LGBT Health Summit At U of L Med School Coming Soon!

One of the issues that continues to plague our LGBTQ community across the country is finding culturally competent health care in our various locales we reside in..

In my old stomping grounds of Louisville, which unfortunately has the LGBTQ hatemongering Southern Baptist Theological Seminary inside the city limits, it's probably a factor in why the University of Louisville's LGBT Center is fielding calls from LGBTQ Louisvillians and residents all over the Kentuckiana area on a daily basis who are searching for doctors and health care providers willing to respectfully treat LGBTQ patients.


To address these issues, the University of Louisville  as part of their eQuality Project will host a LGBTQ Health Summit on September 12 at the UofL School of Medicine.  

It's sponsored by the U of L School of Medicine Office of Undergraduate Medical Education, Office for Community Engagement and Diversity, and the U of L LGBT Center

"Historically, LGBTQ health has not been part of any health care or medical school curriculum," said Suzanne Kingery  MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at UofL. "It is only recently that a handful of medical schools, with UofL at the forefront, have started to do this kind of training. This health summit is a wonderful opportunity for health care providers to learn about LGBTQ care so they can provide affirming care for their patients and follow best practices."

The LGBTQ Health Summit will begin at 8:30 AM EDT on that September 12 date at the School of Medicine , and early registration is encouraged for those of you health care providers wishing to attend..

Dawn Wilson Scholarship Established By U of L

Happy to see my Louisville homegirl and Louisville Human Relations Commissioner Dawn Wilson was honored October 1 by the University of Louisville during its 2015 Pride Week festivities with the establishment of a scholarship in her name.

"Tonight , I was honored to not only to have a scholarship named in my honor at the University of Louisville but I also met the dynamic Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement,." said Wilson in a statement on her FV page  "This new scholarship will offer LGBTQ students of color opportunities to pursue their collegiate dreams"

Patrisse Cullors was the keynote speaker for UL Pride Week, and her keynote speech also happened on Thursday night.

Dawn Wilson is one of the pioneering trans peeps y'all need to get to know.  She took part in the Phyllis Frye run lobby day in Washington DC in 1994, founded the Louisville based Bluegrass Belles trans group, helped pass trans inclusive human rights ordinances in Louisville and her hometown of Lexington in 1998, was the first African-American trans person to win the IFGE Trinity Award in 2000, helped organize the Transsistahs-Transbrothas trans POC conventions in 2005-2006 in Louisville and has been an integral part of the Louisville and Kentucky human rights community for over two decades. 

And yeah, she's one of my mentors.

The Wilson scholarship is for LGBTQI college bound students of color who wish to attend college on the University of Louisville campus, and may be the first of its kind offered on a college campus located in the South.,  

The Kentucky Basketball Hatetrix Reloaded

When I lived in Kentucky from 2001-2010, one of the more entertaining events for me next to Derby Week was watching the annual December basketball hatefest between the Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals.

From the time I moved there in September 2001 until I left in May 2010 to come back to Texas I had the rabid fanbases of Cats and Cards Nations trying to get me to publicly declare whether I was a UK or Louisville fan.

They wanted me to choose to take either the blue Wildcat pill or the red Cardinal pill, but I managed to stay neutral during that time.

To be honest, the wall to wall coverage of that annual rivalry game is one of the things about the state I miss.

When I was setting up my 2014 NCAA men's tourney brackets, I noted the way they were set up, if both teams won their opening round games it would lead to a potential Sweet 16 clash between the current (Louisville) and last (Kentucky) NCAA champions to be played in Indianapolis. 

After the Wildcats narrow 78-76 tournament win yesterday over previously unbeaten Wichita State and defending NCAA champ Louisville knocking St. Louis out of the tournament with their 66-51 win to advance, we can take the word 'potential' out of that last paragraph and deal with the reality that the Kentucky basketball hatetrix has been reloaded.

It's Battle of the Bluegrass, Part II at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.  This time they are playing for higher stakes than just bragging rights as they did December 28 at Rupp Arena.  The Cats fans are already reminding the Cards fans of the 73-66 result of that December game, while the Cards fans are firing back it's all about what happens this Friday.   

