Featured post

Report about Public Health Preparedness and LGBTQ Communities

I have been involved in LGBTQ health research for many years now. First with HIV and now with issues related to pandemic and disaster preparedness.  An important aspect of early HIV activity was the involvement of community members in the absence of institutional assistance. Act-Up and similar groups provided important information and resources when other community and governmental entities failed or refused to. I believe that LGBTQ communities should consider similar measures when it comes to issues related to pandemics and other hazards that can harm LGBTQ communities. 

To learn more about the public health preparedness within LGBTQ communities I sought to talk to people at LGBTQ community/medical organizations about their plans and resources regarding preparedness concerning natural and human-caused hazards.  I also used this opportunity to talk to them about their activities and thoughts regarding the Anti-LGBTQ legislation and activity happening in the US.  I believe that these activities could negatively impact the operations of these organizations and the well-being of community members just as much as a snowstorm or tornado.  I wanted to learn what organizations are doing and their planning and preparation actions.  The results would help me move forward to better understand what preparedness needs LGBTQ organizations and communities need. 

Download Link:

https://www.emilia-lombardi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Report-about-Public-Health-Preparedness-and-LGBTQ-Communities-Emilia-Lombardi.pdf

Links to Material from Trans in the CLE Workshop

https://skepticalscience.com/debunking-handbook-2020-downloads-translations.html

https://www.mirkwork.com/

https://hackblossom.org/cybersecurity/

https://spsp.org/news-center/character-context-blog/be-heard-listen

https://anatomicair.com/book-templates/

https://www.emilia-lombardi.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Fighting-Back-Strategies-to-Resist-Erasure-Lombardi.pdf

Book Review:  Crisis and Care: Queer Activist Responses to A Global Pandemic

There are several books being published about the COVID-19 pandemic.  Very few, if any, will say anything about the experiences of LGBTQ people.   Crises and Care is unique in not only in its focus on LGBTQ people, but it’s written for a general audience.   Within it are stories about individual and organizational resilience to the pandemic and the issues that developed in its wake.  This is not an academic book or written specifically for an academic audience, but as a professor I can see having my students read various chapters to illustrate community actions during the pandemic.

The authors of the chapters come from various backgrounds.  There are community advocates, executive directors, health care providers, professors, and lawyers represented in the book.  There is some diversity based on race and ethnicity and sexual and gender identities, but it’s also a short book. 

What is great about this book is that it highlights how LGBT people and organizations responded to the pandemic and the lockdowns needed to stem infection.  Adrian Shanker and Denise Spivak talk about how communities and community centers experienced the pandemic, highlighting the resilience of LGBTQ people but also showcasing the problems they experience.  There are many essays from people discussing their own response to the pandemic highlighting the positives and negatives that occurred in their lives.  I personally found Kenyon Farrow’s essay on fighting medical mistrust among Black communities.  I’ll want to use this in my classes when we discuss the relationships between public health professionals and the communities they serve. 

I was excited for the publication of this book as there is generally a lack of any material discussing LGBTQ pandemic response or public health preparedness in general.  One disappointment is that it is so short.  And while some of the authors are trans, there wasn’t a chapter that was specific to trans lives.  However, even if the book were three times as long it would still fall short of representing the diversity of experiences and issues of LGBTQ people. 

I strongly recommend this book for people interested in understanding the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on LGBTQ people.  This isn’t a book oriented to academics or other professionals but is written for a wider audience and could be a useful teaching tool for undergraduate and graduate classes. 

Trans/Nonbinary Voice Study

We are looking for transgender or nonbinary people for a study examining the connection between their voice and their social experiences.

  • There are 2 parts to the study, both will be conducted entirely online.
  • First, we will ask you to answer an online questionnaire asking about your experiences with being transgender/nonbinary and other health questions.
  • Second, you will be scheduled for an online voice analysis appointment that will assess your voice’s pitch, loudness, and other characteristics.
  • The each part of the study should take around 30 minutes each of your time. You will be given $50 after completion of both parts of the study.

