Gabby

One of Equality NC’s (ENC) main goals this year was to host the first ever SHYNC (Sexual Health for Youth in North Carolina) meeting in order to discuss sexual health care and sexual education for youth in custody care, specifically Juvenile Detention Centers, Foster Care and Psychiatric Treatment Facilities. This was an interesting topic that I had never considered before but after doing research it became apparent why this is such an important issue to discuss. Youth are often dehumanized in these settings, and ENC has worked with the Department of Juvenile Justice to help institute policy where youth in custody could be housed according to their self-identified gender identity. They have also aided in creating resources for youth to be treated as compassionately as one can be while in custody care. It is policy like this that ENC is trying to expand upon. North Carolina has no explicit SOGIE protections from discrimination in the juvenile justice systems, and 20% of the youth in foster care in NC identify as LGBTQ+. All young people have a right to access sexual health care services and sexual education programs, and all healthcare services must be inclusive, medically accurate, and age appropriate to all young people no matter their sexual or gender orientation. As an extension, state agencies must be acceptable to the young people they serve by providing sexual health care and literacy, and the current lack of sexual health care in these custody settings is an ethical and public health failure. 

We were set on this project from the very beginning to help design the structure of the meeting and find key stakeholders to participate and provide resources. We helped build out questions that we wanted answered, all of which circled back to the main point of what we need to do to incite change in North Carolina legislation to provide more competent and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education and services for young people in custody care regardless of their SOGIE. We then researched stakeholders and sent out invites for people to join in on the collaboration. On the day of the meeting, we had representatives from several organizations such as SHYAC (Sexual Health Youth Advocacy Coalition), CHLP (Center for HIV and Law Policy), SaySo (Strong Able Youth Speaking Out), SHIFT NC (Sexual Health Initiatives for Teens in North Carolina), Time Out Youth, Carolina Converge, and Black Pink. SHIFT NC is based out of Durham and focuses on capacity building for professionals to help increase access to sexual health care, evidence-based sex education, and sexual reproductive health care services for young people. They work with the local Department of Social Services across the state and some juvenile justice organizations and juvenile detention centers to implement sex education programs with youth. SHYAC works to invite state policymakers to collaborate with their coalition in developing policy and best practices that ensure youth in their custody care receive sound and inclusive sexual health care that is consistent with prevailing medical standards and legal and ethical obligations. Amir Sadeghi from SHYAC and CHLP stated that their purpose was not solely about prevention of STIs and STDs among LGBTQ+ individuals, it was also about the fact that “sex education and sexual health add to a young person’s life.” 

Photo-Voice

70% of transgender or gender non-conforming patients surveyed have experienced some type of discrimination in healthcare.(1)

52% of transgender respondent’s, reported that they believed they would be refused medical services because of their LGBTQ+ status.(1)

56% of lesbian, gay, or bisexual patients surveyed have experienced some type of discrimination in healthcare.(1)

LGBTQ+ individuals are 2.5 times more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and substance abuse or misuse than heterosexuals.(2)

8.2% of students in the United States school system received LGBTQ+ inclusive sexual health education.(3)

I grew up in a small, rural, conservative, mountain town in North Carolina. Both of my parents worked in the medical field, and they made sure that every year I saw my pediatrician and optometrist and every 6 months i went for a dental cleaning, like clockwork. I grew up around doctors, nurses, trauma surgeons, and paramedics; they were part of my family. When I was in high school, I injured my eye while on a school trip to New York. We made it home on a Saturday night and because my mother was good friends with my Optometrist, he opened his clinic that night and saw me, saving me a trip to the closest ER which was a 50-minute drive. I was a very accident-prone child so there were several other occasions like this throughout my middle school and high school years, and I never thought twice about it. It never even occurred to me that other people might have different experiences, that others might not feel safe around healthcare providers. While I never knew what it was like to live without good healthcare, some have gone their whole lives without ever feeling safe in a healthcare setting.

I grew up without a lot of exposure to other cultures. There were only a handful of black students in my high school, and I didn’t know anyone of the LGBTQ+ community until I went to college. I got a late start, but the more I am exposed the more I see how glaringly unbalanced our healthcare system is. The first step to fixing disparities is to know the problems and where change needs to occur. This semester I worked with Equality NC and my fellow Campbell Public Health students to craft an approach for a Photo-Voice project that would serve in advocating for mental health and healthcare equality for LGBTQ+ individuals in North Carolina legislation. Photo-Voice research is a community based participatory research method that gives individuals the tools and space needed to share their story through a series of photos, videos, and interviews. Our first task for this project was to create a question bank of things that we wanted to know. This was difficult for me as I am not a part of the LGBTQ+ community and don’t really know what questions to ask. There was a lot of research involved and our wonderful preceptor, Rebby was extremely helpful with the brainstorm sessions. While we were focusing on healthcare disparities when crafting these questions, we also wanted to be able to highlight stories of resiliency. The LGBTQ+ community has a “broad and beautiful history and culture,” (Artie Hartsell, ENC) but it has faced a lot of adversity throughout the years. When we asked some of the ENC Leadership what resiliency meant to them we were able to get a sneak peak of what the Photo-Voice project could look like once it is done. Takira Rose with ENC said: “I practice resiliency in my own life, by telling my own story, by seeking community with those who understand and share my experiences, and by pushing back against those who try to silence me.” Rebby Kern said: “To me resiliency means the opportunity to keep showing up, it means that whenever we have a moment to learn and grow, we use it to rebuild collective power, to dive deeper into community and know that ‘no’ is never the final answer. Resiliency in this community feels like a knowing each other, never giving up and knowing that while the battle is long, we are in it together.”