And what it's all about is a trip to the NCAA tournament Elite Eight at their bitter basketball rival's expense. 

The bitterly disappointed loser will have a hour and a half long lament filled drive down I-65 south from Indianapolis back to Kentucky while the winner stays in Circle City and plays for a possible trip to the Jerrydome and the Final Four.

The Kentucky Basketball Hatetrix will ensure this is not going to be a quiet week along I-64 or at any job locations, homes, sports bars or churches in Louisville, Lexington or anywhere else in Kentucky this week.  

Janet Mock Keynote Speaker For U of L Pride Tonight

It's one of the things I didn't get to do when I lived in Da Ville, but so happy to hear that Janet Mock will be delivering the keynote address for the University of Louisville's Pride Week tonight.

It's scheduled for 7 PM EDT in the Student Activities Center, Multipurpose Room and is open to the public, so come on out Louisville and check out my sis. 

She has her book Redefining Realness coming out in February, and she'll probably have some very interesting things to say about our LGBT community that you may want to be in the room for.

Kentucky Basketball Hatefest Squared

Well, well, well.   This Final Four in New Orleans will have a lot of folks from Kentucky in town for it since half the teams playing are from the Bluegrass State.

It'll be Kentucky and Louisville playing each other in one of the national semifinals, and boy would I love to be in Da Ville this week observing the jousting between Wildcat and Cardinal fans.   Then again I spent eight years being recruited by Cards and Cats fans trying the swell the ranks of their fanbases by one.

So yep the house Divided will be even more intense this week, and as the tipoff to the battle in the Superdome gets closer, the hate will flow on the Net, in workplaces, and even amongst friends and family.

Should be a fun game to watch.    As for who I'm rooting for?   I'm neutral on this one.

I Miss The U of L-UK Sports Hatefests

One of the things that will get me thinking about the time and friends I left behind in Da Ville is when the annual sporting hatefests in football and basketball occurs between the University of Louisville Cardinals and the University of Kentucky Wildcats.

It's exacerbated by the fact that these schools are situated in the two largest cites in the state in Louisville and Lexington and both campuses are only a 70 mile drive along I-64 from each other.  

I still chuckle about the times during me living in Louisville Metro fans on either side of the Red or Blue divide would ask me during the week of the Battle for the Governor's Cup (football) or the Battle of the Bluegrass (basketball) whether I was a Cards or Cats fan.

They would not be satisfied with my 'I root for both teams' answer or 'I'm a University of Houston fan' in an attempt to stay neutral . They would continue to attempt to convert me into becoming a fire and brimstone spouting t-shirt wearing member of Cats or Cards Nation with a missionary zeal while lambasting every aspect of the other school..

When they say 'A House Divided', they mean it.   It's so serious that friends, coworkers, families, couples and spouses that went to either Louisville or Kentucky are trading barbs at each other whether it's in person or online.   The effort to recruit us noncommitted folks to the gospel of Cat or Cards worship intensified along with the hype for for the game.whether it was in Louisville or Lexington.   

During that week on the football and basketball schedules of both schools you have wall to wall saturation coverage in the Louisville Courier-Journal, the Lexington Herald-Leader and TV stations in both cities of the respective schools down to the microlevel, especially for the basketball game which is nationally televised .

You cannot escape it, so you sit back and enjoy the fun because bragging rights were on the line in addition to which school would get the lions share of the best instate athletes .  But yeah, it does make me miss you wonderful peeps I left behind in the Bluegrass State even more

As for which team am I rooting for?   The one with the African American head coach on the sidelines..    . 

Rigney Activism Grants Awarded ForTwo U of L Student Projects

Two student-led LGBT projects were the first recipients of Diane Rigney Student Activism grants, awarded by the Office for LGBT Services this week.

Emory Williamson will use funds to start a new campus group for heterosexual allies in LGBT work, Straight Against Hate. This group will partner with others on campus and in the Louisville community to champion issues and collaborate with LGBT students.

