voices
Analysis and insight from the Center’s staff on current issues and events facing our community
DR. ROBERT BOLAN
JON IMPARATO
Medical Director
Director, Cultural Arts and Education
The Center, with AIDS Project Los Angeles, is co-sponsoring a California bill (AB 2640) that would ensure people who test negative for HIV receive information about methods that reduce the risk of contracting HIV, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Bolan explained why the legislation is needed as published on Advocate.com Excerpt: “Alarmingly, there are still many medical providers who aren’t familiar with two very effective methods to protect against HIV infection: PrEP and PEP. There are also those who refuse to discuss or recommend PrEP for moralistic reasons, just as some doctors refused to prescribe the birth control pill in the 1960s. “Frankly, a law like this shouldn’t be necessary, but unfortunately it is—especially when the world’s largest AIDS service organization, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, actively campaigns against the use of a pill for PrEP that, when taken daily, has proven to be 99 percent effective at preventing HIV infection.” Read the entire article at: bit.ly/LGBTprep
Imparato spoke to Frontiers about the third year of CineArte, a showcase of LGBTQ, two-spirited, Latin@, Chican@, and indigenous identities through film and visual art held at The Village at Ed Gould Plaza. Excerpt: “There are many film festivals in Los Angeles, but only a fraction of them are specifically for people of color. CineArte showcases the vision and voices of artists who don’t receive the recognition they deserve. Considering the large Latina/o population and influence in L.A., the creation of CineArte was inevitable. “The flip side of that conversation is the lack of LGBTQ filmmakers of color. There are very few people who are out filmmakers in Hollywood, and considering the rich stories we have to tell about the LGBTQ communities of color, it’s criminal that queer filmmakers of color are left in the dark.”
Read the entire article at: bit.ly/LGBTarte
DRIAN JUAREZ
AMANDA WALLNER
Program Manager, Transgender Economic Empowerment Project
Policy & Operations Manager, Public Policy
Juarez discusses the misunderstood aspects of gender identity with high school students at Harvard-Westlake School, Los Angeles, as reported in the school’s online newspaper The Chronicle:
Wallner discusses the Center’s 360 health and wellness conference for LBTQ women on The Out Agenda, highlighting the need for community-specific access to health care.
Excerpt: “We grow up believing ‘male’ and ‘female’ are the only normal relationships and that ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ are the only normal identities. So once we see things that don’t align with those concepts, we perceive them as abnormal and different. It really sets up the idea that heterosexism is normal and everything else isn’t. “I believe the future is fluid. I believe it will be about doing away with pronouns and gender cues like guys wearing flats and girls wearing heels. I think that is going to be blown out of the water and instead be about accepting each other for who we are— regardless of the language we use to describe ourselves.”
Read the entire article at: bit.ly/LGBTgender
Excerpt: “LBTQ women face a lot of health disparities compared to heterosexual populations. They are more likely to use substances, such as drugs and alcohol. And they’re more likely to smoke, which puts them at a high risk for certain things such as heart disease and different types of cancer. They’re less likely to have a regular doctor, which is one of the reasons we make sure we have people at 360 who can connect women to care. “The conference is an opportunity for LBTQ women to put themselves first and focus on some of the things that may put them at a higher risk. It’s a really big issue for our community. Many times LBTQ women do not seek out health care because they are worried about facing discrimination.”
Hear the full interview at: bit.ly/LGBT360
Summer 2016
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