Survivor’s guilt and trauma from surviving the early days of the AIDS epidemic are oftentimes cited as the reasons why HIV long-term survivors experience depression and other mental health symptoms. Now, the experience of living through a second devastating pandemic–COVID-19–is compounding the anxiety, sense of loss, and social isolation faced by some long-term survivors.
“COVID-19 has really brought up a lot of memories of friends dying from AIDS,” said Vince Crisostomo, a long-term survivor and director of aging services at San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “The images of hospitals being overrun–they’re similar to the images we saw in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. The scale of how many people have died is really scary. You just think, ‘Will I make it? Will I survive?”
Activists are calling for additional support to address the evolving mental health care needs of a growing population aging with HIV. This need is specifically called out in the San Francisco Principles, a call for resources and treatment specifically addressing the unmet needs of long-term survivors published by a group of activists including Crisostomo, and a 2021 San Francisco budget request to fund mental health care services for long-term survivors.
The budget request, for $300,000, would fund mental health coordination efforts in order to decrease barriers to accessing culturally competent mental health services.
“We have suffered through isolation and loneliness, the expense of medications and health care visits, declining physical health, untreated substance use and mental health problems, and the damage done to us by early HIV medications. We have been virtually forgotten, shoved to the sidelines by AIDS researchers and service providers, and by physicians who have not been trained to treat the unique problems of surviving with HIV,” said long-time survivor and activist Hank Trout, in an article describing the Principles.
“Many long-term survivors who lived through the early years of AIDS didn’t know whether they were going to live this long,” said Angel Vazquez, health educator with aging services. “Now they’re still here–but have lost relationships, friends, and families. They need to be able to regain a sense of resilience in order to integrate again into the community after COVID-19.”
“You have to keep in mind that people who have been living with HIV for many years also often experience comorbidities from HIV or the early HIV drugs,” said Dusty Araujo, manager of aging services at SFAF. “These additional health problems can really affect someone’s mental health when experiencing yet another pandemic. Especially if they’re more isolated because of COVID-19 and don’t have strong support from family or other loved ones nearby.”
“COVID-19 has affected so many people, from the disabled, to the working class, to people who all of a sudden have found themselves job insecure,” said Michael Rouppet, an activist and long-term HIV survivor. “Everything devolved into chaos. I think COVID-19 really took the mask off and showed how vulnerable we really are–especially for people who are at risk of losing their housing and being evicted. Housing really is healthcare, and it is a component of mental health. Even though we have an eviction moratorium at the moment, what happens once rent becomes due? These issues are all inter-related. Many long-term survivors are experiencing the overlapping effects of COVID-19, housing insecurity, isolation, substance use, and mental health issues.”
Rouppet said that this is one reason why the San Francisco Principles specifically call out the need for on-demand, reasonably-priced (or free) access to mental health care for long-term survivors.
“There’s so much unmet need right now,” said Rouppet. “A lot of people are in crisis. We’re just not meeting the need, and we’re not moving quickly enough to meet the needs of an aging population of people living with HIV. Here I am in my 50s, and I’m looking 20 years ahead to how many of us will still be here that will need these types of services.”
A component of holistic care includes connection to community–one focus of the Elizabeth Taylor 50-Plus Network and aging services at SFAF. Although the group is not specifically a therapy or mental health group, services focus on building the resilience of the aging community.
“Our focus is really on socializing and making sure that people have a positive community they can connect with,” said Crisostomo. “Being happy with your life–because of your social connections–is so important to aging, and living longer. You have to stay connected and get involved, so you don’t become isolated.”
“When people are going through mental health issues and crisis, they might turn to drugs and alcohol,” said Rouppet. “But we need harm reduction resources, to lessen the risk of overdose. We need ways for people to get community support. The opposite of isolation is connection. And that has to be instrumental in getting people back connected to the community.”
Britton Hamilton said, as a trans man, he wanted to become a police officer to help promote change from the inside.
He applied to the New Orleans Police Department in June 2020, and after several exams and a panel interview, he received a conditional job offer in December.
“It was like a dream job,” Hamilton said. “I want to be able to help the community and help people to view police officers differently than how they are feeling now.”
The offer was conditional on him passing a routine medical and psychological evaluation, during which he said the psychologist asked him questions about his transition.
On Jan. 26, he received an email from the police department rescinding the conditional offer “based on a psychological assessment” of his “emotional and behavioral” characteristics.
“It was super, super disappointing, because I prepared myself physically, emotionally for this job,” Hamilton said. “This is the foundation for me and my family.”
Britton Hamilton.Britton Hamilton
In May, Hamilton filed a federal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging hiring discrimination. His attorney, Chelsea Cusimano, said the EEOC has since opened an investigation.
The New Orleans Police Department issued a statement in May.
“The decision not to move forward with the applicant in question did not involve any discrimination against the individual as a member of a protected group,” the statement read in full.
The department declined additional comment.
Hamilton’s experience isn’t unique, said Julie Callahan, a former law enforcement officer in San Jose, California, and the founder of the Transgender Community of Police and Sheriffs, a peer support group for trans law enforcement officers. Trans people face disproportionate employment discrimination generally, and she said law enforcement, which she described as a relatively conservative field, is no exception.
TCOPS is trying to do its part by providing training and policy templates to departments in the hopes that this educational material can help address the biases and misinformation that lead to discrimination. But outside of that, it’s incredibly difficult for trans people to prove they’ve faced hiring discrimination. Even if they can, many can’t afford to take legal action.
Complicating matters is the historically fraught relationship between law enforcement and the LGBTQ community. This has caused some transgender officers — many of whom are trying to address inequities from within — to face pressure from both sides.
“It’s an ongoing issue that we have to address as a society,” Callahan said of the hiring discrimination trans law enforcement officers face. “We’re starting to see agencies that are developing transgender interaction policies with the public, but they’re not developing policies like this for their employees, and we find that ridiculous. You should be doing both, because you’re going to have people from the community working or at least trying to get jobs at your agency.”
‘That’s not equal protection of the law’
Hamilton alleged that the psychologist who did his evaluation asked him questions like, “What were the names of your doctors that performed your surgery? How does your family feel about you being transgender? How does your wife feel about you being transgender?”
“I felt like it was kind of weird because … it doesn’t pertain to the duties of being a police officer at all,” Hamilton said. The psychologist, who is named in Hamilton’s complaint, has not returned a request for comment.
As part of standard procedure, the department asked Hamilton for information about his employment over the last 10 years.
