Monthly Updates from the Network

As we get ready to close out year four of our five year CDC cooperative agreement, more of our time is increasingly being turned to sustainability planning. Last month the Network’s best practices committee convened for a two day retreat to culminate and discuss all of the best and promising practices submitted by the field for the EMPOWERED best practices document. Simultaneously, Dr. Scout spent a week at the Rockefeller Retreat Center in Italy at the invitation of the Sellers Dorsey Foundation brainstorming new national LGBT health activities.

The team reconvened to attend Netroots Nation, a progressive conference for bloggers and social advocates. This conference has been our single best opportunity to build relationships with LGBT media annually. This year was no exception, Dr. Scout was asked to participate in the first ever panel on LGBT health for the LGBT pre-con. This was an opportunity to highlight top health issues for 50+ of our top community reporters and bloggers. Staff and two scholarship recipients were busy at the main conference as well, learning and sharing all of the great tips and tools to expand social movements utilizing online social media. Click here for all of the great Netroots Nation posts, including those from out two outstanding blogging scholarship attendees, e.shore and Sarah Jackson. The next week Scout was pleased to represent both The Fenway Institute and the Network for LGBT Health Equity at the White House’s LGBT Pride Reception. Before the event Scout published a Huffington Post blog about the poignancy of his first Obama invitation to the White House, way back in 1993.

The Network and The Fenway Institute received unexpected and unheralded media exposure from the event after a video of Dr. Scout proposing to his sweetie, Liz Margolies of the National LGBT Cancer Network, went viral. Dr. Scout and Ms. Margolies worked with GLAAD and other media experts to help respond to the equally unexpected anti-trans hatespeech that also was unleashed – calling for people to counter it in the name of how it affects all of our health and especially our youth. See the original Huffington Post story here and their Advocate Op-Ed about the hate here.

The week of media attention included over 400 stories from coast to coast, a live interview on the Michelangelo Signorile show, and culminated with a well-praised interview on MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry Show, including Dr. Scout’s call for us to really focus on health and civil rights.

The 8^th National LGBT Health Equity summit is just under two months away and the planning is in full swing. The Network just released its

general and youth scholarship applications for folks to attend the summit, Applications are due July 9^th, 2012. The complete agenda and details can be found by clicking here.

Lastly, the Network celebrated a huge win through its advocacy efforts, as CDC creates and promotes an LGBT Focused ad as part of their Tips From Former Smokers Campaign. The initial print media for the campaign did not include and LGBT focused media or dissemination efforts. You can view the ad by clicking here.