|
A Message from the Conference Planners:
We are so grateful to those registering to attend the 2021 conference virtually and we hope to also welcome you in person in 2022 as we honor the conference’s 10 year anniversary. One of the goals of the conference is to ensure that everyone who attends will leave the event knowing a person of transgender (umbrella term) experience, as a person, not as a theory, talking point, or patient. That is why, more than anyone, we are thankful for the trans and nonbinary people and their families and loved ones who attend, present, and participate in these events in a demonstration of visibility that allows them to be known. As you experience the day, we want you to consider what it means for someone of trans experience to be visible to you in this way. Consider how it would feel to present yourself to a forum where your existence may be opened to debate, medicalized, politicized, or dehumanized, while the whole time you are worried that the exposure could lead to discomfort, trauma, violence, or even your death. Imagine what it might mean for a parent to advocate for their child knowing that to tell their own story means to reveal their child’s story and may provide details that could lead those who intend that beloved child harm directly to their home and family. The last ten years have been tough. The last year very tough. The last two month unbearably tough. We ask that you consider the human cost of trans visibility not just so you will sympathize or empathize or laud anyone for their bravery, we ask it so that the process of consideration will help the scales fall from your eyes. And we hope the experience will motivate and equip you to remove the scales from the eyes of others, as you encounter them in your professional and private lives. Caring for transgender people in an affirming way saves lives and unlocks joy. If you are in medicine, the behavioral sciences, or education, affirming care is the default position of your discipline. Affirming care is the status quo; not a radical alternative, but the recommended standard practice. It is our hope that as you come to know the truths of trans lives you will make them visible in your own lives and contexts in ways that bring aid and comfort to transgender people and those who love them, and an increase of grace and justice to everyone. |
2021 NEPA Trans Health Conference Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 9:30 am to 4:00pm To ensure the health and safety of attendees, presenters, and staff the 2021conference will be presented virtually NEPA Trans Health Conference is a Collaborative Community Event Planned and Administered by "NEPA Trans Health" together with: The NEPA Transgender Community (Trans Individuals, Families, Allies), the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, area Physical and Behavioral Health Practitioners, and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Diversity Education Consortium (NEPDEC) Follow this site, NEPA Trans Health on Facebook, or @NEPATransHealth on Twitter |
WHAT IS THE NEPA TRANS HEALTH CONFERENCE?
Our Mission and Goal
The NEPA Trans Health Conference was conceived in 2012 as an educational forum for Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) area health care professionals, their staffs, educators, and the general public to learn from the transgender community and from those who treat and support them about the necessary care, respect, and understanding of people who are transgender.
The primary goal of the conference is to overcome provider knowledge gaps and to reduce the psychological harm and medical neglect that is done to transgender people when their lived experience and the professional consensus that directs their care and treatment is not well understood by care providers and others.
The primary goal of the conference is to overcome provider knowledge gaps and to reduce the psychological harm and medical neglect that is done to transgender people when their lived experience and the professional consensus that directs their care and treatment is not well understood by care providers and others.