LGBT Health Summit
Considers Current

e National LGBTI Health
Summit will be held August 25-
29, 2004, in Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
. The Summit brings together
LGBTI health activists, peer educators,
caregivers, researchers, health depart-
ment staff, community leaders, funders,
and consumers to discuss how to
improve our health as LGBTI individu-
als and communities.
Workshops topics include:
LGBTI Leadership in Public Health;
Health Care Experiences andAccess to

Health Care among Rural LGBT
Persons; Never Forget? Memory, Gay
Cultures and the Generation Gap;
Queer Women's Experiences of Birth;
Diga No al Estigma/Say No to Stigma;
Giving Voice to the Seldom Heard:
Qualitative Research Skills 101; and
The Best LGBTI Health Outreach
Programs of 2003/2004.

The LGBTI Health Summit
is the only national grassroots health
conference focused on these communi-
ties. “This year's National LGBTI con-
ference comes at a critical time as

oncerns

LGBTI communities face a series of
attacks on basic civil liberties that have
a direct impact upon our health and
well-being,” says David Acosta,
Summit collective member.

“In this election year, LGBTI commu-
nities must meet, discuss, plan, strate-
gize and articulate our health needs to
insure that our issues are not over-
looked at the federal, state, and city
levels.” .

Among the challenges facing

the community are improving heart
health for lesbians, addressing the

growing use of crystal meth in the gay
male community, and continued vio-
lence against the transgender communi-
ty, say organizers. There is an urgent
need to expand health care and preven-
tion services for gay and bisexual men
of color as HIV rates in this community
around the nation are among the high-
est. There is anongoing need for
efforts to educate the medical commu-
nity and other health care and social
service providers on the health and psy-
cho-social needs of intersex individuals
and LGBT communities in general.
Recently, the Michigan

House of Representatives approved a 5
bill that would allow health care
providers to discriminate against les-
bians, gay men and other community
members for reasons of “conscience”
or religious belief. “Clearly we are fac-



ing a time when extremists are pulling
out all the stops,” said Stewart Landers,
co-convener of the Summit. “LGBTI
persons are increasingly being shown
to face health care disparities due to
access and community risk factors,”
says Jodi Sperber, co-convener of the
Summit. “For example, several
research studies have found higher
rates of smoking among various seg-
ments of the LGBTI communities.
More research needs to be done, and
funds are currently shrinking for work
in this area.” V

For more information, check out
www.healthsummit2004.org or contact
Summit coordinator Thomas Lewis at
tIewis@/‘si.com.

AIDS Ride For ACORN

etford — The AIDS Community
Resource Network, headquartered
in Lebanon, NH, will benefit from a
locally organized AIDS ride on
September 12. In its second year, the
ride is hoping to exceed last year’s tally
of fewer than 50 riders and less than
$1,000 raised.
The ride is being organized
and heavily supported again this year

by furniture maker Pompanoosuc Mills,
in East Thetford, Vermont. This year,
the organizers are benefiting from the
‘experience of Rob Healy, a veteran of
three Boston-to-New-York AIDS rides
who now works at the company. Healy
credited his boss, Dwight Sargent, with
doing “an incredible job to raise what
he did” in the first year of the ride.
Several Pompanoosuc Mills

employees are on the ACoRN board of
directors, Healy said, making the com-
pany’s sponsorship of a fimdraiser a
natural fit.

The first challenge was to
simply pick a date that didn’t conflict
with another event. “There are so many
causes and weekend events — cancer,
Alzheinier’s, AIDS, MS,” Healy said.

Now the challenge is to get
the word out to people who love to ride
and/or are committed to raising aware-
ness and funds to fight HIV/AIDS.

“We’re awarding a prize to the partici-
pant who has come from the furthest
distance,” said Healy. And the prizes
aren’t too shabby, either. Last year, the
top fundraiser received a digital cam-
era.

This ride is a one-day event,
featuring 3 levels of rides: 13 miles, 25
miles, and 55 miles. Riders will set off
at 9 a.m. from the Pompanoosuc Mills
store and factory to follow mapped out
routes with rest stops along the way.

Each rider is expected to

raise at least $50 from friends, family,
neighbors, and/or coworkers. While
serious riders often participate in
overnight rides just for the pleasure of
the ride — and the luxury of having lug-
gage, meals, and overnight accommo-
dations taken care of - the ACoRN
ride is a more casual, fun ride, though
still well-organized, promises Healy. V

For more information, contact ACoRN
at 603-448-888 7or Rob Healy at 802-
785-4851, ext. 522.