UofL’s LGBT Center celebrates Pride by creating LGBTQ+ friendly trainings

October marks UofL’s Pride Month, a collective time of effort to encourage students, faculty and staff to learn more about LGBTQ+ history and services on campus that act in allyship with a united Cardinal Community. October is also LGBTQ+ History Month which celebrates past civil rights wins and focuses energy on dismantling obstacles affecting individuals who are LGBTQ+ or gender nonconforming. The LGBT Center at UofL has assembled a full month of programming to provide affirming education and support services, including two major keynote events on UofL’s Belknap and Health Sciences Center campuses.

Belknap Pride Month Keynotes and Inaugural Black Queer Theory Symposium

The LGBT Center on UofL’s main campus will host its inaugural Black Queer Theory Symposium.

“If we are truly wanting to create a space for all then we have to have intentional conversations about race, about gender, about sexual orientation. If we don’t, we are leaving others behind and that is not progress,” said Byron Terry, director of the LGBT Center at UofL’s Belknap Center. “Liberation doesn’t stop when people that share the same identities as you achieve what they need. Liberation focuses on the most marginalized identities and centers them in the movement. We know that when we create space for the most marginalized, we create space for everyone.”

Speakers addressing different topics from the lens of Black Queer Theory will take part in the three-day event from Oct. 18 to Oct. 20. Marlon Bailey, a professor from Washington University in St. Louis, and E. Patrick Johnson, a professor from Northwestern University and Love Thy Belly L.L.C. will present respectively each evening of the symposium. The symposium offers UofL students, faculty and staff the opportunity to come together and learn more about the intersection between race, gender and sexual orientation.

To register for the Black Queer Theory Symposium sessions, visit UofL’s events calendar. For more information about The LGBT Center at UofL’s services and training visit louisville.edu/lgbt.

HSC Pride Month Keynote and Affirming Healthcare Series

Laura Minero, is this year’s Pride Month Keynote and LGBTQ+ Affirming Healthcare Series Session Speaker. Minero’s topic “Personal Pathways to 2SQT+ BIPOC Liberation: Providing Cultural Responsiveness, Anti-Racist and Affirming Clinical Care” will highlight evidenced-based methods to support LGBTQ+ youth, their families and LGBTQ+ adult clients, while also carrying an understanding of the intersectional experiences of LGBTQ+ people of color. The event is hosted by The LGBT Center, along with UofL’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Health Sciences Center. Attendees can register online before October 18th at 5 p.m. Individuals who’ve signed the general LGBTQ+ Affirming Healthcare interest form, still need to register to join the session.

The LGBTQ+ Affirming Healthcare Series was created using evidence-based best practices to better equip future health care workers with the skills needed to affirm, advocate and improve the health outcomes of LGBTQ+ patients. Health care providers have the unique opportunity to provide support for LGBTQ+ patients and youth while they’re vulnerable to questions about their sexual orientation and gender identity, making provider affirmative training crucial to preventing negative consequences to patient health outcomes. When considering LGBTQ+ identity and age, for example, findings from The Trevor Project indicate that LGBTQ+ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers, with the highest rates documented among Native American/Indigenous LGBTQ+ Youth. The series’ November session will discuss how to reduce the risk of suicide in our LGBTQ+ community with “Preventing Suicide and Promoting Well-Being for Gender and Sexually Diverse Populations” facilitated by Sara M. Williams.

“While the series is specifically designed for health care students, health advocates, and practitioners, the series is open to all who are interested in addressing the significant health disparities faced by the LGBTQ+ community,” said Lisa Gunterman, director of the LGBT Center at UofL’s Health Sciences Center. “Participants can either participate in individual sessions, according to their interests or work toward earning a Certificate of Completion.”

The series, funded by LGBT Center donors and supported by academic partners, is free to participants. Continuing Education credits are also offered, when possible, to dentists, nurses and physicians.

To learn more about The LGBTQ+ Affirming Healthcare Series at UofL, register for a session or work toward a series certification visit The LGBT Center at UofL’s website for more information.