POZ Q+A BY TRENT STRAUBE
After an HIV diagnosis, Dey Armbrister found strength on the dance floor. Inset: Armbrister appears in New York state’s “HIV Stops With Me” campaign.
Whether he’s pole dancing or leading Impulse Group NYC, Dey Armbrister builds community.
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DVOCATES WEAR A LOT OF HATS. THIS ONE HAS A LOT OF names. As the new president of the HIV nonprofit Impulse Group New York City, he’s Dey Armbrister. As a pole dancer with poetic swag, he’s Dey Phoenix. And appearing as a friendly face in the “HIV Stops With Me” public service campaign throughout New York state, he’s simply Dey. (In case you’re curious, Dey is short for DéShaun.) The multifaceted 31-year-old wasn’t always such an outgoing champion of sexual health, especially during the challenging period in college following his HIV diagnosis. But, as he tells POZ, he took his problems to the dance floor, and an activist and community leader was born.
Tell us about Impulse Group NYC.
Impulse Group is a nonprofit volunteer organization funded by AHF [AIDS Healthcare Foundation]. Basically, the group engages, supports and builds community within the queer community. There are 25 chapters globally and 11 spread throughout the U.S. It was founded by Jose Ramos, the history goes, with seven friends in a kitchen having conversations about all types of things and then wanting to bring that connection to the community. NYC is one of the 25 chapters. We’ve been active for six years. Our chapter most recently has touched base more with the AfricanAmerican community, and Latinos to a degree. But at its core, we are for the whole spectrum of our gay community. We basically put on a number of different events, from panel discussions and fundraisers to aromatherapy and massage therapy [events] to promote self-care.
4 POZ APRIL/MAY 2021 poz.com
The first event I attended was a Fire Island pool party in 2016. Then I volunteered in 2019 for an event called Party for a Purpose, to raise money for two local nonprofits. Then I became the director of advocacy. I would identify what topics were pertinent to discuss, and then we would “impulsify” them and bring them to the community through events. We touch on a variety of topics from sexual health and HIV to body positivity and mental health. And I just got elected as president of Impulse Group NYC for 2021–2022. One event we consistently do is a T7 dinner, short for Table for Seven, which goes back to the original seven members of Impulse. That event stays consistent, at least in NYC. We invite community members to a dinner-type setting—but because of COVID, that changed. We had a virtual brunch and provided Seamless gift cards and had breakout sessions for topics. For 2020, we couldn’t engage people in person for our Party for a Purpose
(ARMBRISTER) COURTESY OF DEY PHOENIX/KIRI WAWATAI; (CAMPAIGN IMAGE) COURTESY OF HIVSTOPSWITHME.ORG
SERVING SEXUAL HEALTH