After the psychological evaluation, Hamilton said the department asked for documentation outside of the standard 10-year window related to his honorable discharge from the Army 12 years ago due to medical issues, according to his EEOC complaint. Hamilton provided part of the medical discharge records signed by himself, his commanding officer and a physician stating why he was discharged. The department asked for his complete Army medical record, which Hamilton requested from the National Personnel Records Center for military personnel, according to his complaint. The documents were delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so Hamilton also provided the department with the tracking number for his request.
The department rescinded the conditional offer the day after it requested additional documentation related to his honorable discharge, according to Hamilton’s complaint.
After the department rescinded the offer, Hamilton said he contacted his uncle, who has been a police officer for more than 30 years in Chicago.
“The first thing he said was, ‘That doesn’t even sound right; something definitely is up,’” Hamilton recalled.
After hearing Hamilton’s story, Cusimano said the questions that the psychologist allegedly asked him were red flags.
“I just don’t see, at the end of the day, under any reasonable standard, how you get to ask these questions of protected class members when you’re not asking them of members of the straight community applying for the same positions,” Cusimano said. “That’s not equal protection of the law.”
She also noted that Hamilton applied for the job just a few days after the Supreme Court ruled in June 2020 that LGBTQ people are protected from employment discrimination under federal law. Hamilton’s case, she said, is an evolution of that Supreme Court decision.
“Now that the LGBTQ community is a protected class, what are those protections?” she said. “Acting reasonably, should an employer have understood — and I say, certainly — that those protections extend to the equal hiring process, as well as all processes related to employment?”
‘The phone call never came’
Patrick Callahan, Julie Callahan’s husband, a member of TCOPS and a criminology consultant for the federal government and political groups in Washington, D.C., said he had a similar experience to Hamilton’s.
In 2006, he had a promising interview with an agency outside of Boston. The person he interviewed with “was thrilled” and said he’d call him back that Monday, Patrick Callahan recalled.
“Well, the phone call never came,” he said. “So Tuesday I gave him a call. He wouldn’t take my call. In fact, I was never able to get in contact with him again.”
He said he found out through a friend who knew officers who worked for the department that he wasn’t hired because he’s trans.
“As soon as they got my background check back and saw those female names,” they changed their minds, he said. His friend told him it was “a joke around the department, that some ‘it thing’ wanted to work there.”
Officer Kathryn Winters, the LGBTQ liaison at the San Francisco Police Department, suspects she was the victim of a similar instance of anti-trans employment discrimination, though she was never able to confirm this.
In 2014, she applied to the Denton Police Department in Texas and took its written exam.
“I think I scored in like the top five on the written exam,” she said, noting that the scores are posted publicly. “And then a couple weeks later, [I] received a letter from the Denton Police Department stating that my military discharge form, my DD 214, wasn’t in my background packet. And for that reason, I was being completely disqualified for further consideration.”
She said she and her wife both double- and triple-checked to make sure everything was included in the application packet, including the DD Form 214, prior to its submission. She said “there’s nothing specific to indicate” that she was rejected because she’s trans, but she believes someone may have removed the form from her packet “and that was the reason they gave for not continuing with my consideration.”
A request for comment from the Denton Police Department has not been returned.
There have also been other high-profile cases of alleged anti-trans discrimination by law enforcement agencies. In 2012, Mia Macy, represented by the Transgender Law Center, successfully sued the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after the agency offered her a job as a ballistics technician and then rescinded the job offer after she told them she was trans.
Clinicians ‘may lack the competency’
As lawsuits slowly accumulate and more people transition on the job, the culture within agencies is slowly changing, Julie Callahan said. Throughout its existence, TCOPS has seen more than 500 officers transition, she added. Trans officers have also made headlines over the last few years for being among the first in their agencies.
But supportive policies for current officers and applicants aren’t growing equally across the country. Agencies in bigger cities are more likely to have better policies, Julie Callahan said, meaning more conservative or rural areas might lack basic information about trans people, which can affect whether they’ll hire them at all.
There also aren’t clear, consistent standards across the country for how clinicians conduct psychological evaluations for law enforcement. Michael Roberts and Ryan Roberts, co-owners of Law Enforcement Psychological Services Inc., have evaluated many LGBTQ law enforcement applicants in San Francisco. They said the guidance, regulations and required continuing education for clinicians who conduct evaluations differs by state. California is among the most well-regulated states, they said.
“Police and public safety psychological assessment is a component of a specialty practice as recognized by the APA,” Michael Roberts said, referring to the American Psychological Association, “so this isn’t something that any clinician should be doing without training specific to this.”
There are laws interwoven into the process of doing psychological assessments for law enforcement candidates, such as the Americans With Disabilities Act, which someone could “run afoul of” while evaluating a trans candidate’s medical records, for example, he said.
“It is the case that people are out there — they’re probably not doing it correctly. They may be doing it without specialized training, which they shouldn’t be doing. They might lack the competency to perform the specialty function,” Ryan Roberts said.
A transgender applicant shouldn’t be disqualified simply for having been diagnosed in the past with gender dysphoria — a diagnosis that is often necessary to receive certain medical treatment, according to Michael Roberts.
“You cannot use just the fact that they had gender dysphoria or they attempted suicide five years ago or something like that. That wouldn’t cut it; they have to dig down deeper,” he said.
Given the allegations in Hamilton’s case, he said, it sounds like that’s what the psychologist did.
Julie Callahan said she knows of trans law enforcement candidates who were disqualified for past suicidal ideation, which 81 percent of trans adults have reported experiencing, according to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey.
Many therapists who are evaluating law enforcement candidates “don’t understand that once you’ve dealt with your gender issues, any kind of suicidal ideation has gone away, because you’ve removed the impetus for it,” she said.
‘We’re in an untenable position as transgender cops’
Another barrier to better policy for trans officers and prospective officers is the broader conversation about criminal justice reform, which is happening alongside recent efforts to ban law enforcement at Pride parades, Patrick Callahan said.
Trans people disproportionately face violence and mistreatment from law enforcement, leading advocates to push for reform or, in some cases, for replacing law enforcement agencies with social support services and other community-led, violence-prevention efforts.
According to a 2011 report from the National Center for Transgender Equality, nearly half of trans people reported they are uncomfortable seeking police assistance. More than one-fifth (22 percent) of trans people who had interacted with police reported police harassment, and 6 percent of trans individuals reported they experienced bias-motivated assault by officers. Those rates were higher for Black transgender people: 38 percent reported that they faced biased harassment, and 15 percent reported assault motivated by bias.
Patrick Callahan said most LGBTQ rights groups see trans officers as the “enemy,” and they “don’t speak to us at all,” even though trans officers face the same discrimination and harassment as trans people in other fields.