Currently we are doing outreach for the Photo-Voice project and trying to find some willing participants to share their stories of their healthcare experiences and how they practice resiliency in their own lives. Inclusive healthcare should not be viewed as a privilege, it is a basic human right, and we are hopeful that this Photo-Voice project will help bring awareness to this and instigate chage in our legislation.

1: Healthcare Equality Index 2020 Report by the Human Rights Campaign and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (2020)

2: American Psychiatric Association, Mental Health Disparities: LGBTQ (2017)

Take time to be comfortable in your space. 

Empower the team that is with you. 

Recently a video was released of Mark Robinson, the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, addressing a congregation in a church about teaching transgenderism and homosexuality in schools. During the speech he stated, “There is no reason anybody, anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth” (3). A more recent video was released of him speaking in another church setting where he says “Ain’t but two genders… you can go to the doctor and get cut up, you can go down to the dress shop and get made up, you can go down there and get drugged up, but at the end of the day you are just a drugged up, dressed up, made up, cut up man or woman. You ain’t changed what God put in you… If there is a movement in this country that is demonic, and that is full of the spirit of the anti-Christ, it is the transgender movement… they are dragging our kids down there into the pit of hell, trying to teach them that mess in our schools” (2). His words and message of hate are extremely damaging to the LGBTQ+ community, especially its youth. When he says that these issues don’t belong in our schools, what he is really saying is that LGBTQ+ children don’t belong in our schools. He is calling anyone that is part of the LGBTQ+ community filthy and demonic.

Mark Robinson’s comments were offensive and hurtful but unfortunately nothing we haven’t heard before. And that is the true tragedy of the situation, that we are not shocked by what was said. When powerful people in the community are quoted spreading discriminatory messages, they are elevated socially, whether the message is good or bad. Sometimes they are even elevated politically by discriminating against marginalized people in the name of a popular religious belief. Either way, the people of whom the discriminatory language was about, lose their voice and are further ostracized. The challenge with addressing a political issue like this is navigating how to elevate the voices of the oppressed over the derogatory remarks. While no one who thinks like this should be in a position of political power, by asking for Mark Robinson’s resignation, we would be perpetuating his message throughout the community. So, Equality NC decided to take this offensive message and turn it into something positive. They recently launched their #LetsGetFilthy social media campaign earlier this month. The purpose of this campaign is to not only draw attention to a long line of historical LGBTQ+ individuals such as Frida Kahlo, Pauli Murray, Bayard Rustin, Oscar Wilde, Josephine Baker, Alan Turing, James Baldwin, Marsha Johnson, and Walt Whitman, but also to bring awareness to the LGBTQ+ community by elevating their voices and fighting for inclusive and equitable environments through non-discrimination protections and electing pro-equality political candidates.

Mark Robinson made his speech in a church setting and his argument that teaching transgenderism and homosexuality in schools is child abuse, is anchored in his faith as a Christian. Unfortunately, many Christians share his viewpoint and condemn LGBTQ+ individuals simply for being open and truthful about who they are. 39.8% of North Carolina’s population is classified as rural, almost twice the national average (1). Rural communities are more religious and conservative than urban, and by spreading this hatred in a church setting and relating LGBTQ+ individuals to demons, he is perpetuating discrimination towards LGBTQ+ individuals who live in rural areas; a place where LGBTQ+ advocacy is already sorely lacking. This culturally disseminated stigma can deter individuals from disclosing their sexual orientation and gender identity. In a healthcare setting this can be dangerous and potentially harmful to the individual as well as cause adverse health effects both physically and mentally. This year, 42% of LGBTQ+ youth have seriously contemplated suicide, and at least four trans women have been murdered in North Carolina. These are just a few examples of how spreading hateful and derogatory messages can catastrophically impact a person’s life.

Until the late 1970s, homosexuality was classified as a mental illness. It is shameful that LGBTQ+ individuals continue to have to endure this abuse, discrimination, and criminalization, especially from a high-ranking political figure such as Mark Robinson, who could have a significant impact on their life and how they are able to live it through the discriminatory policies that he lobbies for. We must stand with the LGBTQ+ community in the face of this hatred and make sure that the LGBTQ+ community and its youth know their inherent worth and value.

1: How rural is North Carolina? (n.d.). Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://practicenotes.org/vol12_no3/NC.htm#:~:text=Based%20on%20this%2C%20North%20Carolina,US%20Census%20Bureau%2C%202003a).

2: North Carolina Lt. gov. Mark Robinson ... - youtube.com. (n.d.). Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GxN5tyLl0A.

3: Owens, A., Flowers, C., Burns, M., & Bisesi, R. (2021, October 8). NC senator calls for lt. gov. Robinson's resignation over homophobic comments. WRAL.com. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://www.wral.com/lt-gov-robinson-defends-homophobic-comments-dismisses-calls-for-resignation/19915242/.