The seventh annual LGBT Health Forum was held on July 9 in Washington, D.C. The Forum is the primary annual public event of the LGBT Health Policy and Practice Graduate certificate program at the George Washington University wherein leaders, experts and activists tackle topics related to the health of the LGBT population, locally, nationally and globally.
This year, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion, the LGBT Health Forum focused on how the 1969 uprising set in motion events that positively impacted the health of LGBTQ people. Specifically, discussion focused on the examination of how disseminators of ideas and information – authors, journalists, essayists, activists, novelists and scientists – enabled the movement to grow and realize gains for LGBTQ people in their health and rights.
This discussion included six panelists who, then and today, advanced public understanding about critical issues affecting the health and wellbeing of sexual and gender minority people. The panel included journalists, essayists, novelists, activists and scientists who “got the word out” and did the hard work that had a positive impact on LGBTQ people everywhere.
Panelists
Lou Chibarro Jr. is an American journalist best known for his efforts as senior news writer for the Washington Bladeopens in new window to chronicle the gay rights movement in the Washington, D.C., area and across the country.
Michael Denneny wrote for and edited the Christopher Street Reader, one of the most widely read gay newspapers in the country. In the years following Stonewall, Denneny worked at St. Martins Press, where he played the leading role in introducing mainstream publishing to gay and lesbian books.
Joshua Johnsonopens in new window is the host of “1A,” a daily conversation about the most important issues of our time. Produced in Washington, D.C., by WAMU 88.5 and distributed nationally by NPR, “1A” takes a deep and unflinching look at America, bringing context and insight to stories unfolding across the country and the world. He began his public radio career at WLRN in Miami then served as morning newscaster for KQED in San Francisco. Johnson is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.
Esther Newton is a cultural anthropologist best known for her work on the ethnography of lesbian and gay communities in the U.S., beginning with "The drag queens; a study in urban anthropology" (1968). Newton uses oral history and ethnographic methods to examine cultures and subcultures within queer communities.
Charles Silverstein began his 40-year career as a psychologist presenting before the American Psychiatric Association arguing to eliminate homosexuality as a mental disorder, authoring numerous books and scientific papers on the topic. He is co-author (with Edmund White) of The Joy of Gay Sex and has dedicated his career to challenging the criteria of social morality as the basis for diagnosing sexual disorders.
About the Host Organization
The LGBT Health Policy and Practice Programopens in new window is an 18-credit interdisciplinary graduate certificate program at The George Washington University (GW) offered in a hybrid online/two week, on-campus residency format. With an applied focus aimed at expanding the capacity of practitioners to offer improved and highly effective services to the LGBT population, we have a collective impact on the improvement of health outcomes and the closing of health disparities within the population. The program integrates perspectives from public health, public policy, mental health, social work, nursing and medical science. The program’s hybrid format allows students from across the country and around the world to enroll. Students complete the bulk of the coursework online and participate in two residencies on GW’s campusopens in new window in Washington, D.C., each year, where they attend classes with core faculty, hear presentations from distinguished guest lecturers and visit with policy professionals and political representatives on Capitol Hill.