“They shut us out automatically, because we’ve crossed a line somewhere,” he said. “We are not trans enough anymore. We are not LGBTQ enough anymore … and we get the same from people within the law enforcement community. Right now, we’re in an untenable position as transgender cops. Actually, anybody in the LGBTQ community who is law enforcement, we’re just in a position where we can’t affect change, because we aren’t being allowed to even by the very people that we would most like to help.”
Gay and Lesbian Police Officers march during the Gay Pride Parade in New York, on June 30, 2019.Bill Tompkins / Getty Images file
For Hamilton, things are also moving slowly. Cusimano said it could take up to a year for the Louisiana EEOC to complete its investigation. But Hamilton said the experience hasn’t affected his goals.
“I still want to work in law enforcement,” he said. “At the beginning, I’m not going to lie, I was super, super disappointed, especially disappointed with NOPD. But this is still a dream of mine.”
An investigation has unearthed worrying evidence in the case of Mhelody Bruno, a trans Filipino woman who was strangled to death by a former Royal Australian Air Force corporal.
Bruno died on 21 September, 2019, in Wagga Wagga, Australia after being choked during sex
Her killer, Rian Ross Toyer, 33, initially walked free despite pleading guilty to her death due to a sentencing error.
In March 2021, after outrage from activists that Toyer was allowed to escape a prison term, the judge was forced to reopen the case and ultimately sentenced him to 22 months.
Details about the days before her death, which were not before the judge who sentenced her, reveal that Bruno, 25, was fully clothed when paramedics arrived, had made several out-of-character video calls with an unnamed man the night before she died, and that nurses saw bruises and marks on her body before she died in hospital that were not accounted for or mentioned in the coroners report.
One friend, interviewed by police after Bruno’s death, said that he received a video call from Bruno’s phone the night before she was strangled. A man was “extremely angry and yelling” and saying he would “rape Mhelody and give her AIDS”, the friend told police – but this call, and other messages sent from her phone that night, never made it to the courtroom.
The new information comes from an investigation by ABC News, an Australian media outlet, which also asked a former Supreme Court judge to review the journalists’ findings. He said that in light of the new information, “There is certainly an argument to say that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred here”.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know enough about all the detail, we’re commenting on bits and pieces as it were, but they are all pretty important bits and pieces,” said former Supreme Court Judge Anthony Whealy, who oversaw some of NSW’s most high-profile criminal trials, after reviewing the information gather by ABC.
Whealey continued: “And putting them all together I think at the very least you could say they reveal this was a much more serious manslaughter than the judge envisaged it to be.”
He added: “Has justice been done? Well there must be a question mark over that.”
The court heard during Toyer’s trial that Bruno had not requested to be choked but also that she had not asked for the choking to stop.
oyer lost his job in the air force after Bruno’s death, which Lerve took into account when sentencing him. Toyer also received a 25 per cent discount on his sentence for pleading guilty. In the end, he was sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment for the manslaughter of Mhelody Bruno, 25, whom he killed while engaging in an act of erotic asphyxia.
Superintendent Noble, who runs the Wagga Wagga police station, says police were interested to learn Bruno was found fully dressed but “ultimately a narrative was presented to the court that they had engaged in sex that morning”.
“Ultimately you can only prove what you can prove and you can’t prove what the evidence doesn’t substantiate,” he said.
“That is OK to do as a lay person but ultimately prosecutors and, in this case, [the judge], had to make a finding and a sentence, and inconvenient pieces of information that may be difficult to reconcile in one’s mind don’t necessarily constitute grounds for a different finding.”
Most people associate microdosing with their artist friend who chews on a minuscule amount of mushrooms before painting or the Silicon Valley tech-bro who lists their LSD-laced coffee as the key to their success. Method aside, people say that enhancing their days with a sprinkling of psychedelics lets them be themselves, just better.
Non-binary and transgender people have also adopted microdosing in pursuit of their most authentic selves. Their drug of choice: hormones.
For decades, transgender people have used gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) to alleviate their gender dysphoria. The most common usage has been for transgender people of binary identity who want to transition from masculine to feminine (MTF) or feminine to masculine (FTM). Up until recently, the health care system rooted in Western binary thinking only supported medical transition from one gender to the opposite, A to B.
In more visual terms, there are as many people who disregard the gender binary as the entire population of Miami (about half a million people). And this doesn’t include the transgender people who weren’t included in the survey because of reasons like homelessness or citizenship status.
Microdosing hormones, also called low-dose GAHT, allows many non-binary-identifying people to achieve more subtle characteristics. Taking estrogen for gender feminization will increase breast growth, reduce body and facial hair growth, and soften the skin. Taking testosterone will emphasize gender masculinization in the form of increased muscle mass, deepening of the voice, and facial and body hair growth.
This slow-and-low approach is what drew 22-year old Reddit user, subspacehipster, to start low-dose testosterone GAHT.
They started researching hormone replacement therapy in middle school and familiarized themselves with the expected changes. But the idea of any sort of change scared them.
“I liked the appeal of starting more slowly so that I could better adjust to the changes,” they said. They also knew that they wouldn’t be on hormones forever, making the microdosing option all the more appealing.
Low-dose GAHT itself is not a new phenomenon. Many binary transgender people who begin their transition will start with lower doses of hormones and slowly build up to a full-dose amount that maximizes the development of secondary sex characteristics.
The doctor that subspacehipster saw knew about this type of binary transition. What she didn’t quite understand was non-binary folks transitioning.
“It was just clear that she didn’t get it,” subspacehipster said. She had worked with several binary transgender people whom subspacehipter knew. They were one of the doctor’s first non-binary trans patients.
She wasn’t able to get past equating non-binary to androgynous, which was not the explanation that subspacehipster used, but it was “close enough I didn’t correct her.”
Despite the gap in understanding, they still see the doctor because she respects the dosage that subspacehipster has chosen and hasn’t tried to change it.
It’s rare to find doctors that will support low-dose GAHT because hormone therapy in itself is built to be an all-or-nothing practice in the U.S. healthcare system. Even for providers offering gender-affirming care, the standard set out by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) is based on binary folks interested in fully transitioning.
But that didn’t fit the path that Reddit user Sarah Valentine wanted in their gender-affirming journey. They began considering GAHT as a way to feel more comfortable in their body and thought that low-dose would be a good place to start.
“I quickly found that the health care system in the U.S. was not amenable to that kind of experimentation, with most prescribers unwilling to follow an informed consent model,” they said.
