Tuesday November 20th: Transgender Day of Remembrance

A local event marking the Transgender Day of Remembrance will take place Tuesday November 20th, at the Whitman Walker Clinic's 1407 S Street NW site from 6 to 7:30 PM. The event is co-sponsored by Whitman-Walker Clinic, and Transgender Health Empowerment. Metro Weekly has an excellent article up about the Transgender Day of Remembrance. To read it, click here.

Meeting on Transgender Community and HIV/AIDS Research

Here's a quick update on what's happening with the Open Letter on Sex and Gender that many DC HIV/AIDS Research Community Advisory Boards (CABS) co-authored. As you may remember, Jessica Xavier and I had an opportunity to meet with members of the Community Partners on October 12th. The Community Partners is an overarching community advisory board for the Division of AIDS made up of representatives from all six international research networks. Jessica did an amazing job at the ACTION Lunch where we discussed this topic, and it was great to have her at this meeting with Community Partners. Community Partners has formed an adhoc committee to look at this issue. The picture included in this post is Jessica and I with members of that Adhoc Committee. I believe we did a good job addressing their concerns and questions, and I'm hopefull that the Community Partners will be addressing this issue with the Division of AIDS in the future. Thanks to all the CABS that signed on to the original letter for getting the ball rolling. I'll definitely keeping pushing this forward as best I can and keep you all posted as well.

Squidoo: The Transgender Community and HIV in DC

Check out the latest Squidoo page which looks at HIV/AIDS and the Transgender Community in DC. The page includes links to local organizations, some great local pictures. You'll also find a guide to trans men's health, and a guide to trans women's health. Check it out and be sure to bookmark www.squidoo.com/transcommunityandhivindc.

La Clinica Del Pueblo Job Openings

La Clinica Del Pueblo has three job openings. They are looking for a Full Time Transgender Program Coordinator, a Full Time Youth Mpowerment Program Coordinator, and a Patients Accounts Clerks. Check out the links above to find out more about these jobs. La Clinica Del Pueblo provides free, culturally appropriate health services in the Latino community.

Transgender Shelter Access Training

The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness with the support of several community and advocacy groups, is coordinating a Transgender Shelter Access Training on July 11th, 2007 from 9:30am-12:00pm. The training will take place at the Saint Elizabeth Campus, 801 East Building, 2700 MLK Ave SE. This will be an opportunity for individuals working in shelters to build on those skills necessary to address the needs of transgender clients and effectively implement the policy. To read the Transgender Policy document, click here. For more information or to attend the training, please contact Cornell Chappelle.

Last Thursday's ACTION Lunch

We had one of the biggest turn-outs ever for last Thursday's ACTION lunch, where the topic was Transgender Community Involvement in HIV/AIDS Research. As many of you know, the DC Area HIV/AIDS Community Advisory has been working on changing the way the NIH collects data on sex and gender, and I think the lunch took us one-step closer (in a very long process) towards that goal. There were great presentations by Ben Singer, Karin Klingman, and Jessica Xavier (pictured left). To see more pictures from the event, click here. Jessica Xavier is a transgender health researcher who has worked in the HIV/AIDS epidemic since 1984. She earned her Master of Public Health degree at the University of Maryland, and her current interests are transgender epidemiology methods and program evaluation of interventions targeting transgender persons at risk. From 1998 to 2000, she was Principal Investigator for the bilingual Washington, DC Transgender Needs Assessment Survey. Currently she is a co-investigator of the Virginia Transgender Health Initiative Study, a statewide qualitative/quantitative survey of the transgender population of Virginia, implemented by the Community Health Research Initiative of Virginia Commonwealth University for the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia HIV Community Planning Committee. click here to download Jessica's presentation Ben Singer is a PhD Candidate in English at Rutgers University working on an ethnographic dissertation: “On the Medical Margins: Transgender Risk Reduction in Public Health.” Since 1993, he has worked as a consultant and trainer in the public health sector, specializing in reducing health disparities through improving access to culturally competent care. He has consulted on local, state and national levels with the CDC, HRSA, Philadelphia Department of Health, AIDS Activities Coordinating Office, and other health and human service organizations. Ben has applied his knowledge to the successful design and implementation of government-funded projects that includes co-founding the Trans-health Information Project (TIP), a program of Prevention Point Philadelphia and the Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative, with funding by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2002-2004 he served as Director of TIP. In addition to presenting on transgender issues to government and community-based organizations across the country, Ben most recently taught “Transgender Queries in Medicine, Law, Politics and Culture” at Barnard College in New York City. click here to download Ben's presentation. Karin Klingman has been a Medical Officer in the Therapeutics Research Program in the Division of AIDS since 2000. Karin’s work includes protocol development and oversight. Her work has been primarily with the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), but has also included the CPCRA, the HPTN, and the PACTG which is now known as IMPAACT. This topic will be addressed at an upcoming Community Partners meeting, and I hope the Community Partners will submit a recommendation to the NIH so that we can continue to move forward.

