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The Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference (formerly Philadelphia Trans Health Conference) is an annual conference related to transgender health and wellness for transgender people, advocates, and healthcare providers. It is run by the Mazzoni Center and is the largest free trans-focused conference in the world. [1]
The conference emerged in response to the lack of healthcare resources and access for the transgender community in Philadelphia. An April 1999 survey conducted by the Philadelphia Transgender Health Action Coalition (which would later become the Mazzoni Center) exposed problems of transgender people being denied treatment for general healthcare problems, needing to educate providers on transgender healthcare issues, and a lack of understanding of transgender issues in HIV service providers specifically. [2]
PTHAC, the Philadelphia EMA HIV Transgender/Transsexual Caucus, and the Philadelphia AIDS Consortium partnered to plan and fund a 3-day conference to address these issues. In the Summer of 2001, the organizations formed a planning committee consisting of Charlene Arcila, June Dizon, Ben Singer, and Ron Powers. Due to a lack of funding, the conference was made a single day rather than three.
The first conference, entitled "Trans-Health for the New Millennium," took place on May 5, 2002. From 2006 until 2020, it was held at the Philadelphia Convention Center. [3]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mazzoni Center postponed the conference that was scheduled to occur that year between June 23-25. They chose to move the conference to a virtual format in 2021, [4] and again in 2022. [5]
On April 5, 2023, the Mazzoni Center announced on the conference's website that the team would be using 2023 as a planning and development year and that the conference would not be taking place that year. They hosted a community conversation in partnership with the Mayor's Office of LGBTQ Affairs on May 3 of that year. [6]
In March of 2024, the Mazzoni Center announced that the conference would be resuming in-person with a limited capacity of 1,000 participants. Unlike in previous years, the location was also changed to the Temple University campus. [7]
The conference hosts a variety of activities, such as workshops, religious services, certifications, and vendor spaces.
Attendees can take the general, professional, and continuing education tracts. In 2012, the conference also launched a youth summit with workshops and social events specifically for youth. [8]
Southern Comfort Conference - another large transgender-related conference in the United States
The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV, found its way to the United States between the 1970s and 1980s, but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexual men in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco in 1981. Treatment of HIV/AIDS is primarily via the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs, and education programs to help people avoid infection.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, commonly called The Center, is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) population of New York City and nearby communities.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention, commonly known as PrEP, is the use of antiviral drugs as a strategy for the prevention of HIV/AIDS by people that do not yet have HIV/AIDS. PrEP is one of a number of HIV prevention strategies for people who are HIV negative but who have a higher risk of acquiring HIV, including sexually active adults who are at increased risk of contracting HIV, people who engage in intravenous drug use, and serodiscordant sexually active couples. When used as directed, PrEP for HIV infection has been shown to be highly effective, reducing the risk of acquiring HIV through sexual intercourse by up to 99% and injection drug use by 74%.
AIDS service organizations are community-based organizations that provide support for people affected by HIV/AIDS. This article focuses on HIV/AIDS service organizations in the United States only. However, it is important to note that similar organizations in other countries, such as Canada, also played significant roles during the HIV/AIDS crisis and share many common experiences and challenges.
Howard Brown Health is a nonprofit LGBTQ healthcare and social services provider that was founded in 1974. It is based in Chicago and was named after Howard Junior Brown.
Many retirement issues for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBTQ) and intersex people are unique from their non-LGBTI counterparts and these populations often have to take extra steps addressing their employment, health, legal and housing concerns to ensure their needs are met. Throughout the United States, "2 million people age 50 and older identify as LGBT, and that number is expected to double by 2030", estimated in a study done by the Institute for Multigenerational Health at the University of Washington. In 1969, the Stonewall Riots marked the start of the modern gay rights movement and increasingly LGBTQ+ people have become more visible and accepted into mainstream cultures. LGBTQ+ elders and retirees are still considered a newer phenomenon creating challenges and opportunities as a range of aging issues are becoming more understood as those who live open lives redefine commonly held beliefs and as retirees newly come out of the closet.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people face difficulties in prison such as increased vulnerability to sexual assault, other kinds of violence, and trouble accessing necessary medical care. While much of the available data on LGBTQ inmates comes from the United States, Amnesty International maintains records of known incidents internationally in which LGBTQ prisoners and those perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender have suffered torture, ill-treatment and violence at the hands of fellow inmates as well as prison officials.
