By: Joe Siegel/TRT Reporter
The Fifth Annual Transgender Lives: The Intersection of Health and Law Conference will be held on Saturday, April 30 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the UConn Health Center in Farmington, Ct. This year’s speakers include Dr. William Howe from the Connecticut Department of Education, who will discuss the department’s role in supporting transgender rights, Dr. Ilja Hulinsky, who will discuss medical treatment for transgender patients, and Michael Munson, who will lead a workshop about Anti-Transgender Hate Crimes and Sexual Assaults.
Other subjects will include peer support in the trans community, eliminating trans health insurance exclusions, working with transgender clients, transition-related health care, safer sexual practices, and facial feminization surgery.
There will also be discussions on transgender law issues and transgender legislation featuring members of Lambda Legal and CT Equality.
This conference attracts several hundred people from throughout the New England area and is represented by members of the trans community, allies, service providers, medical professionals, educators and lawyers.
Until the formation of Transgender Lives, there hadn’t been a forum to discuss transgender health and legal issues in the New England region, according to Jerimarie Liesegang,Director of the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition.
“They really work together. My access to medical care may depend on my legal rights,” said Liesegang. “For the trans community, legal and health are not separate entities.”
The Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition, CTAC, aims to make the state a safe and tolerant place for the Trans and gender nonconforming individual through education, social advocacy and activism.
Sponsors of this year’s conference include CT Outreach Society, Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective, Twenty Club, the Ct TransAdvocacy Coalition, and the University of Connecticut Health Center.
Please register by April 15th. If you require interpretation services, please register by March 15.
For more information call CTAC at 860.983.8139, email:
conference@transgenderlives.org or visit the web site at www.transgenderlives.org.General Registration is $25, $50 for NASW/CT CEU registration (National Association of Social Workers/Ct), though no one will be turned away due to registration cost.
The UCONN Health Center is located at 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT.
