Pride Month Training: Transgender Cultural Fluency

JUN 3, 3PM - 5PM VIA ZOOM

June 2021 is Pride Month and to celebrate, we are focusing on sharing stories of LGBTQ+ children and families impacted by the foster care system.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ+) young people are over-represented in foster care, where they are more likely to experience discrimination, abuse, neglect and the risk of harm.

A 2019 study found 30.4% of youth in foster care identify as LGBTQ and 5% as transgender, compared to 11.2% and 1.17% of youth not in foster care.

LGBTQ youth are more likely to suffer from consistent harassment and abuse in foster care, juvenile justice settings and homeless shelters. At times, they’re subjected to dangerous efforts that falsely claim to change their orientation or gender identity, including so-called “conversion therapy.” These incidents are particularly pervasive with transgender youth, whose very identities are rejected in state care, and who, when bullied and abused, are often criminalized for acting in their own self-defense.

Without safe foster care placements, and without the vital support of caseworkers and other child welfare professionals, LGBTQ youth often flee abuse in foster care only to face homelessness and sexual exploitation.

Transgender people experience discrimination and even physical violence on a consistent basis. Transgender 101 will be an introduction to transgender people, our lives and issues. Transgender people are not known and understood by others, and our training is meant to address this lack of information and experience. Adrien Lawyer, Executive Director of the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico, provides basic training including a chance to engage in dialogue and have your questions answered directly. Our objective is to personalize transgender folks and to increase visibility and awareness while decreasing the discrimination, fear, hostility and violence that is routinely directed toward members of our population. We also encourage our audiences to examine their own gender identity and the cultural norms and expectations we hold surrounding gender and sexuality.

The Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico is the only agency in the state that exists solely to serve transgender people and our families and loved ones. We are one of very few organizations in the United States that provides as wide an array of services, education and advocacy as we do.

Founded in 2008, TGRCNM has provided more than 2000 Transgender 101 trainings all over the state of New Mexico including multiple UNM campuses, Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless, Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico, Planned Parenthood, Barrett House, Crossroads for Women, New Mexico Physicians Assistant Association, the Albuquerque Police Department and many more varied audiences. We have assisted in crafting policy in several different arenas in New Mexico and have provided individual advocacy for many transgender people in our state. We provide direct services to some of the most impacted folks in our communities. These services include food, bus passes, HIV testing, clothing, support groups, legal assistance, employment search assistance, a safe restroom, a computer lab, and much more. We accompany transgender people to name change hearings and doctor appointments and provide some emergency relief as well.