In the U.S., those looking to start hormone replacement therapy must often obtain a letter from a licensed mental health therapist affirming the patient has gender dysphoria. In other words, that they really are transgender. With an informed consent model, the letter is not needed and the individual can seek out gender-affirming care on their terms. New transgender healthcare startups FOLX Health and Plumeemphasize this way of putting the power back into the patient’s hands. San Francisco AIDS Foundation providers with the TransCare program also prescribe hormones based on an individual’s own goals.
Finding a non-binary-affirming therapist alone was a challenge for Valentine. After numerous phone calls, they finally found the person that would write the letter.
The therapist knew how frustrating this type of medical gatekeeping was and just asked one question of Valentine, “Are you transgender?”
“Yes,” they said and the letter of support was signed, sealed, and delivered to the doctor.
In the meeting with their physician, Valentine explained that they were not a binary trans person and not interested in transitioning. Instead, they wanted to be somewhere in the middle.
“I’m more interested in the psychological changes that GAHT can provide versus the physical effects,” they mentioned.
The mental benefits of GAHT are not as discussed as the physical, given the adjacency of this treatment to gender-affirming surgeries. However, for many non-cisgender folks, hormones can relieve the inner anxiety, depression, and frustrations that constitute gender dysphoria.
The dosage for estrogen and anti-androgens that Valentine started on were low enough where there wouldn’t be much significant anatomical change. But mentally, they felt a clear difference.
“The process of thinking my thoughts felt different. I would still have the same thoughts, but the way they would form and move through my consciousness was different,” they said.
Similarly, for emotions, they found themselves experiencing a feeling more often than before. The emotions were also more ephemeral and vivid at the same time, they said. “They had more immediacy to them like they were closer to me than they were before.”
They liken taking hormones to having that first cup of coffee or tea in the morning or putting premium gasoline in their car after having run on the cheap stuff before.
“It feels right, like this is the hormone level I was always designed to run on,” said Valentine.
There’s also a feeling of empowerment that comes with making a decision to take a step in affirming your own gender. There’s risk involved and some of the changes are irreversible, but taking control of your narrative is one of the most powerful actions to support your own identity.
Ultimately, microdose/low-dose GAHT is unique to each individual and the developments they seek in their gender affirmation. One thing to note: Just because the dosage is low doesn’t mean that certain effects won’t happen.
“Low-dose T isn’t some androgynous, less manly version of T,” said subspacehipster.
Transitioning or exploring the gender binary looks different for everyone. Hormones can be part of this journey, but they shouldn’t dictate how “manly” or “womanly” a person is. Now, with increased accessibility to hormones and more transgender and non-binary-affirming providers, trying out GAHT is easier than ever.
Let’s take a moment to celebrate the pansexuals: the wonderful guys, gals and non-binary pals who love who they love regardless of gender.
Pansexuality is part of the Bisexual+ Umbrella, meaning that it’s one of many identities in which someone is attracted to more than one gender.
But how exactly do you define pansexuality, and how is it different from bisexuality or polysexuality?
What does pansexual mean?
Every pansexual’s understanding of their sexuality is personal to them, but in general it means that they aren’t limited by sex or gender when it comes to those they’re attracted to.
The word comes from the Greek word “pan,” which means “all”. But that doesn’t mean pansexuals are attracted to anybody and everybody, just as heterosexual women aren’t attracted to all men. It simply means that the people they are into might identify anywhere on the LGBT+ spectrum.
This includes people who are gender-fluid, and those who don’t identify with any gender at all (agender).
In fact, some pansexuals describe themselves as “gender-blind”, meaning that gender doesn’t play any part in their sexuality; they’re attracted purely to a person’s energy rather than any other attributes.
What’s the difference between pansexual and bisexual?
Good question! Sometimes pansexuality is used as a synonym for bisexuality, but they are subtly different.
Bisexual means being attracted to multiple genders, whereas pansexual means being attracted to all genders. Both orientations are valid in their own right and it’s up to the individual to decide which one fits them best.
Some people assume that bisexual people are erasing non-binary people or enforcing a rigid gender binary, because they believe the word bisexual implies that there are only two genders. We’re happy to inform you this isn’t the case!
The vast majority of bisexual people love and support the non-binary community, and many non-binary people are bisexuals themselves.
The reality is that bi people simply have “the potential to be attracted – romantically and/or sexually – to people of more than one sex and/or gender, not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree,” as advocate Robyn Ochs describes.
What’s the difference between pansexual and polysexual?
The word polysexual comes from the Greek prefix “poly“ meaning “many”, and the term has been around since the 1920s or 30s, if not earlier.
There’s some overlap between pansexual and polysexual, as both appear under the Bisexual+ Umbrella. The key difference is that someone identifying as polysexual is not necessarily attracted to all genders, but many genders.
A good analogy to describe it is how you feel about your favourite colours: a pansexual person might like every colour of the rainbow, whereas a polysexual person might say they like all the colours except blue and green.
But more often than not, those who identify as polysexual tend to ignore gender binaries altogether, especially when it comes to who they are and aren’t attracted to.
It’s worth noting that polysexuality also has nothing to do with polyamory, which is style of consensual relationship, not a sexuality.
What pansexual celebrities are there?
Pansexuality has been around for as long as humans have, but the term is becoming more mainstream as more celebrities publicly identify as pansexual themselves.
Just a few of the big pansexual names out there are Lizzo, Cara Delevigne, Miley Cyrus, Janelle Monae, Angel Haze, Jazz Jennings, Brendan Urie, Yungblud, Nico Tortorella, Courtney Act, Bella Thorne, Joe Lycett, Tess Holliday and Christine and the Queens.
“Pansexuality, to me, means it doesn’t matter about the physical attributions of the person you fall in love with, it’s about the person themselves,” she told PinkNews.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re a man or a woman or gender non-conforming, it doesn’t matter if they identify as gay or not. In the end, these are all things that don’t matter – the thing that matters is the person, and that you love the person.”
What does the pansexual Pride flag look like?
We’re glad you asked. It looks like this:
The pansexual pride flag (Wikimedia Commons)
When is pansexual Pride day?
Pansexual & Panromantic Awareness Day falls on 24 May. It’s a day to celebrate the pan community and educate others on what it means – so you can start by telling your friends it’s got absolutely nothing to do with saucepans.
Miami and Baltimore– Urban Health Media Project reporter Vanessa Falcon, a high school student in Miami, interviewed Arin Jayes, 30, of Baltimore, about his gender identity journey and experience transitioning to a non-binary trans man. Jayes, a behavioral health therapist, is also an urban farmer and embroidery artist.
Q: How was your transitioning process? Was it overall very difficult? Why? How long did it last?