Various issues in medicine relate to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. According to the US Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA), besides HIV/AIDS, issues related to LGBT health include breast and cervical cancer, hepatitis, mental health, substance use disorders, alcohol use, tobacco use, depression, access to care for transgender persons, issues surrounding marriage and family recognition, conversion therapy, refusal clause legislation, and laws that are intended to "immunize health care professionals from liability for discriminating against persons of whom they disapprove."
In the United States, the rights of transgender people vary considerably by jurisdiction. In recent decades, there has been an expansion of federal, state, and local laws and rulings to protect transgender Americans; however, many rights remain unprotected, and some rights are being eroded. Since 2020, there has been a national movement by conservative/right-wing politicians and organizations to target transgender rights. There has been a steady increase in the number of anti-transgender bills introduced each year, especially in Republican-led states.
The William Way LGBT Community Center is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and nearby communities, located at 1315 Spruce Street in Philadelphia in the Gayborhood.
Mazzoni Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit health care provider in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that serves the LGBTQ community.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Missouri face some legal challenges not experienced by other residents throughout the state, excluding St. Louis, Kansas City, and Columbia. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Missouri, in accordance with 2003's Lawrence v. Texas decision. In 2006, Missouri codified the legality of same-sex sexual activity into its statutory law.
International Transgender Day of Visibility is an annual event occurring every March 31 since 2009 dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, as well as a celebration of their contributions to society. The first International Transgender Day of Visibility was held on March 31, 2009. It has since been spearheaded by the U.S.-based youth advocacy organization Trans Student Educational Resources.
The development of LGBT culture in Philadelphia can be traced back to the early 20th century. It exists in current times as a dynamic, diverse, and philanthropically active culture with establishments and events held to promote LGBT culture and rights in Philadelphia and beyond.
Cecilia Chung is a civil rights leader and activist for LGBT rights, HIV/AIDS awareness, health advocacy, and social justice. She is a trans woman, and her life story was one of four main storylines in the 2017 ABC miniseries When We Rise about LGBT rights in the 1970s and 1980s.
Transgender health care includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions for transgender individuals. A major component of transgender health care is gender-affirming care, the medical aspect of gender transition. Questions implicated in transgender health care include gender variance, sex reassignment therapy, health risks, and access to healthcare for trans people in different countries around the world. Gender affirming health care can include psychological, medical, physical, and social behavioral care. The purpose of gender affirming care is to help a transgender individual conform to their desired gender identity.
Detransition is the cessation or reversal of a transgender identification or of gender transition, temporarily or permanently, through social, legal, and/or medical means. The term is distinct from the concept of 'regret', and the decision may be based on a shift in gender identity, or other reasons, such as health concerns, social or economic pressure, discrimination, stigma, political beliefs, or religious beliefs.
Discrimination against transgender men and transmasculine individuals is sometimes referred to as transandrophobia, anti-transmasculinity, or transmisandry.
Genspect is an international group founded in June 2021 by psychotherapist Stella O'Malley that has been described as gender-critical. Genspect opposes gender-affirming care, as well as social and medical transition for transgender people. Genspect opposes allowing transgender people under 25 years old to transition, and opposes laws that would ban conversion therapy on the basis of gender identity. Genspect also endorses the unproven concept of rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD), which proposes a subclass of gender dysphoria caused by peer influence and social contagion. ROGD has been rejected by major medical organisations due to its lack of evidence and likelihood to cause harm by stigmatizing gender-affirming care.
The Evaluation of Transsexual Surgery was a report published by the National Center for Health Care Technology (NCHCT) under the United States Department of Health and Human Services in 1981. The report drew on a paper from Janice Raymond on the "social and ethical aspects of transsexual surgery" which the NCHCT had commissioned from her in 1980. The report concluded, based on Raymond's work, that transgender surgeries were "experimental" and "controversial" and recommended they not be covered by public insurance. This was formalized in a National Coverage Determination (NCD) banning it for Medicaid in 1989, which remained in force until 2014. The report and exclusion of trans healthcare that resulted from it are thought to have shortened the lifespans of transgender people in the United States.
William Way LGBT Community Center archives https://www.waygay.org/archives-collections
Official website https://www.mazzonicenter.org/conference
