Over 80 Professionals Attend First-Ever Education Event at the Center

Last month, the Pride Center hosted Broward County’s first Transgender Medical Conference. Over 80 medical and clinical professionals participated actively in the day’s activities.

“For those in our community that identify as transgender, there are significant challenges accessing culturally competent medical and clinical services,” says Linda Jain, Program Operations Manager at the Center. “This conference represented one step towards addressing those challenges.”

The Symposium aimed to educate the medical and clinical communities about the unique care required for this medically underserved community. “Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey” states that 50% of the respondents reported having to teach their medical providers about transgender care and 28% postponed care when sick or injured due to discrimination.

The Pride Center collaborated with the Broward County Health Department, SunServe and the Florida Caribbean AIDS Education and Training Center to plan and execute the successful event.

Speakers included: Marilyn Volker, Ph.D., a Board Certified Sexologist; JoAnne Keatley, MSW, Director for Transgender Health at the University of California; James Lopresti, PH.D., L.M.H.C, founding Director for Mental Health Services for SunServe; and M. Layne Yassesn, PA, specializing in Psychiatry, Neurology and Transgender Medicine.

“The positive feedback we’ve received since hosting the Symposium has been overwhelming,” says Jain. “The collaborative energies of so many groups will enable us to expand this event in the future.”