All information that we receive from you, including your name and email address, will be strictly confidential and only used for the purpose of scheduling an appointment. Your participation is voluntary, and you can refuse to answer any questions or cancel at any time.Before we can schedule an appointment, we need to verify your eligibility. Please answer the following questions. Your answers will not be collected and stored; they will only be used to verify your eligibility.

https://ethn.io/87099

Human Subjects Approval, Baldwin Wallace University’s Institutional Review Board SP20-9897rev3a

COVIDiaries: A podcast to discuss the COVID-19 experiences of my colleagues and students

COVIDiaries is a podcast I created to discuss the COVID-19 and Stay-at-Home order with colleagues and students. The first is with Tracy Grady, a friend and voice instructor at Baldwin Wallace University. Here we discuss handing the stay at home order and teaching online. Tracy also shares the songs she created about her feelings about the coronavirus.

Presentation for 2018 WPATH Conference in Buenos Aires

I am presenting at the 2018 WPATH conference.

Quebracho AB
Oral – Violence and Discrimination
10:15 – ANTI-DISCRIMINATION POLICIES AND THE EXPERIENCES OF TRANSGENDER PEOPLE WITHIN THE UNITED STATES
Emilia Lombardi, PhD and Swagata Banik, PhD
Baldwin Wallace University, Berea, OH, USA

I have 2 versions of my slides, one in English and the other in Español.

Anti-Discrimination Policies and the Experiences for Transgender People

Las Políticas Contra la Discriminación y las Experiencias para las Personas Transgéneros en los Estados Unidos

Mentoring program for trans and non-binary scholars

This year Sociologists for Trans Justice is starting a mentoring program for trans and non-binary scholars!

It will pair trans and non-binary assistant professors and advanced graduate students with colleagues of any gender who can provide advice and support during the early years of the mentee’s career. Our hope is that those mentors and mentees who will be in Montreal for the ASA annual meetings will meet up for coffee or a drink on their own and/or around LGBTQ Caucus meetings, and then continue their conversations throughout the year.

We *really* need mentors to make this work, so if you are a sociologist and willing to mentor an assistant professor or advanced graduate student, *please* volunteer (and let us know on the form if you’re willing to mentor more than one person). The amount of time is not too onerous and it really makes a difference to young scholars and, through their development, the section.

If you are willing to volunteer as a mentor, please fill out this form https://baldwinwallace.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ebWrKdOASWFtkyh by July 22nd

If you are a trans or non-binary assistant professor or advanced graduate student who would like to participate in the program, please fill out this form
https://baldwinwallace.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4HLnbNNCO21PZfT  by July 22nd

Mentees, please note that we broke down different types of mentorship on the survey. The more specific you are with your mentorship needs, the better we will be able to match you with a mentor that can guide you on a specific research project, career path or other issues like work/family balance or the challenges of being an underrepresented minority in academia.

Direct any questions to Emilia Lombardi (elombard@bw.edu)

Thanks for your interest and participation!

The Committee on Advancing Trans and Non-Binary Scholars in Sociology (part of Soc 4 Trans Justice) (including Emilia Lombardi, Jennifer Pearson, Zachary Palmer, and Natalie Ingraham) has designed our mentoring program to address these challenges.  Please take part!

There is a role for activism in academia and research: ACT-UP as an example.

The Controversy surrounding Rebecca Tuvel’s article in the pages of Hypatia brings to my mind the activity involving the publication of the Man Who Would Be Queen (MWWBQ) by J Michael Bailey.  I’ve discussed this book with others in a podcast available here, and is also discussed in Alice Dreger’s Book Galileo’s’ Middle Finger so I won’t be discussing it further except to highlight an issue that both brings to mind.   What role do community members and community members who are themselves academics) have in in the production and discussion of academic work.

