NATIONAL GAY MEN’S HEALTH SUMMIT TO BE HELD IN FORT LAUDERDALE AUGUST 25 – 29

IndexB_02

Hundreds of gay men and their allies from throughout the country and beyond will gather on August 25 – 29, 2010, at the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Airport and Cruise Port Hotel to participate in the 2010 National Gay Men’s Health Summit. The theme of the event is  “Creating a Brighter Future: The Next Decade of Gay Men’s Health” and will be held jointly with the 9th annual Southeast Regional Gay Men’s Health Summit.   Over 250 gay men (as well as, bi, trans men, other men who have sex with men and their allies) will gather to reflect on and celebrate gay men’s lives while working on a brighter future for gay men’s health and wellness.

The summit is open to all and registration has been underwritten for residents of Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties by the Broward County Health Department and the Florida Department of Health.   Pre-summit workshops begin on Wednesday, August 25, and include a panel featuring an intergenerational dialog around gay youth, adults, elders and ancestors; another focusing on body image and weight issues; and a gay men’s leadership institute.

The formal summit begins on Thursday, August 26, and concludes on Sunday, August 29, and features a number of plenary speakers and nearly 70 workshops on topics as diverse as addictions, mental health, HIV, wellness, dating and relationships, and spirituality.  Many of the workshops will address special topics and populations, such as HIV negative youth of color, building community among Hispanic gay men, return to work issues for those on disability, and addictions recovery.  The summit is designed to promote social interaction and fun.  A significant number of the workshops are experiential, such as laughter yoga or meditation, and are intended to be edgy, such as the impact of GRINDR on our community and the use of social media to improve gay health and wellness.  Besides casual interaction with gay men from around the country (and beyond), there will organized social events such as a show and a pool party.

The gay men’s health movement grew from an interest in expanding the scope of gay men’s health beyond (but certainly including) HIV to a full range of other issues that impact our health and wellness.  At the Summit, gay men and their allies will have frank and open dialogue about race, racism, identity and gender politics, aging and class. We will discuss these and other domains and paradigms for thinking about gay men’s health. Our conversations will cover the broad spectrum of interests for gay men with key focus on strengths-based organizing, emerging issues, and other hot topics.
One of the key challenges facing gay men is to ensure that we continue to be involved in the strategizing and implementation phases of Health Care Reform. Another key challenge is to develop creative funding strategies and work alongside key policy makers while we simultaneously work with fellow advocates to shape policy such as ADAP and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.

Walk-up registration is available beginning at 10:00am on Wednesday, August 25.

MAY 15 ABSTRACT DEADLINE APPROACHES FOR NATIONAL GAY MEN’S HEALTH SUMMIT

Summit

The deadline to submit abstracts for the 2010 National Gay Men’s Health Summit is fast approaching.  See details below.  For more information or to submit your proposal visit www.gmhs2010.com

NATIONAL GAY MEN’S HEALTH SUMMIT 2010

Creating a Brighter Future:

The Next Decade of Gay Men’s Health

August 25-30, 2010

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Press Release:

The 6th National Gay Men’s Health Summit will gather together gay men (as well as, bi, trans men, other men who have sex with men and their allies) to reflect on and celebrate gay men’s lives while working on a brighter future for gay men’s health and wellness.

In sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida hundreds of gay men and their allies from throughout the country and beyond will gather August 25 – 29, 2010, and convene at Sheraton Ft Lauderdale Airport and Cruise Port Hotel to share space together and engage about their exciting work and their lives while they attend the 2010 National Gay Men’s Health Summit. The theme of the event is  “Creating a Brighter Future: The Next Decade of Gay Men’s Health” and will be held jointly with the 9th annual Southeast Regional Gay Men’s Health Summit.

Gay men are creative, strong, and resilient. We have developed our own home-grown social networks, support structures, definitions of community, communities and communal rituals, formulated systems and structures for and around health and wellness- all for and by us.

Gay men continue to create, build and sustain lives that are satisfying and fulfilling, even in the face of formidable obstacles, persistent stigma, and incredible challenges. One of the key challenges we face is to ensure that gay men and their allies continue to be involved in the strategizing and implementation phases of Health Care Reform- our voice will be heard. Another key challenge is to develop creative funding strategies and work alongside key policy makers while we simultaneously work with fellow advocates to shape policy such as ADAP and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Gay men face the challenge to fully explore and develop solutions to decrease health and wellness disparities.

At the Summit, gay men and their allies will continue to have frank and open dialogue about race, racism, identity and gender politics, aging and class. We will discuss these and other domains and paradigms for thinking about gay men’s health. Our conversations will cover the broad spectrum of interests for gay men with key focus on strengths-based organizing, emerging issues, and other key hot topics. Gay-identified Trans men will certainly be a key area of dialogue with a focus on discovering, dreaming and agenda setting for gay transmen. We will also broach an intergenerational conversation around youth, adults, elders and ancestors, and the impact of a loss of a large part of a generation as a result of the AIDS epidemic with discussion of how to move forward together. We will look into an expansive research agenda to ensure a holistic approach that is also culturally responsive and appropriate toward gay men and their health and wellness.

We will explore our individual, collective and inter and intrapersonal sexual health through interactive workshops, laughter, and play- a journey of past, present, and future.  We will review and use the Gay Men’s Health Agenda to guide national efforts around political action and local organizing and rallying. The Gay Men’s Health Agenda will seat its first National Steering Committee in collaboration with its Leadership Core. We will continue to think outside the box, challenging and expanding social categories and promoting culturally appropriate and responsive directives with novel programmatic approaches.

 

The Gay Men’s Health Agenda 2009: Making our Voices Heard

2009-gaymen-logo-2

As the new administration in Washington massively shifts national priorities, an opportunity has presented itself for the LGBTQ community to speak up and to be certain that our long-neglected healthcare needs are both recognized and addressed.

The Gay Men’s Health Agenda   is a significant document which grew out of a grassroots effort within the gay men’s health movement. After soliciting comments from gay men around the country, a draft was presented for feedback at the Gay Men’s Health Summit in Seattle in October, 2008, and the final version has now been published.

The Agenda is significant because it urges policy makers to recognize that the health care needs of gay men extend far beyond HIV/AIDS, and include mental health, substance abuse, external and internalized homophobia, and a sometimes appalling lack of cultural competency of many health care providers in recognizing and appropriately treating the health of the gay, lesbian, and trans community. This is even more vital as the federal government is now drafting "Health People 2020," which will serve as a roadmap for spending priorities over the next decade. Gays and lesbians have been virtually absent from federal health priorities. This Agenda pushes for change.

Recommendations specific to gay men’s health include funding and expanding social, behavioral, and biomedical research; developing and collecting data on sexual orientation and gender identity in federal research; funding campaigns to combat homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia; and eliminating bans on "promotion" of any type of sexual behavior, which impairs effective health campaigns. Other recommendations include creating strategies to combat health disparities, funding sexual health and wellness, and removing barriers to health care for transgender people.

Similar efforts for lesbian health include the Lesbian Health Fund of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. Health care disparities continue to grow for all of us in the LGBTQ community. These efforts are an important step in making our voices heard. Whether you participate by contributing to a similar document or by calling or emailing your representatives, be sure yours is among them!