ISGMH Hosts 5th Annual State of Sexual and Gender Minority Health Symposium

Each year, ISGMH’s State of Sexual and Gender Minority Health Symposium convenes researchers, policy makers, community–based organizations, LGBTQ youth, and community members to discuss the health disparities and resiliency of LGBTQ people. With the theme of “Collective Liberation,” this year’s symposium held on October 18 highlighted collaborative work between the Institute and community organizations, showing how academic-community partnerships are achieving an impact that neither could do on their own. The symposium was sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (ASFP).

Kim Hunt, the executive director of Pride Action Tank, a project of AIDS Foundation Chicago, emceed the event and moderated the keynote and panel discussion.

The opening keynote address was given by Jamie Frazier, executive director of Lighthouse Foundation and lead pastor of Lighthouse Church of Chicago UCC. Highlights from Rev. Frazier’s keynote included the analogy of mycelia to describe the interconnectedness of Black and Brown queer people’s social and community networks. He also focused on lessons learned from the experience of engaging in a community-academic partnership.

Stephanie Skora, associate executive director at Brave Space Alliance, and Dylan Felt, research project coordinator for ISGMH’s EDIT Program, were featured panelists who spoke about the Chicago Area Trans Survey (CATS). CATS is an academic-community collaboration between Brave Space Alliance and the EDIT Program that will survey 30,000 trans people in Chicago and Cook County about their lives, needs, and experiences.