Those supporting Dr. Tuvel’s  and Bailey’s works view the critiques as being unwarranted and unwanted with some equating their actions with that of a Witch Hunt and the Catholic Church during the dark ages.   As if people of color and trans people have the kind of institutional power as either Puritan leaders of Salem or the Catholic Church.  Both these reactions are dismissive and do little to minimize the tension between groups.  Rather than these examples I would point people to another example, that of AIDS activists and biomedical researchers.

ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) arose to confront the discrimination and stigma people with HIV/AIDS were experiencing.  Their actions put them against politicians (especially the Reagan Administrations and Senator Jesse Helms), but also pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and researchers.  They spent much energy protesting and advocating for community representation and involvement in how new drugs are tested and made available to those in need.  The results of their actions led to the inclusion of those affected by HIV/AIDS in having a say in how HIV/AIDS work is done.  This is not to say that the actions of ACT-UP were always constructive.  I don’t think placing a giant condom over Senator Helm’s house helped change some people’s mind.  What did help was that there were officials and researchers who did listen and helped ACT-UP bring about changes to support both HIV/AIDS activists and the conduct of research to the betterment of both communities.

This is where my perspective begins.  My work in trans health research was greatly influenced by this and career involved working with community members in the conduct of health research and programs.  So I wonder why other fields are so hesitant in hearing critiques from others.  Yes, some critiques are harsh and there are poor responses from people on multiple sides, but that doesn’t negate the need to respond to the criticism.  I’ve had my share of harsh criticisms that upset me.  I had moments that I was so angry at people’s reactions and wanted to respond in kind.  This is why people stress the need for cultural humility when doing work that involves other communities.  To focus on the needs of others rather than my own needs, which is easier said than done, is still important to strive for.

I empathize with Rebecca Tuvel’s plight as an assistant professor who is just beginning her career.  I wish to advise her to take this experience and rather than build a wall between herself and her critics, to reach out, listen, and to work with them.  To develop the humility that one’s perspective isn’t always correct.  To take the example of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, an HIV researcher and NIH official who many activists at the time called a murderer.  Rather than be defensive and ignore them he chose to work with many of the people who called him names.

And for the editors of Hypatia and others, if you were concerned for the plight of junior academics I would focus your actions more broadly and include those academics of color, trans academics, and other academics from marginalized communities and to improve your competency when it comes to issues and works involving those communities.  If Dr. Tuvel received better guidance from editors and reviewers she wouldn’t have had to go through these experiences in the first place.

 

 

 

 

My poster on LGB smoking for the National LGBTQ Health Conference 2017 #LGBTQHealthconf

The Impact Of Social Cohesion and Distress On The Health Of Race/Ethnic, and Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual People

Abstract

Social stress theory posits that minority status (race/ethnic and LGB) can impact both coping resources and health outcomes. The study examines the role social cohesion plays in the health of race/ethnic and lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations using data from the 2013-2015 National Health Interview Survey.

The NHIS is a multistage, area probability sample design and is a nationally representative health survey of US noninstitutionalized, civilian population conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. The total number of cases in all three waves was 104928. Analysis was done using R (v 3.3.3) and Rstudio (v 1.0) for windows. In order to properly analyze NHIS’s sampling design the analysis utilized the Survey package developed by Thomas Lumley for use with surveys with complex sampling designs.

Race/ethnic and sexual minorities reported less social cohesion than white and heterosexual participants, and social cohesion was negatively related to measures of distress, and smoking more than a pack of cigarettes a day.

These findings support the theory in that minority groups have reduced people’s social resources (in this case social cohesion).  Lower levels of social cohesion indicates having not as many social connections and relationships with people their neighborhood.  The experience of being a race/ethnic or sexual minority means isolated from other social relationships, which could impact their access to coping resources like social support. This creates a situation very different from that experienced by White heterosexual men and women.

PDF of my poster:  LGBTQ Health Conference 2017 Lombardi