Grace Howard and Lindsey Ferguson will create a campaign to educate the U of L community about discriminatory practices at Red Cross blood drives, especially the lifetime ban on giving blood by men who have had a male sexual partner. Ferguson is excited to be one of the first recipients of a grant. "A lot of people don't know the inequalities that exist within the FDA's laws on who is able to donate blood. By becoming recipients of the Diane Rigney Student Activism Grant, Grace and I will be able to educate the general student population; that, in itself, will be rewarding."

This is the first year for the grant program, made possible by the generous donation from social justice activist and U of L alumnus Diane Rigney.

Rigney is a lifetime civil rights activist who participated in many social justice events throughout her life, including marching for civil rights in Birmingham and Selma, Alabama in the 1960s and advocating for domestic partner benefits in the company where she served as a senior vice-president for human resources.

The program provides undergraduate students with money to implement their ideas and a mentor experienced in social justice activism. The mentor will provide valuable coaching and feedback to make the project a learning experience. Throughout the process, from developing the grant proposal to evaluating the success of the project, students will learn what it takes to be active in social justice efforts and make a lasting change in their community.

Battle Of the Bluegrass At The KFC Yum Center

Another one of the things I miss about Da Ville is the Rivalry Week hype surrounding the annual basketball hatefest between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Louisville Cardinals. 

Come to think of it, any sport that UK and UL play against each other is a red and blue hatefest.

This day on the calendar has been circled ever since the schedules for both teams were released a few months ago.


The nationally televised 2010 edition of the 'Battle of the Bluegrass' taking place later today in Louisville has the added significance of being the first showdown in this hotly contested series that will be played at the Cards new arena, the KFC Yum Center.

The Cards definitely have added incentive to make sure that the first time they play the Wildcats in their new playpen is a successful one.   The Cats want to make sure they spoil the party for the portion of the 22,000 people in attendance that bleed Cardinal red.

I have friends on both sides of the Red and Blue divide who tried for eight years with the zeal of missionaries to get me to join either Cardinal Nation or Wildcat Nation to no avail. 


Yep, should be a fun game   As to which team I'm rooting for, I'm officially neutral.       

Seriously.

Transgender Week Of Awareness On U of L Campus

U of L's Office for LGBT Services and several LGBT student organizations will once again join with the surrounding Louisville community to celebrate Transgender Week of Awareness November 14-20, 2010. The week is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of transgender people and to remember those who were killed during the year because of their gender identity/expression. Transgender Day of Remembrance is celebrated internationally on November 20 each year.

Community partners that are collaborating with U of L include Sienna, the Women's Center at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, the Transgender Education Center (TEC), and Diversity Consultants. Student organizations such as commonGround, BlkOut, Transformations, and T2 are all planning events.

For a full schedule, visit http://louisville.edu/lgbt/news-and-events/transgender-week-of-awareness.ics.

The university has made great strides in the last few years in creating a welcoming, inclusive environment for all people regardless of gender identity or expression. A nondiscrimination policy that includes gender identity, more gender neutral restrooms, nationally-recognized transgender keynote speakers, and two active organizations for trans students are just a few of the milestones from the last few years. Join us for this important celebration!

Upcoming 'Swapping Stories' Event On U of L Campus

TransGriot Note: An interesting announcement of an upcoming event on the U of L campus from Brian Buford that I'd thought I'd share with you and my Kentuckiana TransGriot readers.

Next week we are kicking off an award-winning project we created with the Baptist Campus Ministries (BCM) to explore how people on opposite sides of an issue come together in respect and friendship. It's called "Swapping Stories" and the title refers to the common experience among people who identify as Christian or LGBT (or both!) of telling a story about their lives. If you are LGBT, it's your coming out experience. If you're Christian, it might be your spiritual transformation or testimony. If you identify as both, it could include elements of both stories from your life.

The world tells us that these two groups can never come together unless it's in conflict, arguments, and hurt feelings. But Swapping Stories is all about setting aside agendas and learning to listen to another person's story. This experience demonstrates that we more alike than different. It's social justice and peace making in their truest sense, challenging some of the most basic societal rules and assumptions that have developed from years of misunderstanding.

