RI’S TRANS
HEALTH
CONFERENCE by Ethan Huckel photos by Melissa DaSilva
Resistance and Resilience was the theme of the 4th Annual Rhode Island Trans Health Conference, held on April 28 at Rhode Island College (RIC). Co-sponsored by Warren Alpert Medical School, RIC’s School of Social Work, and TGI Network of Rhode Island, the conference is designed to provide continuing education to medical and behavioral health providers so that they may better serve the transgender population while also providing community-building and educational space for transgender community members and their allies. Beautiful spring weather served as the backdrop for the day, as hundreds of conference attendees wandered RIC’s campus, attending sessions in four different buildings. RIC professor and conference planning committee member Dan Harvey opened the conference with a welcome to all attendees. Justice Gaines delivered a powerful keynote address that focused on providing compassionate care to all patients, even those with whom providers cannot relate nor understand. Gaines referenced the conference’s theme when ze* said that zir existence was itself an act of resistance. Ze, however,
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went on to describe zirself as the kind of transgender person that providers, and cisgender people broadly, are comfortable with, because of zir ivy-league education and manner of putting people at ease, but ze spoke largely on behalf of those who may not have the same privileges ze does. The address centered the experiences of the most marginalized, and provided allies in the room with a simple reminder to act first with compassion and then trust that transgender people know themselves best. After the keynote address, medical providers, behavioral health providers, and community members proceeded to separate tracks for the day, and convened for lunch and a mid-day poetry performance by Elias Evander, a member of the 2017 Providence National Poetry Slam team and finalist at the 2017 Capturing Fire Queer Poetry Summit. Eva Dayon, chair of the community track planning committee, explained, “The medical and behavioral health tracks and the community tracks of the conference have different goals. We know how important it is to our local community that we build a robust network of
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providers who are prepared to offer competent and affirming care, and the provider tracks are designed with that goal in mind. The community track, on the other hand, is designed to offer a variety of learning and communitybuilding opportunities to bring local community members together.” Another planning committee member noted that isolation and loneliness are ongoing problems for the transgender community, despite many recent gains in access to care, and that the conference aims to help combat that issue. Over the last four years, the conference has grown dramatically in the number of attendees and the sessions provided. In its first year, the entire conference occupied only two rooms; this year, it spanned four buildings. Conference planners say they plan on continuing to grow the conference each year to better serve community needs. Planning for the 2019 conference will begin right away and new volunteers to the planning committee are welcome. Email transhealthri@ gmail.com for more information. *Ze and zir are gender neutral pronouns used in place of she/he and her/his.
Michelle Paliotta, LICSW
Daniel Harvey, MSW, LICSW gives opening remarks