A: As a non binary person, I have a flexible view of how individuals develop their gender identity. It’s something that may evolve throughout a person’s lifetime, based on experiences; changes in personal values and relationships; bodily changes; and other factors. Gender identity also intersects and interacts with many other identities, such as race, ethnicity, physical ability or disability, sexual orientation and class.
For many trans folks, the gender transition process is lifelong and never-ending! Pronouns can change multiple times (hence the “pronoun check” posts we see on Facebook). Similarly, physical changes or adjustments may happen over years, instead of all at once. I mention this before bringing up my own story because it is important to normalize the idea of flexible, changing genders. After all, gender is a social construct designed to categorize people. When we view gender on a continuum, we can recognize a galaxy of gender journeys that a person can take.
My own transition is a prime example. I came out as genderqueer in 2012, and used “they/them” pronouns exclusively. In 2015, after further introspection, I realized that I wanted to live in a more masculine body. I came out to my family and friends as a non-binary trans man, using “he” pronouns and physically transitioning. I made this decision with the understanding that I wasn’t transitioning because I identified as a “man” per se, but that I felt more comfortable in a body that had more masculine characteristics. Since physically transitioning seven years ago, I’ve passed as male about 90% of the time. (Masks can sometimes make passing complicated for trans folks!) When people ask me nowadays what my gender is, I just say “non-binary,” and that my pronouns are “he or they — either as fine.” I am leaning into presenting as femme or as masc as I want on any given day, and being as gay as I want. It can be tempting to present in a way that is more conventionally masculine or feminine, because sometimes it is just easier (fewer questions, comments, or worse). But if COVID-19 has taught me anything, it is that time is not guaranteed, and we must consider what makes life worth living, and embrace it. Every time Pride Month rolls around, I recommit to my true self. But this year it feels all the more important.
Q: Throughout the transitioning journey, many clients are informed of possible negative side effects. Despite hearing about them, you still decided to transition. Why?
A: Deciding to transition was one of the most important and difficult decisions I have ever made. Like many trans people, I didn’t initially know what being transgender meant. I had to do a lot of research, introspection and support group work before I realized that being transgender described how I felt. When deciding whether to physically transition, a person can do research about the changes that they may experience, talk to other people that have gone through similar changes, and seek individual or group therapy for support. I decided to physically transition after weighing my options based on the information that I gathered, the changes that I wanted, and my financial budget.
Luckily, there is a lot of information and help available. Trans folks are resourceful, and do a lot to support and inform our communities. For example, there are numerous databases developed by trans people for trans people that allow you to review different surgeons or healthcare providers; compare photos or results of surgeries; and share resources and educational information about physically transitioning. Many community mental health centers have legal clinics that help people navigate the name and gender marker change process.
One side effect that I didn’t entirely understand until after I transitioned was the significant impact that being transgender has on how we navigate the world. It affects where we go to school and receive healthcare, even which streets we choose to walk down late at night. On a job interview, we often feel the need to consider, “Will people here be accepting of me? Will there be a restroom that I can safely use?” As a white and masculine-adjacent person, my navigation of the world is privileged based on systems of white supremacy. I will not for a second forget the trans women of color who paved the way for us to demand justice; their leadership — and that of their successors in our movements — must be recognized.
Q: Did you have, or do you currently have, any regrets about transitioning?
A: What I think this question is getting at is, “How do you know you’re sure?” This was a question that I asked myself many times as I considered making irreversible (or at least, not easily reversible) changes to my body. My answer to that is: I didn’t truly know it was right until after I did it. That may seem radical or scary. One may ask, “Why on earth would you do something so permanent if you weren’t sure?” But It took a leap of faith. And, as someone who has been there, I can say that if it doesn’t feel right, you know. It is important to trust yourself and your bodily autonomy. Also, if you decide to stop your physical transition, you don’t need to think of it as “de-transitioning.” The path of your gender journey is unique to you. You call the shots.
Q: How has transitioning helped you and your image of yourself? How has it affected your self-esteem and mental health?
A: Much of what is written about trans people focuses on the challenges of being trans. While I said that deciding to transition was one of the most important and difficult decisions I ever made, it was also one of the best ones I ever made. I love being trans! Trans people are unique, creative, and resilient. Trans culture is rooted in grassroots community organizing. It is humbling to think of all the amazing thinkers, writers, and artists who walked this journey. I have had the privilege to meet a lot of amazing trans people who remind me of the power of our community.
Q: What advice would you give to other people who want to follow the path you did?
A: Despite what society tells you about bodies and gender, there are no rules! You don’t have to justify or explain to anyone your decision to transition. You’re in the driver’s seat. Your body belongs to you and no one else. You will live in your body for the rest of your life. Therefore, you get to decide on what terms you will occupy it.
This article is part of our 2021 Youth Pride Issue in partnership with Urban Health Media.
A landmark NHS report has laid bare the concerning health inequalitiesfaced by lesbian, gay and bisexual adults in the UK.
The first-of-its-kind report, published today (6 July) by NHS Digital, is based on data from 1,132 LGB adults who participated in the Health Survey for England between 2011–2018.
The research found that LGB adults are more likely to drink more, smoke more and have worse mental health than the straight population, with worse health outcomes as a result.
Despite LGB adults being 12 per cent less likely to be overweight or obese than straight people, a higher proportion of LGB people (7 per cent) reported “bad” or “very bad” health, compared with heterosexual adults (6 per cent).
The prevalence of limiting longstanding illness was also higher at 26 per cent compared to 22 per cent.
When asked about alcohol consumption, 32 per cent of LGB adults reported drinking levels which put them at increased or higher risk of alcohol-related harm (more than 14 units per week) compared to 24 per cent of heterosexual adults.
A similar trend was found with smoking, with more LGB adults (27 per cent) than heterosexual adults (18 per cent) saying they are current smokers. The proportion of adults who currently smoked cigarettes was highest among LGB women at 31 per cent, and lowest among heterosexual women at 16 per cent.
LGB adults also had lower average mental wellbeing scores on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (48.9) compared with heterosexual adults (51.4), with LGB women reporting the lowest wellbeing scores (47.3).
Sixteen per cent of LGB adults said they had a mental, behavioural or neurodevelopmental disorder as a longstanding condition; the proportion of heterosexual adults reporting the same was significantly lower at 6 per cent.
LGBT+ people continue to face barriers to healthcare in NHS
The NHS Digital’s Chief Statistician Chris Roebuck said: “One of the biggest benefits to collecting and publishing health data is the ability to highlight health inequalities.
“We’re pleased to be able to publish these LGB statistics for the first time, which show important differences in health status and behaviours.”