So how does it work? Here's a brief description:

Students who choose to participate will attend a kick-off session next Thursday, October 28, at 7 p.m. in the Cultural Center. After a short training on the principles of Swapping Stories, you'll be paired up with a lunch partner and we'll give you $10 to spend on a meal together. Your job is to go out to eat, share your stories with one another, and see what happens! It's as easy as that. Your assignment will be to listen without judgment, honor one another's experience, and look for common ground. Everyone will come back together for dinner on November 9 at 8:30 (right after commonGround and BCM meetings conclude that night) to talk about how it went and what we learned.

REAL change happens when we step outside our comfort zone, and I know that for many of us, this is a big step. Come learn more about it at the kick off, and hear from the leaders of both groups who practiced earlier this week, as well as those who swapped stories in 2008. We won a "Spirit of Diversity" award that year for this project, and we expect another successful year!

(One important addition: We are committed to making this a safe, affirming, positive experience for everyone involved and making certain that your identity is respected. If at any point you have concerns, the Office for LGBT Services is here to intervene and help you resolve them. Participation is voluntary and it's always your choice whether to continue or not.)

Swapping Stories Kick Off
Thursday, October 28, 2010
7 p.m.EDT
Cultural Center

First preference for participating will be given to students who are members of the BCM or an LGBT student organization at U of L. Light refreshments will be served!

U of L Vigil To Honor Victims of LGBT Bullying

The members of the new Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT) invite you to stand in solidarity against all forms of bullying, hate, and bias at the University of Louisville.

Honoring recent college students who committed suicide after being bullied, the vigil will be an opportunity to speak out against all forms of hate and commit to a welcoming, hate-free campus.

BIRT is comprised of the following:

PEACC
The Cultural Center
The Office for LGBT Services
Housing and Residence Life
The Vice Provost for Diversity and International Affairs

The vigil will take place at the Red Barn on the University of Louisville campus today from 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT.

U of L Pride Week 2010

Won't be there, seeing the wonderful folks I got to know on campus or taking part in this one, (maybe next year) but the annual student-driven celebration of LGBT contributions to the University of Louisville campus and greater community kicks off later today.

The Pride keynote speech on Thursday will be given this year by Kate Clinton.

In addition the the keynote speech, it features a host of fun, educational events open to everyone! Whether you're LGBT or just interested in learning more about this community, join us for Pride 2010. Sponsored by the Vice Provost for Diversity and International Affairs, Information Technology, the Women's and Gender Studies Department, the Human Resources Department, and the School of Medicine.


Monday, September 20

11:00 am
Pride Flag Raising Ceremony with BlkOut
Clocktower, West Lawn

Noon
Pride Kickoff Cookout hosted by commonGround, LGBT Services, and BlkOut
Music, food, LGBT vendors, Pride shirts, dunking booth, and more!
West Lawn, Red Barn

7 pm
Film and Discussion, "Freeheld"
Presented by the Kentucky Fairness Alliance
Hosted by Faculty and Staff for Human Rights
Chao Auditorium

Tuesday, September 21

Noon
Brown Bag Lunch: Domestic Violence and LGBT Relationships
Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice

4 pm
Field Day/Gay Games with commonGround
West Lawn

7 pm
Louisville is Burning: Exploring Ball Culture
Sponsored by BlkOut
Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library

Wednesday, September 22

11:30 am
International Tea/Lunch
LGBT Issues Abroad
Cultural Center

7 pm
Parents Night with PFLAG
Hosted by commonGround
Cultural Center, Multipurpose Room

Thursday, September 23

Noon
Pride Interfaith Service
Interfaith Center

4-5:30 pm
Queer Women's Health Caucus
Hosted by Campus Heatlh Services
Light dinner included.
Multipurpose Room, Cultural Center

6 pm
LGBT Alumni Reception
The Intersection, Red Barn

Kate Clinton 7 pm
Pride Keynote Address by Kate Clinton
"Lady Ha Ha Does Louisville"
Comstock Hall, School of Music

Parking for Kate Clinton keynote: Choose the red parking lot next door to the School of Music, the blue lot at 3rd and Brandeis, or the Speed Museum's parking garage on 3rd Street. Directions are available here.

