[Music] I'm happy I'm carefree and I'm gay I was born this way I'm happy I'm Care Free and [Music] I'm the concept of pride month started with the Stonewall riots in 1969 these rids began in New York City following a police raid on the Stonewall in at popular gay bar Marsha P Johnson a black drag queen who frequented the bar is credited with being an outspoken advocate for gay and lgbtq plus rights Milwaukee held his Pride Celebration over the past weekend Chris Allen president and CEO of diverse and resilient joins us to talk about what pride month signifies and how to support the lgbtq plus Community as an ally Chris thanks for joining us thank you so for those who may not know what is diverse and resilient diverse and resilient we are a Statewide lgbtq Public Health Organization we focus on addressing Health inequities that are experienced within the lgbtq plus community and we predominantly work with communities of color because at the intersections of race ethnicity sexual orientation gender identity is where we find the the the largest inequities have did you get involved I got involved as a youth adviser back in 2002 uh I had recently experienced um periods of homelessness myself be after coming out as gay to my parents and uh found support with my my cousin my cousin learned about diverse and resilient and um I had had a friend who was also engaged with diverse and resilient and so I was encouraged to really attend and through their program programming I found not just a space where me and all that I represent was tolerated but a space where I where my identities were affirmed and I I felt like I was appreciated for the experiences that I could bring you talk about health disparities what what do the numbers show here in Milwaukee so the the numbers I I don't have exact numbers but communities of color and especially queer communities um when we're looking at rates of HIV infection and prevalence within our communities there are high rates of HIV prevalence in uh the black game bisexual Community um black Trans women um and uh also our latinx community are our gay bisexual same gender loving communities and so those ex those uh the rates the prevalence that's within those communities is far greater than our white gay counterparts and even and especially our heterosexual counterparts and so when we see inequities like that it's not because there is something genetically or biologically different with with communities of color um but that prevalence is is higher and therefore one encounter um increases the chances of acquiring HIV for someone and so when we see those higher rates of prevalence it's because of systemic issues that need to be addressed um either education awareness access to resources access to Healthcare access to education that needs to be addressed and improved in order to really address those those root causes of these disparities I know the late Ronnie Grace was a big Advocate uh on knowing your status yes uh is that push still going on like for people to know their status and to get on prep yes definitely so our our HIV prevention and Care um programs take a status neutral approach to the work that we do and what that means is that whether you're living with HIV or whether you're at risk of acquiring HIV we have services for you and can engage you in navigating what resources are available and so for people who are not living with HIV it is important to understand and know what prep and pep are so that if you do find yourself in um situations where you're at a higher risk of acquiring HIV um you can determine if prep is a is right for you um you can access the resources to get on prep um if you've recently had an experience where you feel like you may have been exposed to HIV you you can access pep so pep is postexposure prophylaxis where um you can take medication to greatly reduce your chances of actually acquiring HIV and for people who are living with HIV it's important to understand what U equal U equals u means um undetectable means untransmittable and so if you are in care if you are on medication and you are adhering to your treatment um and engaging in care services then you can get to a point where HIV is undetectable in your system and research has shown that once you are undetectable you are not at risk of transmitting HIV to your sexual partners I know there's been an uptick in violence against trans women we've seen a lot of that not Across the Nation right here in Milwaukee what do you think is contributing to that and how are how is diverse and resilient addressing that there's a number of factors that are contributing to it I think one of the most visible factors that's contributing to it is the increased focus on um lgbtq uh individuals and specifically the trans Community we're seeing some of our leaders um elected officials appointed officials who are um V villainizing our our trans Community um they they're not seeing our trans Community as full complete individuals and they're being looked at as if something is wrong with them and that message is being uh taken in and internalized by people who um lack awareness around what it means to be trans who um may feel like they don't know any trans people and it's spurring that um that if if they're not like us they're they're against us or they're not up from us kind of attitude where folks are feeling more vocal and more um open to expressing hatred and disdain and dislike and we're seeing that played out in a number of ways and increased taxs and increase harassment and discrimination we only got about 30 seconds left what's how what's the biggest way you could become an advocate become an advocate by learning as much as you can about the lgbtq community um find ways to support the lgbtq loved ones that you have in your life um and just be open about your support um it's important to be a visible Ally thank you Chris I appreciate it thank you [Music] oh