Campaigners have long highlighted the prevailing gap in healthcare provision for the LGBT+ community, who commonly face barriers not experienced by the straight population.
Back in 2019 a leading advisor on UK public health committee warned a parliamentary committee that the NHS is “absolutely” prejudiced against LGBT+ people, saying that problems largely stem from lack of funding and reporting, improper training and ingrained prejudice.
Queer women in particular often struggle to be heard in healthcare settings, with lesbian and bisexual women’s health said to be “invisible” in the UK discourse.
Last year the LBT Women’s Health Week reported that lesbian, bi and trans women are more likely to experience inappropriate questions or curiosityfrom healthcare professionals, with 8.1 per cent of lesbians, 5.9 per cent of bisexuals, 12.1 per cent of queer cis women and 15.4 per cent of trans women reporting this happening to them in the past year.
LBT+ women are also more likely to experience difficulties accessing mental-health services, with more than half of lesbian, bisexual, queer and trans women saying they found it “not easy” or “not easy at all” to access mental healthcare in the past year.
The same year, a major NHS England report disturbingly appeared to characterise being LGBT+ as a disability, highlighting the continuing ignorance and insensitivity LGBT+ people often endure from health professionals – which in turn leads to fewer doctors’ visits and poorer health outcomes.
With one in ten young LGBT+ people now identifying on the asexual spectrum, many are questioning what asexuality is and how they can be an ally to asexual people.
Put simply, asexuals experience a lack of sexual attraction towards others, but there are many forms of asexuality and it can mean different things to different people.
Sadly asexuals are often overlooked both in and outside the LGBT+ community, and according to a 2019 survey, most British adults can’t even define the term.
But the first thing you need to know is that asexuals are valid – and they’re far more common than you might expect.
What does asexual mean?
Asexuals or “ace” people experience little or no sexual attraction to others and often don’t want any sexual contact at all. It’s not the same as celibacy or abstinence and it’s not a dysfunction either: it’s simply a natural human variation.
Sexual attraction is not necessary for a person to be healthy, and just because asexuals don’t experience sexual desire doesn’t mean they can’t be in relationships or non-sexual partnerships.
The term “asexual” covers a range of subcategories to describe varying levels of sexual and romantic attraction, and many asexuals will have more than one label to describe themselves.
What does the asexual spectrum look like?
Asexuality is a broad spectrum on which many other identities fall. For example, demisexuals only feel physically attracted to someone if they have an emotional bond, while greysexuals are people who do feel sexual attraction but only very rarely, or with very low intensity.
Some asexuals do masturbate and have sex. Their level of attraction can range from sex-averse, meaning they find the thought of sex unappealing, to sex-indifferent, meaning they don’t feel strongly either way, or sex-favourable, meaning they enjoy some aspects of sex even if they don’t experience that sort of attraction.
Many asexuals feel romantic attraction, which is the desire for a romantic relationship with someone, or aesthetic attraction, which is the feeling of being attracted to someone based on how they look.
Some asexuals simply want to touch, hold or cuddle a partner, otherwise known as sensual or physical attraction, while others feel platonic or emotional attraction, which is the desire for an emotional connection or friendship.
What does aromantic mean?
Aromantic people don’t experience romantic attraction toward individuals of any gender and have little or no desire for romantic relationships with others.
Being aromantic is different from being asexual but the two terms can and often do overlap, with many asexuals describing themselves as aromantic as well.
But don’t make the mistake of assuming that aromantic people are unfeeling or uncaring, or that they can’t have relationships. Lots of aromantic people have thriving social lives, and some form special “queerplatonic relationships” for emotional support.
A queerplatonic relationship could involve living together, co-parenting, and sharing finances and responsibilities.
Myths and misconceptions about asexuality
No, they’re not missing out, they’re not broken, and they’re not “waiting for the one”.
In a world dominated by narratives of sex and romance, being asexual can be isolating – especially when you constantly find yourself having to educate others on your sexuality.
“When you’re asexual, people immediately think that you don’t love anyone because what’s the point in a relationship unless you have sex with another person?” asexual Eleanor Wilkinson told PinkNews.
“That really gets me because there are lots of different attractions: sensual attractions, aesthetic attraction, romantic attraction. They all play a part when it comes to your relationships.
“A lot of people would say: ‘Oh everyone feels like that before they’ve had sex,’ almost comparing it to being a virgin or celibacy,” she continued. “People think along those lines. Those are choices but it’s a misconception to think asexuality must be a choice.”
The best way to be an ace ally is to simply believe and accept asexuals when they tell you they’re asexual. Don’t ask intrusive questions about their sex life, and don’t forget to call out ace-erasure and acephobia where you see it.
How is the US doing in its battle to end the HIV epidemic? It’s heading in the right direction but at a slower-than-desired pace, according to a major report issued by the CDC at the end of May. Its conclusion could be summed up in one line: “Hopeful signs of progress in HIV prevention, but gains remain uneven.”
The encouraging news is that HIV infections fell 8% from 2015 to 2019. This is partly due to a big increase in the number of gay men taking PrEP and more HIV-positive people being diagnosed and put on to treatment.
However, to put that in perspective, in the United Kingdom, HIV infections fell by 29% between 2014 and 2018 – and that was before PrEP being made available on its national health service.
In other areas, progress in the U.S. remains slow. Black Americans and Hispanic/Latino Americans remain eight times and four times as likely to be HIV positive than white Americans.
The incidence of HIV dropped for those under 24 and over 45 but remained stable for those between those ages. Clearly, much work remains to be done.
On the campaign trail in 2020, Joe Biden vowed to better President Trump’s aim of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030, saying he wanted to bring it to an end by 2025. In March, Queerty asked several HIV experts whether they thought that was realistic.
Most said it was possible but would take a Herculean amount of effort. Carl Schmid, Executive Director of the HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute in Washington DC, is less hesitant about dismissing such campaign talk.
“[2025] was unrealistic then and it’s unrealistic now,” he states bluntly during a Zoom call. “Sticking to the original 2030 plan is still … that would be a major achievement and it’s going to be very difficult.
“We’ve had Covid, too, since then. But that’s not the only factor. It’s just going to take a long time to find the people, get them into care, keep them on care and treatment and also to ramp up PrEP, but I have to say, we’re on the right path.”
Schmid is gay. He lives in Washington DC with his husband, Alejandro Barrera. He’s been working in the field of HIV for the past 20 years. This includes as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS from 2007-09 and chairing its Domestic Subcommittee. He spent 16 years as a senior figure within the AIDS Institute and was co-chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS under President Trump.
