Tag Archives: Transgender

5 Things You Can Do on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

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Photo: Thinkstock.com

May 17, 2012 is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). The date was selected to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. Since then, the LGBT community has come a long way; but we still face many health, economic, and legal/social barriers, as well as alarmingly high levels of bias-driven violence.

Here at Fenway, we see first-hand how homophobia and transphobia negatively impact the health and well-being of LGBT people. Here are five ways you can participate in the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia to make sure it continues to get better for the LGBT community:

  1. Spread the Word through Social Media Link to this post or the IDAHOT website on Facebook or Twitter. Tweet your support for the LGBT community using hashtag #IDAHOT. Write your own blog about IDAHOT and share it on Tumblr. Snap a photo of yourself holding a pro-LGBT sign for Instagram. Make equality go viral!

  2. Contact Your Elected Officials  Write your elected officials and ask them to support LGBT-inclusive legislation and oppose legislation that is homophobic or transphobic. Let politicians know you support protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans from employment discrimination and domestic violence. Tell them your community matters, and your vote matters.

  3. Give Back to the LGBT Community Donate to your favorite LGBT causes. If you can’t donate money, donate time. Philanthropy and volunteering can be both fun and rewarding.

    At Fenway, we can’t wait to celebrate Boston LGBT Pride with supporters who will help us build our float and march with us. We’re also looking forward to the Boston Spirit Summer Cruise—100% of the ticket sales benefit our work for LGBT health and our supporters get to enjoy a great party.

  4. Share Your Story Let others know how homophobia or transphobia has affected you. You can help your friends and family understand how anti-LGBT bias negatively impacts people they know and love.

  5. Listen to Someone Else’s Story Homophobia and transphobia impact us all differently. If you are a cisgender man or woman, educate yourself about the challenges faced by trans members of our community. If you are an LGBT adult, do something that benefits the youth in our community—who face much higher levels of harassment and homelessness than their heterosexual peers. As we work to open other people’s minds, we should see where there’s room to grow ourselves.

And remember, you can take these steps against homophobia and transphobia not just today but every day! 

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Recapping The Women’s Dinner Party 2012

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The Fenway Institute's Dr. Judith Bradford, Love Award Winner Urvashi Vaid, President & CEO Dr. Stephen Boswell, Board Chair Stewart B. Clifford, Jr., Director of Women's Health Dr. Jennifer Potter, and Dinner Party Co-Chairs Aimee Van Wagenen, Theresa Murray, and Gina Savageau. Photo: Marilyn Humphries

Thanks to everyone who helped make The Women’s Dinner Party a success!

Urvashi Vaid accepting the Dr. Susan M. Love Award from Dr. Judith Bradford.

All together, we raised over $375,000 in cash, pledges and in-kind support for Fenway Health’s life-saving services and programs for LGBT people.

None of this would be possible without our supporters, sponsors, and the countless others who worked tirelessly to make this night happen.

Dr. Susan M. Love Award honoree Urvashi Vaid made a powerful call to the lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women in the audience to ensure that leadership positions in the LGBT movement are more fully reflective of the diversity of our community. Vaid, who has been an activist in LGBT and other social justice movements for nearly three decades, urged the women in the audience to “step up and step out politically and philanthropically.” The Rainbow Times has great coverage of the evening and Vaid’s remarks.

Later in the evening, we shared this amazing video of Fenway supporters, staff, and patients celebrating Fenway’s work and the diversity of the community it serves.


Photographer Marilyn Humphries captured great shots of the show and later dancing to DJ Mocha. Also, Studio SMC set up a photo booth where guests posed for some memorable images.

Mayor Tom Menino may have said it best when he addressed the crowd at the beginning of the evening, “This isn’t the ‘Women’s Event’—It’s The Women’s Dinner Party!”

Were you there on Saturday? Let us know what you think. Share your favorite photos, memories, and quotes from the night! 

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National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

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HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects the black community, including black men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender individuals.

February 7, 2012 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. In its twelfth year, NBHAAD highlights the disproportionate impact HIV/AIDS has on the black community and four areas through which positive change can be achieved: education, testing, involvement, and treatment.

This conversation is as vital today as it was on the first National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day over a decade ago. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

  • African Americans are the racial/ethnic group most affected by HIV.
  • In 2009, African Americans comprised 14% of the US population but accounted for 44% of all new HIV infections.
  • An estimated 1 in 16 black men and 1 in 32 black women will be diagnosed with HIV  in their lifetimes.

HIV/AIDS awareness, testing, and treatment are especially important to men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender individuals of color. The CDC states:

In 2009, black men who have sex with men (MSM) represented an estimated 73% of new infections among all black men, and 37% among all MSM. More new HIV infections occurred among young black MSM (aged 13–29) than any other age and racial group of MSM. In addition, new HIV infections among young black MSM increased by 48% from 2006–2009.

And the National Transgender Discrimination Survey reports an astoundingly high rate of HIV infection among black transgender respondents (25% compared to 2.4% in the African American general population). Data from CDC-funded HIV testing programs show that in 2009, the rate of new HIV infections among transgender persons was 2.6% compared to 0.9% for cisgender males and .03% for cisgender females.

The percentage of newly identified HIV infections was highest among black transgender individuals at 4.4%.

In 2009, African Americans represented only 14% of the US population but made up 44% of all new HIV infections.

Changing the reality of HIV/AIDS in black communities will take more than a day; but NBHAAD is an opportunity for us all to educate ourselves and others as well as recommit to our own health (practice safer sex, get tested, seek treatment!) and encourage others to do the same. It is also an opportunity to contact your elected officials to tell them that you support HIV/AIDS funding and other programs that reduce health inequity for people of color, the LGBT community, and low-income families and individuals.

For more information on HIV/AIDS in the black community—in addition to the resources linked above—visit the Black AIDS Institute’s website. Not only do they have fantastic suggestions for NBHAAD actions, their publications contain a wealth of information on this important topic.

And if you’re in the Boston area and would like to get tested, Fenway: Sixteen offers walk-in hours Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Testing is also available in Jamaica Plain through our partners at the Multicultural AIDS Coalition (MAC). And if you’ve already been tested recently, be sure to share these resources with friends. 

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