8 pm
After Party for Kate Clinton
The Monkey Wrench (21 and over)
1025 Barret Avenue



Friday, September 24

7 pm
Pride Rally to Honor LGBT and Ally Women
Red Barn, West Lawn

8:30 pm
Pride Rally After Party
Hosted by BlkOut
Wick's Pizza
975 Baxter Avenue
Saturday, September 25


9 am
Statewide Fairness Summit
Floyd Theatre, Student Activities Center

9 pm
Pride Dance
Hosted by CommonGround
Red Barn

Sunday, September 26

11 am
Pride Service
Community Empowerment Center
1036 Euclid Avenue

1 pm
Louisville AIDS Walk
The Belvedere, Downtown Louisville
Onnembo

On Display

Ekstrom Library will be displaying books and memorabilia from its LGBT collection all week. Stop by anytime to the display and learn more about the resources available on campus.

U of L To Host Statewide Fairness Coalition Fall Summit

Even though I'm now 1000 miles from Louisville and the state of Kentucky, I still am in contact with many of the people and organizations I gave time to, helped and was a part of for the almost 8 years I lived there.

Received this e-mail recently about this upcoming Kentucky specific event while I was moping about not being there for Carla's Lawn Party.

Since I still have a lot of peeps from Da Ville and the Bluegrass state checking in and even dropping comments on this blog from time to time, thought I'd post it.

I attended the spring Statewide Fairness Summit in Frankfort, and now it's time for the fall edition to happen and plot the next steps toward getting a statewide Fairness law.

The Statewide Fairness Coalition Fall Summit 2010 will will take place September 25 from 9:00am EDT - 5:00pm EDT on the University of Louisville campus just south of downtown.

Figures y'all would have it in Da Ville after I leave.

Just as with the spring event, it's FREE Registration with breakfast and lunch provided.

Students are enthusiastically wanted and encouraged to attend. Supporters from across the state are needed to strategize for Statewide Fairness with Coalition members ACLU-KY, Fairness Campaign, Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, Kentucky Fairness Alliance, and Lexington Fairness!

Since this is occurring during U of L's Pride Week celebration, there will be a special student event. So if you're a college student thinking about attending ask for the details about the Friday night special student event as part of U of L's Pride Week.

Travel and lodging assistance is also available for students withing to attend as well.

You can register for the event by e-mailing Laura@Fairness.org as expeditiously as possible. If you're a college student, note that in your e-mailed registration as well.

I won't be there, but I'm confident the folks in my other hometown will put on an informative and great event.

UL-UK Historic Governor's Cup Hatefest

When I was living in Da Ville, any sporting event between the Universities of Louisville and Kentucky not only drew sellout crowds, but passionate fans on both sides of the Red and Blue line. Those passions intensify when the competition between the Cats and Cards happens on the gridiron or the hardwood.

It's the 2010 edition of the Governor's Cup Game, and since it's in Jefferson County at the newly expanded Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, it's the season opener for both schools.

It's also generating a little more interest than usual because the game not only marks the coaching debuts for UK's Joker Phillips and U of L's Charlie Strong, it's one of the rare times that FBS schools with African-American head football coaches face each other.

One of the interesting collegiate football tidbits is this season, the three FBS programs in the state of Kentucky all have African American head coaches. The other is Willie Taggart at Western Kentucky.

During the almost eight years I lived there, Kentucky and Louisville fans tried to recruit me into their fanbases with the zeal of missionaries, but I stayed neutral because I liked both teams.

Seriously, Kentucky readers, I liked both teams.

The game is not only for bragging rights in the state and recruiting advantage, but possession of the Governor's Cup.

Should be a fun game at The Pizzeria today in front of 55,000 red and blue clad fans.