“For society and many service providers, the transgender community is highly invisible and marginalized,” says Jerimarie Liesegang, founder and director of the Connecticut Transadvocacy Coalition. Liesegang will discuss HIV infection rates, risk behaviors, and prevention among transgender and non-gender conforming individuals at this month’s HIV Forum. The forum will take place on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 from 12 pm to 1:30 pm at The Institute for Community Research, 2 Hartford Square West, Suite 100, 146 Wyllys St in Hartford. The event is free; lunch will be served and advance registration is required.

“In discussing HIV/AIDS in relationship to any community, it is vital to first understand the scope, nature and uniqueness of that community’s characteristics,” Liesegang says. A civil rights activist, Liesegang directs the CT Transadvocacy Coalition (CTAC), a grassroots and volunteer-based organization that works to improve societal attitudes and law to achieve equal rights for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals and communities, through education and  political and social advocacy. The CTAC works on many issues of importance to the trans community, including hate crime legislation that protects gender identity or expression and disability; a training and advocacy program that provides housing and services to trans women; and overall improvement of access to and quality of healthcare.

In her presentation, Liesegang will distinguish the transgender community from lesbian, gay and bisexual communities in terms of HIV/AIDS risks, prevention and treatment. “Folks are likely not intimately knowledgeable of the trans community,” says Liesegang. “Very typically, Trans gets lumped under the Lesbian/ Gay/ Bisexual/ Transgender (LGBT) umbrella, and conflated with identification by sexual orientation - not gender identity and expression.” Liesegang’s presentation will be of particular interest to health and social service providers, researchers, and members of the general public who will come away with a greater understanding of the transgender community, relevant HIV/AIDS and healthcare issues, and ways to better tailor HIV/AIDS services to specific needs.

This is the second presentation in the Autumn, 2006 series of forums organized by The Institute for Community Research and the Connecticut AIDS Education and Training Center with support from Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim. The Hartford HIV Forum meets from 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m., on the second Tuesday of each month from September through June. The goal of the forums is to give the local community the most up-to-date information on current topics in AIDS prevention, treatment, research and care. To register for the forum, call the Institute for Community Research at 860-278-2044. For more information about the series, contact Kim Radda at The Institute for Community Research at 860-278-2044 X285.

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