In the coming months, the White House Office of Public Engagement will coordinate a number of comprehensive conversations with LGBTs across the nation about the everyday issues impacting the community, and Philadelphia next week will serve as the inaugural host city for the series.
Top officials from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, including Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, will take part in the White House LGBT Conference on Health, a daylong event Feb. 16 at Thomas Jefferson University.
The event is being staged in partnership with Mazzoni Center.
In addition to Sebelius, the conference will include remarks by HHS assistant secretary for health Dr. Howard Koh, HHS assistant secretary for aging Kathy Greenlee and HHS deputy general counsel Ken Choe.
The event is designed to educate community members about the administration’s LGBT-focused health efforts, and to provide the federal government input from locals about their ongoing health needs.
“This is an opportunity to not only look at what the administration is doing this year but at the entire breadth of what they have done in the last three years in advancing LGBT health,” said Mazzoni Center executive director Nurit Shein. “The secretary will be able to articulate well a lot of things that have happened almost under the radar but that have enabled better access to health care and outcomes for LGBT people specifically. That’s not to say the work is done — there is still plenty of work to do — but it’s really remarkable to see the dedication to LGBT health this administration has that we have never seen in any previous administration.”
While the conference is health-focused, it will address all factors that can affect one’s health, with attention devoted to issues such as housing instability and the unique challenges affecting youth and the elderly.
These issues will be explored through a local lens, as the afternoon workshops will be facilitated by teams of local and federal representatives with expertise in a certain subject matter, which Shein said will present a good chance for audience feedback.
“These will be more conversations than presentations,” she said. “People will be able to say what they feel, what they think the big issues are, and then the HHS representatives will take that back.”
Community members will also have the opportunity to ask questions and offer input following Sebelius’ morning keynote speech and during the “Open Space” program at the lunch hour, which enables community members to engage with the federal leaders.
The conference has reached capacity, but email [email protected] to be placed on the waiting list.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].