Reminder: Join us Next Thursday for the ACTION Lunch

Please join us for the June ACTION (AIDS Clinical Trials Information & Orientation Lunch) on June 14th at 1:00 PM at the DC CARE Consortium. DC CARE is located at 1156 15th Street NW Sweet 500, closest to the McPherson Metro. We will have a panel discussion on Transgender Community Involvement in HIV/AIDS Clinical Research. What are the unique issues transgender trial participants face? How do researchers collect information about sex and gender in clinical studies? Join us for a panel presentation and discussion on transgender community involvement in HIV/AIDS Research. As many of you know, the several DC Community Advisory Boards wrote a joint open letter on Sex & Gender that can be read online at www.aidsvaccine.org . Our goal is to change the way the NIH collects data on sex and gender in HIV/AIDS research to accurately reflect transgender populations and to increase the cultural competency of NIH NIAID DAIDS funded researchers in working with transgender trial participants. I'm thrilled to say we have had a good response to our local DC letter from around the world. What once seemed an impossible goal has become a realistic and achievable goal, though there is still much work ahead. Of the six global networks funded by DAIDS, one (the HIV Vaccine Trials Network HVTN) has already expressed it's support. The Global CAB of the HVTN and the HVTN ethics working group has endorsed the letter. Two of the other six networks will be discussing the letter in the next two months, and the Community Partners (which is comprised of members of all six networks) will also be discussing the letter in the next month. This lunch is an important opportunity to continue the dialogue on sex and gender with the NIH NIAID Division of AIDS, and to learn and share information about transgender community participation in HIV/AIDS research. I hope you can be there! To RSVP for this event, click here. If that link doesn't work (idealist has been acting up lately) you can e-mail me or call 202 223 9550 ext 15.

Today's Transgender Pride Celebration

I had a great time at today's Transgender Pride Celebration. If you would like to see a few pictures from the event, click here. A number of AIDS Service Organizations exhibited at the fair including Us Helping Us, Andromeda Transcultural Health Center, and Different Avenues. And of course, many transgender groups were there including Transgender Health Empowerment, the DC Trans Coalition, and the Transgender Education Association of Greater Washington.

Join me Tomorrow for Transgender Pride

Please join me tomorrow, Sunday June 3rd, for Trans Pride. The transgender fair begins at 1:00 PM at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, 401 I Street, SW. Starting at 7:00 PM there will be dinner, awards, entertainment, and a dance. Tickets for the dinner/dance are $20. click here to buy your tickets.

Training: Improving Access & Outcomes for Transgender Persons

On July 2nd there will be an all-day training in Baltimore entitled "Transgender: Transitioning the Service Environment to Improve Access & Outcomes for Transgender Persons." Continuing Education Credits are available in Nursing and Social Work. This event will be held at the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland (4 East University Parkway, Baltimore) from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. There is a $35 for fee for the event, which is sponsored by the Universxity of MD, Institute of Human Virology, AIDS Education & Training Center, and the Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, AIDS Administration. For more information, click here to download the flyer and registration form.

June ACTION Newsletter Now online

Just a quick note to let you know the ACTION June Newsletter is now online. See the June Newsletter as a PDF file right here. And please be sure to join us for the June ACTION Lunch. We will have a panel of experts discussing Transgender Community Participation in HIV/AIDS Research. The lunch takes place on June 14th and begins at 1:00 PM at the DC CARE Consortium, 1156 15th Street NW, Suite 500. click here to download the flyer for this event. Lunch Provided. RSVP Required. To RSVP, click here.