Schmid highlights promising signs among the latest CDC report, including an increase in the number of HIV-positive people in the US who are now undetectable (up from 60% to 66%). This means they cannot pass the virus on to others. He also says the falling number of young people acquiring HIV is a significant step in the right direction.
“I do think the younger generation knows more [and] hears more about HIV, and particularly PrEP. I think a couple of years ago, fewer younger people were aware of PrEP, and now more and more are.”
What’s without a doubt is that more money is needed to help continue the battle: particularly when it comes to tackling health inequalities.
Schmid points out that President Trump wanted Congress to approve a budget last year of $761million to help bring HIV in the US to an end. Congress rejected it.
“Biden’s numbers for this year don’t even meet what Trump proposed last year. We need the continued funding to make sure we reach those goals. So … we’ll see.”
Although Trump wanted to spend more money, many would argue as to whether that equates with him doing more to end HIV. Advocates in the field – including Democrat lawmakers – were highly critical of Trump’s budget plans to cut billions of dollars from programs such as Medicaid, food stamps, and Medicare.
Biden’s plan, on the other hand, includes a $46 million increase for the Ryan White CARE Act, which helps low-income and uninsured people access HIV medications, and a $20 million boost for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with HIV/AIDS (HOPWA).
Schmid knows that tackling inequality will be a major hurdle in bringing HIV under control.
“We need to make sure that more of the funding is targeted at these communities who are impacted,” he says. “It is not just an HIV problem. It is a race and equity problem, and I have to say, that issomething that’s a priority for President Biden and his administration. In fact, one of his first executive orders was to direct government agencies to look at those issues and how they can be improved.”
Schmid says the reasons for those inequalities are multifold and cover everything from sex education to health providers.
“Why is PrEP lower in certain communities?’ Schmid asks aloud. “Well, maybe those doctors, who may be Black and Latino, are not offering PrEP. They don’t discuss PrEP.”
Schmid says that when providers discuss HIV testing and PrEP, they should be treating everyone the same.
“Here in the United States, we have routine HIV testing. It should be color blind. It should be everythingblind. Everyone should be offered it and we’re missing a lot of cases because doctors are not offering it. So it’s a workforce issue as well.”
Posed by models (Photo: Shutterstock)
If there’s one silver lining to the Covid pandemic, it’s helped health providers explore new ways of delivering healthcare. Some of these may help when it comes to HIV. There’s already been talk of the Moderna coronavirus jab being used to help develop a vaccine for HIV.
Schmid also points to the way members of the public have been prompted into self-testing. Because of this, they may be more willing to order mailing HIV kits or make use of tele-PrEP services.
“Certain states, you can get PrEP without a doctor’s prescription for the first 30-60 days. Three states have already passed that,” says Schmid, highlighting another innovation that might help if rolled out nationally. He also thinks the introduction of long-acting treatments – HIV medications and PrEP (both of which are undergoing trials or pending FDA approval) – will also help.
“Persistence adherence are problems both with treatment and PrEP. Particularly for PrEP.
“When you have HIV, you’re living with an infectious disease and so you’re conscious about it and conscious of how it impacts other people and your own health, and so there’s a stronger desire, perhaps, [to take the medication]. But for PrEP, you’re taking a drug to prevent a potential infectious disease, and if you have to take it every single day … we’re seeing a lack of persistence.”
He believes a long-acting form of PrEP, such as an injection once every two months, would be a “game-changer”.
June marks the 40th anniversary of the first cases of AIDS being reported by the CDC. Schmid, who was born in 1960, says he started to hear about HIV in his 20s, and “lost a lot of friends, lovers and over that time.”
He says it is amazing how things have changed for the better, and how it is now possible to live a normal lifespan with HIV. However, he acknowledges that “people still die”, and one thing that remains is the stigma.
Schmid praises Billy Porter who recently revealed he was living with HIV: Information he’d kept secret for 14 years. “He is a well-known celebrity. He exudes confidence, but inside, couldn’t share this very important [information] … It just shows there’s still so much stigma and shame.”
“Lots of friends of mine didn’t tell their family members,” he remembers. “They were ashamed. They didn’t tell their friends that they were living with HIV. There was so much stigma and shame back then, but there’s still so much stigma and shame. I think it’s less, with people talking about PrEP these days, but a lot of people I know are still not talking about their HIV status.”
Over 180 LGBTQI and allied community organizations have signed on to an open letter to health leaders calling for an end to the invisibility of LGBTQI people in health data. Community leaders ask for data collection in health records, research, surveillance, clinical trials and more. They provide sample measures and urge health leaders not to wait further before making LGBTQI health data collection routine.
The letter particularly calls out the lack of data related to COVID-19 impacts but notes how that builds on a foundation of major data gaps for most disease areas. The signers note the decades-long history of advocacy about ending invisibility for the LGBTQI communities, including how for years ACT-UP rallied around the slogan “Silence = Death”. “At the same time that we’re tripping over corporate pride merchandise in stores, it’s aggravating to know the health world is forcing us to stay in the closet,” says Dr. Scout, the Executive Director of the National LGBT Cancer Network. “Until we’re allowed to come out on health forms, key information like how many of us get COVID-19 or cancer every year will never be known.”
“Reliable, nationwide data on sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status is critical to identify the health, economic status and well-being of communities that are still misunderstood, marginalized, and subjected to discrimination,” says Daniel Bruner, Whitman-Walker’s Senior Director of Policy. “And acknowledging sexual and gender diversity in surveys and questionnaires assures us that we are seen, and respected as full members of the community.”
The letter was initiated by a group of organizations convening as the National LGBTQI Health Roundtable, including Whitman Walker Institute, The National LGBT Cancer Network, Fenway Health, Howard Brown Health, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, Center for American Progress, and more. The full text is included below and can be found online at this link: https://cancer-network.org/ending-the-invisibility-organizations-call-for-routine-lgbtqi-data-collection/. ###The National LGBT Cancer Network works to improve the lives of LGBTQ cancer survivors and those at risk by educating the LGBTQ communities about our increased cancer risks; training health care providers; and advocating for LGBTQ engagement in mainstream cancer organizations. We lead one of eight CDC funded national tobacco and cancer disparity networks and frequently educate about the need for LGBTQI health data collection to effectively monitor cancer disparities. Learn more at cancer-network.org.
The Whitman-Walker Institute is one of the country’s premiere organizations focused on advancing the health and wellbeing of people facing barriers to quality care, particularly LGBTQ people and people living with HIV, through the strategic integration of clinical expertise, research acumen, quality education and policy change. The Institute endeavors to remain grounded in community by seeking feedback and promoting ideas that reflect the lived experiences and identified needs of those we serve. The Institute conducts cutting edge research and engages in evidence-based education and policy advocacy to end the HIV epidemic, eliminate health disparities, and promote wellness and resiliency. Through such work, we empower all persons to live healthy, love openly and achieve equality and inclusion.
