Carolina Rainbow News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 9, 2018

Adam Polaski | 610.306.7956 | adam@southernequality.org

Out Today: Robust Directory of Transgender-Friendly Medical 

and Legal Services Fills Critical Need for Trans Southerners

ASHEVILLE, NC – Today the Campaign for Southern Equality released an updated and expanded version of Trans in the South: A Guide to Resources and Services to help transgender Southerners access the medical and legal services they need. The new edition of Trans in the South features an independently-vetted directory of more than 400 trans-friendly service providers – including primary care doctors, attorneys, counselors, endocrinologists, and more – across 13 Southern states. The guide is available in English and Spanish at www.southernequality.org/TransInTheSouth.

According to 2016 data published by the Williams Institute at the U.C.L.A. School of Law, approximately 500,000 trans people live in the South. But many transgender Southerners report experiencing barriers to accessing basic services and a lack of respect, dignity, and understanding in medical settings. Nationally, data suggests that approximately 25 percent of transgender people do not seek health care at all because of a fear of discrimination.

Ivy Gibson-Hill, Community Health Program Director at the Campaign for Southern Equality, said today: “We know that trans folks face disparities in nearly every sphere of life, but in health care particularly. Finding a doctor or attorney who will treat you with dignity and respect can be a really overwhelming task as a Southern trans person. The Trans in the South guide is a joint effort by trans leaders across the South to increase our community’s access to competent care and make it easier to find friendly providers and resources.”

Last month the Southern LGBTQ Health Initiative, a collaboration between the Campaign for Southern Equality and Western North Carolina Community Health Services (WNCCHS), released a report that captured trans and nonbinary Southerners’ experiences accessing health care. The groundbreaking report featured conclusions from the Trans Health Focus Group Project, which included the voices of nearly 50 trans and nonbinary people from six Southern states. The report, available here, provides qualitative data on the many roadblocks trans Southerners face when seeking health care.

Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Executive Director of the Campaign for Southern Equality, said: “We are working toward a South where transgender people can access their basic human rights – including their rights to health care and legal protections – without leaving their hometowns, no matter where they live. Our recommendations from the Trans Health Focus Group can create long-term, desperately needed change for trans Southerners. Until that day comes, we’ll keep creating resources like the Trans in the South guide to create bridges into the care, services and support people need and deserve.”

The guide can be accessed at www.southernequality.org/TransInTheSouth

### Based in Asheville, NC, the Campaign for Southern Equality works for full LGBTQ equality across the South. Our work is rooted in commitments to equity in race, gender and class. http://www.southernequality.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 20, 2018

Jasmine Beach-Ferrara | 828.242.1559 | jasmine@southernequality.org

Transgender Health in the South:

Groundbreaking New Report Shows Urgent Needs, Reasons for Hope

ASHEVILLE, NC – Today, the Campaign for Southern Equality and Western NC Community Health Services published a groundbreaking new executive report on transgender health in the South. “The Report of the 2018 Southern Trans Health Focus Group Project” documents the findings of a community-based research project through which diverse transgender Southerners across six states shared in-depth accounts of their experiences related to health issues and accessing health care. Download the Report Here.

According to 2016 data published by the Williams Institute at the U.C.L.A. School of Law, approximately 500,000 transgender people live in the South. Nationally, data shows that approximately 25 percent of transgender people do not seek health care at all because of a fear of discrimination – but to date there has been remarkably limited research about the health experiences of transgender people in the South.

“This project is the first of its kind to highlight the health care experiences of transgender Southerners, since research about transgender people is largely concentrated in northern and coastal urban centers. From cities to rural towns across the South, our research team spoke with trans and non-binary people who were eager to tell us about their experiences accessing health care and who were fired up about making change in their local communities. The stories we heard suggest that the change they seek is urgent, as many trans and non-binary people across the South find it difficult to access quality and consistent care for even their most basic health care needs. This report is a call to action,” said Dr. Austin H. Johnson, Principal Investigator for the Southern Trans Health Focus Group Project and Assistant Professor of Sociology at Kenyon College.

Key findings of the research include:

• Many transgender Southerners report experiencing barriers in accessing basic services and in being treated with respect and dignity in medical settings.
• Factors including race, age, and living in a rural community increase the likelihood that transgender Southerners will experience hostility or other significant barriers when seeking care.
• Transgender Southerners report that having access to strong networks of peer support contribute to feeling empowered to seek health care and to advocate for their needs and rights in health care settings.

The report also includes recommended practices for Southern health care providers seeking to offer transgender-friendly health care, from the design of intake paperwork to clinical practices during exams.

“This report provides much needed information about the experience of trans and gender diverse people seeking healthcare in the South.  We are happy to partner in this important work with the goal of improving access to care and educating health care providers. I especially appreciate the ‘Recommendations for Southern Providers, Practices, and Health Care Systems’ at the end, which provides very clear and concrete steps that clinics and providers can take to make their practices more gender affirming.”  Dr. Jennifer Abbott, Family Physician at Western NC Community Health Services (WNCCHS). Based in Asheville, NC, WNCCHS is one of approximately 200 federally-qualified health centers located across the deep South, and has been providing culturally competent, high quality health care for over 20 years to lower income residents of western North Carolina.

This qualitative research project was conducted as part of the Southern LGBTQ Health Initiative, a collaboration of the CSE and WNCCHS to improve access to LGBTQ-friendly primary care, HIV care and support services across the South. Partners in the project included GenderBenders in Upstate, SC; the Knights and Orchids Society in Selma, AL; and OUTMemphis in Memphis, TN.