Protecting Gender Identity and Expression

I just received word about this and I thought I would pass it on. An email update from the Mayor's office read "(Washington, DC) The DC Office of Human Rights (OHR) is working with the Mayor’s Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Affairs, as well as a number of advocacy groups from the District’s GLBT community, to disseminate a newly created fact sheet that summarizes the requirements of the Gender Identity and Expression protection. This information was developed based on the fact that very few businesses and government programs in the District of Columbia are yet aware of the new protected category under the DC Civil Rights Act, as amended. To download the fact sheet, select the link below:" Here is the link to the fact sheet

ACTION June Lunch: Transgender Community Involvement in HIV/AIDS Clinical Research

Please join us for the June ACTION (AIDS Clinical Trials Information & Orientation Lunch) on June 14th at 1:00 PM at the DC CARE Consortium. DC CARE is located at 1156 15th Street NW Sweet 500, closest to the McPherson Metro. We will have a panel discussion on Transgender Community Involvement in HIV/AIDS Clinical Research. What are the unique issues transgender trial participants face? How do researchers collect information about sex and gender in clinical studies? Join us for a panel presentation and discussion on transgender community involvement in HIV/AIDS Research. To RSVP for this event, click here. If that link doesn't work (idealist has been acting up lately) you can e-mail me or call 202 223 9550 ext 15.

Transgender Health Empowerment Job Opportunity

Transgender Health Empowerment is currently seeking a Peer Health Educator/Outreach Worker. The position seeks a qualified candidate to implement Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevention services within the T.H.E. Prevention office to the transgender population. To find out more, click here.

DC HIV/AIDS Research Community Advisory Boards Post Open Letter

Three Washington DC Community Advisory Boards for HIV/AIDS Research have written a joint letter addressing sex and gender data collection in HIV/AIDS research. The letter is being posted online for one month so that interested CABS and community members can sign-on. All sign-ons must be received by May 11th. The letter will then be submitted to the Cross-CAB Working Group for NIH NIAID Division of AIDS (DAIDS) funded HIV/AIDS Research. The three CABs are: The Capital Area Vaccine Effort which serves as the community CAB for the NIH Vaccine Research Center, The Georgetown University Medical Center CAB which is part of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, and the Washington VA Medical Center CAB, which is part of the International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials. Most researchers have come to realize that the term 'sex' refers to birth sex or biological sex; and that the term 'gender' refers to someone's gender identity. This was discussed in detail at the Forum for Collaborative HIV/AIDS Research meeting on Sex and Gender, which I attended back in 2003. I guess I thought that since the meeting was co-sponsored by the CDC and the NIH that we would all be on the same page going forward. Sadly, their continues to be significant discrepancies across networks in how data on sex and gender is collected. All we are really asking is for DAIDS to get their act together and collect data on sex and gender in a consistent and appropriate manner. This is the right thing to do for everyone, but it is particularly important for the transgender community. You can find out more by clicking here. I hope that you will join us by signing on to the letter either as an individual or as an organization.

Transgender Health Empowerment Pageant

I had a great time last night at the Transgender Health Empowerment Pageant and Fundraiser held at Cada Vez. Here I am in the pictured on the left with the amazing activist Ruby Corado. You can see more pictures from the event here. Transgender Health Empowerment (T.H.E.) is a great organization in DC focused on the health and well being of the Transgender (and bisexual, lesbian, and gay) community. Transgender Health Empowerment provides HIV prevention services as well as support services for those living with HIV/AIDS in DC. These services are crucial. In a Washington DC Survey of the transgender community, 25% of all participants self-reported as HIV positive, while 22% said they did not know their HIV status. (The Washington Transgender Needs Assessment Survey. Jessica M. Xavier, Principal Investigator, Gender Education and Advocacy, Inc., Implemented by Us Helping Us-People into Living, Inc., Ron Simmons, PhD., Executive Director, Funded by the Administration for HIV and AIDS of the District of Columbia Government).