the United States and from all over the world. Recent studies[1][2] tell us that gender diverse people make up 7-9% of the population, which is significantly more than prior, lower, estimates that were likely due to rampant underreporting. Of this vast transgender and gender diverse demographic, Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color continue to experience tremendous discrimination and inequality in healthcare.
The 2023 TransPride YOUniting Health and Wellness Conference perseveres during a time when transgender and gender diverse individuals, particularly young people, are the targets of a coordinated legislative campaign that seeks to revoke their rights to participate in sports as their affirmed gender while also criminalizing and denying critical access to gender-affirming care. This conference rallies against these issues by centering the lives and lived experiences of the transgender and gender non-conforming community. We are striving to bring together not only community members but their families, allies, advocates, educators, and healthcare professionals in a space of mutual learning through shared perspectives and experience.
Building off past years, our theme this year, "Engage, Educate, Advocate'', challenges our professional allies to rise to the task of meeting the community where it is while also raising the voices of the gender diverse community members alongside or above their own. It is also a call to address myths and misinformation through advocacy and peer-reviewed scientifically accurate education. We have actively recruited speakers who are community members themselves, and we encourage all other professional speakers to include community voices or co-presenters in the spirit of "nothing for us, without us". We truly believe that the best new ideas are forged when communities and institutions come together. We are also firm in our belief that the needs of LGBTQ2SIA+ people should always be considered in public health efforts to improve overall health and eliminate health disparities.
Our vision is that all humans exist across diverse spectrums of biological traits, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and other intersectional traits: that anti-racism is the foundation that gender and sexual equality must be built upon. We encourage professionals, to consider the ways in which you can treat transgender, non-binary, other gender diverse, and intersex patients with as much dignity, respect, and clinical competency as cisgender patients.
Through education, dialog, and narrative humility we acknowledge “that our patients' stories are not objects that we can comprehend or master, but rather, dynamic entities that we can approach and engage with, while simultaneously remaining open to their ambiguity and contradiction, and engaging in constant self-evaluation and self-critique.” (DasGupta 2008) Comprehensive, institutional, gender diversity and cultural competency is essential to our goal of treating clients and patients exactly as they wish and deserve to be treated.
Our speakers this year will discuss gender diversity, medical, surgical, social, and behavioral health care needs, affirming voice and communication, affirming physical and occupational therapy, research, legal advocacy, support for schools and education, support for parents and caregivers, best practices, and cultural competencies when working with transgender, nonbinary, and other gender diverse or intersex persons, and/or their caregivers.
[1] Kacie M. Kidd, Gina M. Sequeira, Claudia Douglas, Taylor Paglisotti, David J. Inwards-Breland, Elizabeth Miller and Robert W. S. Coulter - Pediatrics June 2021, 147 (6) e2020049823; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-049823
[2] Kacie M. Kidd, Gina M. Sequeira, Michael J. Mann, Megan L. Smith, Brandon R. Benton, Alfgeir L. Kristjansson - The Prevalence of Gender-Diverse Youth in a Rural Appalachian Region - JAMA Pediatrics Published online August 08, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.2768
The 2023 TransPride YOUniting Health and Wellness Conference perseveres during a time when transgender and gender diverse individuals, particularly young people, are the targets of a coordinated legislative campaign that seeks to revoke their rights to participate in sports as their affirmed gender while also criminalizing and denying critical access to gender-affirming care. This conference rallies against these issues by centering the lives and lived experiences of the transgender and gender non-conforming community. We are striving to bring together not only community members but their families, allies, advocates, educators, and healthcare professionals in a space of mutual learning through shared perspectives and experience.
Building off past years, our theme this year, "Engage, Educate, Advocate'', challenges our professional allies to rise to the task of meeting the community where it is while also raising the voices of the gender diverse community members alongside or above their own. It is also a call to address myths and misinformation through advocacy and peer-reviewed scientifically accurate education. We have actively recruited speakers who are community members themselves, and we encourage all other professional speakers to include community voices or co-presenters in the spirit of "nothing for us, without us". We truly believe that the best new ideas are forged when communities and institutions come together. We are also firm in our belief that the needs of LGBTQ2SIA+ people should always be considered in public health efforts to improve overall health and eliminate health disparities.
Our vision is that all humans exist across diverse spectrums of biological traits, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and other intersectional traits: that anti-racism is the foundation that gender and sexual equality must be built upon. We encourage professionals, to consider the ways in which you can treat transgender, non-binary, other gender diverse, and intersex patients with as much dignity, respect, and clinical competency as cisgender patients.
Through education, dialog, and narrative humility we acknowledge “that our patients' stories are not objects that we can comprehend or master, but rather, dynamic entities that we can approach and engage with, while simultaneously remaining open to their ambiguity and contradiction, and engaging in constant self-evaluation and self-critique.” (DasGupta 2008) Comprehensive, institutional, gender diversity and cultural competency is essential to our goal of treating clients and patients exactly as they wish and deserve to be treated.
Our speakers this year will discuss gender diversity, medical, surgical, social, and behavioral health care needs, affirming voice and communication, affirming physical and occupational therapy, research, legal advocacy, support for schools and education, support for parents and caregivers, best practices, and cultural competencies when working with transgender, nonbinary, and other gender diverse or intersex persons, and/or their caregivers.
[1] Kacie M. Kidd, Gina M. Sequeira, Claudia Douglas, Taylor Paglisotti, David J. Inwards-Breland, Elizabeth Miller and Robert W. S. Coulter - Pediatrics June 2021, 147 (6) e2020049823; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-049823
[2] Kacie M. Kidd, Gina M. Sequeira, Michael J. Mann, Megan L. Smith, Brandon R. Benton, Alfgeir L. Kristjansson - The Prevalence of Gender-Diverse Youth in a Rural Appalachian Region - JAMA Pediatrics Published online August 08, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.2768
