Nova Scotians who identify as members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community continue to face challenges on a variety of fronts, including their ability to access health care.
A panel event hosted by the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation (DMRF) next week as part of Halifax Pride brings Dal researchers OmiSoore Dryden and Matt Numer to the table to share their expertise on the subject.
DMRF organized the virtual panel to help further the conversation on such disparities and what is being done locally to overcome them, acknowledging that research can be exclusive and that barriers to inclusion are to the detriment of the community.
“DMRF’s mission is about improving whole human health through excellent research,” says Joanne Bath, CEO of DMRF. “It’s what gets us out of bed in the morning—better health for all. We all deserve great access to care and a medical community that understands our unique needs regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation.”
The panel, Breaking Barriers: The fight against 2SLGBTQ+ health disparities in Nova Scotia, happens next Friday (August 20) from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Digging deeper
Dr. Numer, will be discussing his work at the Dalhousie SHaG (Sexual Health and Gender) lab, an umbrella under which he and associated students research LGBTQ health, sexualized violence, Indigenous boys and men's health, and e-learning.
Dr. Numer knows how important discussions like this are.
“It is important to raise awareness about diverse and historically marginalized populations. Often, we think that we have solved social issues when rights have been won, but we need to dig deeper into social conditions to understand how things like heterosexism, transphobia and homophobia impact people’s everyday lives,” he says.
Dr. Dryden, Dal’s James R. Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies, will be discussing her work as Principal Investigator of #GotBlood2Give, a research project that seeks to identify the barriers that Black gay, bisexual, and trans men encounter with donating blood and also analyzes how anti-black racism, colonialism, and sexual exceptionalism shapes the blood system in Canada.
Dr. Dryden is also an associate professor the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Community Health & Epidemiology and in addition to her research on systemic and structural issues that affect health and well-being, she also works to improve medical education and advance Black health curricular content development.
When it comes to the support and funding she receives for her research, Dr. Dryden says, “DMRF and others who have supported my research have been deeply committed to social justice and equity diversity and inclusion. They understand in the importance of supporting research that seeks to create a better life for us all—one that directly responds to and disrupts systemic racism and homophobia.”
To learn more about this event or to register, please visit https://dmrf.ca/about/events/halifax-pride-22021/.