A month after Philadelphia passed one of the nation’s most transgender-inclusive laws, the city is gearing up to welcome more than 3,000 trans and ally guests for the 12th annual Philadelphia Transgender Health Conference. The June 13-15 conference will feature nearly 500 speakers and panelists, who will explore issues surrounding health, safety, education, employment, housing and social support for trans people. This year’s conference, a program of Mazzoni Center, will feature two new training programs. “Last year, we started a medical-provider training where we wrote an actual curriculum, introduced it and taught that curriculum,” said PTHC logistical coordinator Jacsen Callanan. “It went so well that we decided to write a behavioral-health provider and legal/attorney-provider curriculum.” The conference brings in people from all over the country, and this year will include 29 international participants. This year’s keynote speakers are Geleni Fontaine and Qwo-Li Driskill, who will speak at 8:45 a.m. June 13 and 12:45 p.m. June 14, respectively. Fontaine is an acupuncturist at Third Root Community Health Center in New York City. “We have been moving more and more towards trying to open up what we mean by health — we do not define health as medical care, we define it broadly and we are moving to try and open that concept,” Callanan said, noting that Fontaine “serves LGBT and trans folks and does not provide a typical take on transgender health, but a more holistic view on taking care of the body.” Callanan said Driskill can speak to the diversity within the transgender and gender nonconforming communities. “We have a growing representation of people who identify as Native American Indigenous who have been coming to the conference for years, and so folks from those populations had asked to see more representation,” Callanan said. “[Driskill] is a known speaker and poet and has more of an artistic background. We wanted to include folks who represent different backgrounds, populations, areas and specialties.” Callanan said he hopes the conference, which is free, shows guests their potential. “I hope more and more people move through the world with a sense of empowerment about who they are and what they deserve, because I think that we have finally come to a point in the last year where we saw regulatory moves from government protecting trans folks,” Callanan said. Callanan noted that allies can also bring the lessons learned back to their respective communities to create meaningful advances for the trans community. “I want to have allies be more empowered and be better allies. We have over 300 providers coming and I hope to see those people empowered to provide proper care to people in their communities. My hope is those from small towns go back to their respected towns and provide services to those places where most people do not have access, Callanan said. For more information on PTHC, visit www.trans-health.org.
Newsletter Sign-up