“Across the South, grassroots, transgender-led organizations and local leaders are stepping up to fill in the gaps where systems are breaking down. They are the champions, defenders, and advocates who are picking our people up when we are falling through the cracks. We are so grateful for these leaders and everyone who participated in the Trans Health Focus Group Project – your strength and vulnerability in sharing your experiences with us informed every piece of our recommendations for Southern providers and healthcare systems. Thank you for boldly living your truth and trusting us enough to share that truth,” said Ivy Hill, Community Health Program Director at the Campaign for Southern Equality, a non-profit based in Asheville, NC, that advocates for full LGBTQ equality across the South.  

The Campaign for Southern Equality will host a free webinar to share the findings of the Executive Report with advocates, health care providers, and community members on January 30, 2019 at 6:00pm ET. Registration information is available here.

“Health care is a basic human right. We are working toward a South where transgender people can access the highest standard of care in their hometowns, no matter where they live. Until that day comes, we’ll keep pushing and working to create bridges into the care, services, and support people need and deserve,” said Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Executive Director of the Campaign for Southern Equality.

The Executive Report can be accessed here: http://bit.ly/SouthernTransHealthFocusGroup2018

###

Based in Asheville, NC, the Campaign for Southern Equality works for full LGBTQ equality across the South. Our work is rooted in commitments to equity in race, gender and class. http://www.southernequality.org

Based in Asheville, NC, Western NC Community Health Services is one of approximately 200 federally-qualified health centers located across the deep South, and has been providing culturally competent, high quality health care for over 20 years to lower income residents of western North Carolina. http://www.wncchs.org/

FILMMAKER CALEB HOLLAND TAPPED AS BEHIND-THE-SCENES DOCUMENTARIAN OF BOY ERASED

ATLANTA, Georgia – Following his first documentary feature, Chasing Capri (2017), Caleb Holland was tapped by Focus Features as the behind-the-scenes documentarian of major motion picture Boy Erased, released today. 

The documentarian and filmmaker produced and captured daily behind-the-scenes content including interviews with the cast and crew. Caleb is a South Carolina native and graduate of The Savannah College of Art and Design. 

Shot in Atlanta last year, Boy Erased follows the story of the son of a Baptist preacher who is forced to participate in a church-supported gay conversion therapy program after being forcibly outed to his parents. 

This is a journey Caleb had personally lived through, stating, “I was outed to my parents as a freshman in college and was ultimately disowned – asked to move my belongings out of my childhood home, and faced with supporting myself through college. I’ve always pursued work that could help support youth in my shoes.” 

Today, Caleb works as the director and producer at the WITH/agency in Atlanta creating commercial films. He also captures behind-the-scenes content as an EPK cinematographer, including recent work on The House with a Clock in its Walls and Goosebumps 2.  

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Chase Harless, Survey Coordinator, Campaign for Southern Equality,
828.242.1559 (o), chase@southernequality.org

Health survey focuses on the needs of LGBTQ Southerners

Asheville, North Carolina (August 29, 2018) – The Campaign for Southern Equality has launched a Southern LGBTQ Health Survey in order to better understand the health care needs of LGBTQ Southerners. The survey data will be made publicly available and will serve as a valuable resource for the LGBTQ community, researchers, and public health advocates.

In the three weeks since the survey was released more than 2,000 LGBTQ individuals have completed the survey. More than 20 Southern LGBTQ organizations are partnering on this project to ensure that is reaches into the LGBTQ community all across the South.

“Data is a great way to tell a story, but there is very little health data available to tell the stories of LGBTQ people living in the South. Our goal with this survey is to connect with as many LGBTQ Southerners as possible to better understand their health care experiences,” says Chase Harless, Survey Coordinator with the Campaign for Southern Equality.

More than 2.6 million LGBTQ adults live in the South according to data from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

And existing research points toward LGBTQ health disparities in the South, especially H.I.V. “The crisis is most acute in Southern states, which hold 37 percent of the country’s population and as of 2014 accounted for 54 percent of all new H.I.V. diagnoses,” according to reporting from the NY Times.

“Ultimately, we’re working to increase access to LGBTQ-friendly health care in the South. The survey findings will inform creating training materials and models of LGBTQ-friendly care for Southern health care providers. Our goal is that every LGBTQ person in the South could access the care they need in their hometown,” says Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Executive Director of the Campaign for Southern Equality.

The survey is part of the Southern LGBTQ Health Initiative, a collaboration between the Campaign for Southern Equality and Western NC Community Health Services to increase access to LGBTQ-friendly health care in the South.

“In many places across the rural South, culturally competent primary care services are just not available for many in the LGBTQ community. This needs to change, and this is one step in that direction,” says Scott Parker, Director of Development and Collaboration, Western NC Community Health Services.

The survey is available in English and Spanish and takes less than 15 minutes to complete. Any LGBTQ person who lives in the South and is 18 years or older is eligible to take the survey.

The direct links to the survey are at:

English: www.surveymonkey.com/r/southernlgbtqhealthsurvey

Spanish: www.surveymonkey.com/r/EncuestadeSaludLGBTQdelSur

Supporting Partners for this project include:

Equality North Carolina

Gender Benders

South Carolina Equality

Latinos in the Deep South

Transcend Memphis

The Montrose Center

Queer Appalachia

The PAIGE Memphis

POZ-Empowerment

ImpactOUT

Transcend Charlotte

Asheville Gay Men’s Chorus

Twin Oaks Gathering

Beer City Sisters

AIDS Services Coalition

Dr. Amy Murphy-Nugen

Transform Houston

Nelwat Ishkamewe

Mississippi Rising Coalition

Birmingham AIDS Outreach

Mississippi Positive Network

Central Alabama Pride

Comunity Estrella

###

Based in Asheville, North Carolina, the Campaign for Southern Equality is a non-profit organization that advocates for full LGBTQ equality across the South.

http://www.southernequality.org