END THE INVISIBILITY An Open Letter to Health Leaders: In the 1950s and 1960s, brave, pioneering LGBTQI+ advocates such as Barbara Gittings, Marsha P. Johnson, Frank Kameny, and Sylvia Rivera took great personal risks to break the oppressive silence around human sexuality and end our invisibility. In the 1980s, ACT-UP protested government inaction regarding HIV/AIDS with the slogan “Silence = Death.” This Pride month, we, a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) health serving organizations and our allies, again call for an end to oppressive silence and invisibility in public health. We urgently call for routine collection and reporting on sexual orientation, gender identity, and variations in sex characteristics (also known as intersex status) (SOGISC) whenever demographic health data are collected.
We know almost nothing about COVID-19’s impacts on LGBTQI+ communities. We have a dearth of data on the impact of heart disease, cancer, tobacco use, diabetes, substance use, and any number of vital health issues on LGBTQI+ people. And we have almost no population-based data on intersex populations in the US. We need to be collecting voluntary SOGISC data from patients throughout every level of our health system. The failure of health institutions to routinely collect SOGISC data puts us at risk.
Thus SOGISC should be collected in the following places: ● Every electronic health record; ● Every insurance application; ● All research studies; ● All clinical trials; ● All health laboratory tests; ● Across all public health surveillance: including surveys, disease, and mortality reporting; this can be addressed via the $500 million CDC Data Modernization Initiative; ● Across COVID-NET, a network of 100 large hospitals reporting on COVID-19 care; and ● As required measures on the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, where the optional SOGI module used by 40 states provides the largest source of health data on LGBT people today.
We have years of experience in collecting information from our LGBTQI+ patients and colleagues, as do many health systems, local and state agencies, and their counterparts in many nations around the world. Here is a set of measures that have been widely tested and are currently being recommended by community experts. Funding is needed to test enhanced measures but the value of adding tested measures immediately has been amply demonstrated.
We are heartened by the increasing number of organizations recognizing Pride month but we want to be very clear: if you truly value our lives, collect our data. Signer list: National LGBT Cancer Network National Black Justice Coalition Equality Federation CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers National Center for Transgender Equality National LGBTQ Task Force The Trevor Project Transgender Law Center Whitman Walker Institute Transhealth Northampton interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth Movement Advancement Project Center for American Progress The Fenway Institute Howard Brown Health The Center for LGBTQ Health Equity of Chase Brexton Health Care Callen-Lorde Community Health Center Families USA Human Rights Campaign GLAAD SAGE GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund Advocates for Youth1Hood Power African American Office of Gay Concerns AIDS Foundation Chicago AIDS Resource Alliance Alaskans Together For Equality Alder Health Services All Under One Roof LGBT Advocates of Southeastern Idaho American Trans Resource Hub Arizona Trans Youth and Parent Organization Association of Transgender Health Nurses Atlanta Pride Committee Aunt Rita’s Foundation BiNet USA Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center Brooklyn Community Pride Center California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network CAMP Rehoboth Community Center CANDLE Cascade AIDS Project Center for Black Equity Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR) Center on Halsted Centre LGBTQ Support Network Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group COLAGE Community Catalyst Compass LGBTQ Community Center CRUX LGBTQIA+ Climbing DBGM, Inc. Dolan Research International, LLC EDIT Program, Northwestern Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH) ENC – Equality NC Equality California Equality Florida Equality Illinois Equality Michigan Equality Nevada Equality New Mexico Equality Ohio Equality Texas Equality Utah Erie City Mayor’s LGBTQIA+ Advisory Council Erie County Democratic Party LGBTQIA+ Caucus Erie Gay News Fair Wisconsin Fairness Campaign FORGE, Inc. Garden State Equality Gay City: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center GenderNexus Georgia Equality Georgians for a Healthy Future GLAA Great Lakes Bay Pride Guilford Green Foundation & LGBTQ center Health Equity Alliance for LGBTQ+ New Mexicans Henderson Equality Center HIV Medicine Association Hudson Pride Center Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation Identity Indiana Youth Group (IYG) Interfaith Voices for Reproductive Justice (IVRJ) Justice in Aging Lancaster LGBTQ+ Coalition Legacy Community Health LGBT Center of Greater Reading LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland LGBT Elder Initiative LGBT Technology Partnership & Institute LGBT÷ Center Orlando LGBTQ Center of Bay County LGBTQ Center of Bay County Lighthouse Foundation Live Out Loud Lyon-Martin Health Services Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition MassEquality Mazzoni Center Medical Students for Choice Modern Military Association of America National Black Justice Coalition National Center for Lesbian Rights National Equality Action Team (NEAT) National Health Law Program National Working Positive Coalition New York Transgender Advocacy Group NJ LGBTQ Democrats NWPA Pride Alliance Oklahomans for Equality Dennis R Neill Equality Center One Colorado ONE Community one-n-ten Onslow County LGBTQ+ Community Center Out and Equal Out Boulder County OUT MetroWest Out To Innovate OutCenter of Southwest Michigan OutFront Kalamazoo Outright Vermont Parity Pennsylvania Equality Project, Inc. PFLAG Greensburg PFY – Long Island Crisis Center PGH Equality Center Phoenix Pride Pizza Klatch Pride Action Tank Pride at Work Pride Center of Staten Island Pride Center San Antonio Pride Community Services Organization PROMO Rainbow Rose Center Rescue I The Behavior Change Agency Resource Center Ricky’s Pride Rockland County Pride Center Sacramento LGBT Community Center Safeguarding American Values for Everyone (SAVE) SAGE Metro Detroit San Diego LGBT Community Center Secular AZ Silver State Equality SOJOURN Southwest Center The Center on Colfax The Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group The Cranky Queer Guide to Chronic Illness The DC Center for the LGBT Community The Frederick Center The LGBTQ Center Long Beach The LGBTQ Community Center of Southern Nevada The Montrose Center The Pride Center at Equality Park The Pride Center of New Jersey The TransLatin@ Coalition Trans Empowerment Project TransFamily Support Services Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico TransOhio TriVersity – The Pride Center True Colors United University of Nevada, Las Vegas Vivent Health Washington AIDS Partnership Washington County Gay Straight Alliance, Inc. Waves Ahead and SAGE Puerto Rico Waves Ahead Puerto Rico Wellness AIDS Services, Inc. William Way LGBT Community Center Woodhull Freedom Foundation Zebra Coalition
