September 29, 2023 • 27 mins
The 37th Annual AIDS Walk Philly takes place Sunday October 15th. I speak to Robb Reichard, Executive Director of the AIDS Fund about how the money raised provides emergency funds to individuals living with HIV that assist them in handling issues that can be a barrier to staying in treatment. Jacqueline Flores-Leyba, Manager of Care Services for Congreso, one of the agencies receiving funds talks about the impact of the unrestricted grants that went to providing a translator for an HIV positive client who was seeking asylum and is now flourishing. To register contact AIDS Fund at 215-731-9255 or go to www.aidsfundphilly.org.
Have you ever wondered what the letters and number in LGBTQIA2s mean? We break it down with Angela Giampolo, of Philly Gay Lawyer and Giampolo Law Group for our monthly feature SpeakOut. we discuss why it matters to understand this important alphabet soup. https://www.phillygaylawyer.com/
https://giampololaw.com/
Have you ever wondered what the letters and number in LGBTQIA2s mean? We break it down with Angela Giampolo, of Philly Gay Lawyer and Giampolo Law Group for our monthly feature SpeakOut. we discuss why it matters to understand this important alphabet soup. https://www.phillygaylawyer.com/
https://giampololaw.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to what'sgoing on? A show about making a
difference in our lives and our communities. I'm Lorraine Ballardmorrow. Have you ever
wondered what the letters and number inLGBTQIA two S mean. We break it
down with Angela gian Polo for ourmonthly features Speak Out, and we discuss
(00:22):
why it matters to understand this importantalphabet soup. But first, the thirty
seventh annual AIDS Walk Philly is comingup on Sunday, October fifteenth, and
we have some folks here to tellus about the AIDS Walk and where the
money goes and why it's so importantstill for us to be aware and supportive
(00:43):
of services that address the concerns ofthose living with HIV and AIDS. Joining
us right now is Rob Rychard,he is executive director of the AIDS Fund
Philly, and Jacqueline Floris Laba,who's manager of care services for Congresso,
which is one of the recipients ofthe funds. So Rob, I'm going
to start with you. What Ilove about the Age Fund is that you
(01:07):
have really pivoted in terms of wherethe money goes. You are very specific
and intentional with the funds that areraised, and I wonder if you can
tell us exactly how that works.Sure, we went through a process where
we looked at where the greatest needswere Today the epidemic has changed a lot,
and what we found was there wasa real gap for clients people living
(01:30):
with HIV when they would have afinancial crisis, and so we evolved our
mission and we now do emergency financialassistance with the goal of keeping a financial
crisis from turning into a health crisis. Things like keeping somebody from being evicted
because they're behind on their rent orutilities, or if they're CouchSurfing or homeless
(01:52):
or living in a shelter. Theyfinally get to the top of the list
for a housing subsidy, but don'thave that first little bit of money,
that big chunk of money actually thatthey need to get into an unit.
Or there's other medical needs that aren'tcovered by insurance where sometimes people have fallen
behind on their health insurance, sowe want to keep them in care.
That's what makes this so when youdo fundraising, you know, you think
(02:15):
big dollars, but you know thatactually a relatively small amount of money can
make a huge difference. Because wewant people to be able to stay in
care because, as we all know, at this point, HIV is manageable.
It is now a chronic disease thatcan be controlled with medication as long
as people take the medication right right. And on top of that, Lorraine,
(02:38):
we now also know that those verymedications if somebody has an undetectable viral
load, so they are on treatment, and they're successfully on treatment and maintain
their treatments and have an undetectable viralload, which means the virus they still
have HIV, but the virus isso low in their system that it can't
be detected by the tests. Theywill not pass the virus onto somebody else.
(03:02):
That's big. Yeah. In thethirty years now that we've had,
you know, this combination therapy forpeople living with HIV, not one documented
case of somebody with an undetectable viralload passing the virus onto somebody else.
So it's from a public health perspectivethat we need to keep people in care
(03:22):
to slow the spread of the virus. Yes, absolutely, that is huge.
Now, Jacqueline Floris Sliva, youare a manager of care services for
Cornet, So tell us what hasreceiving this kind of funding meant for the
clients that you serve. It's amazing. Like Ravo's sharing, we're able to
support our clients with the small financialneeds that they might have. We've been
(03:44):
able to help our clients keep theirhousing or move into safer housing. We've
also helped clients be able to receivemedical equipment that they might need, like
walkers or braces. So it's anamazing, amazing program. The changes that
we can make in people's lives,or that the AIDS Fund has made in
people's lives, it's amazing. Oneof the stories that really has impacted me
(04:06):
and the work that I do isthat through the AIDS Fund, we were
able to help a young client fromCentral America received funds for a translator.
Because this client was trying to getasylum here and he needed to go to
court for his last court appearance,he needed a translator. He didn't have
the funds, he didn't have thesupport, but through the AIDS Fund,
we were able to get the moneyfor the translator. In this client was
(04:29):
granted asylum. He's thriving. Thiswas a couple of years ago, but
this client is thriving, so It'sone of those stories that's always with me.
I'm so thankful for the work thatthe AIDS Fund does every year to
collect money and get money so thatthey can support our clients because it definitely
makes the difference in their lives.I love that story, and I think
that what this really illustrates is thatwhen you address the issue of HIV and
(04:50):
AIDS, that there are so manyother moving parts to it. It's not
simply about getting the medication and thetreatment. It's really about creating an environment
in which the person has access andalso has the ability to continue being treated.
And what a wonderful story that youshared. Thank you so much for
that. Now, Rob, justlet's do a little check in right now
(05:13):
in terms of the state of thestate. Where are we at in terms
of the levels of HIV in thecity of Philadelphia. Sure, we have
about nineteen to twenty thousand people livingwith HIV in the city of Philadelphia,
and in an additional close to tenthousand living in the suburban areas of Philadelphia.
There's twenty seven thousand people living inthis region with HIV disease. There's
(05:38):
a full continuum of how they're doing. We see that communities of color are
disproportionately impacted, including poverty, disproportionatelyimpacted, which is why our program really
helps those who have the greatest need. And of course some people are thriving,
but we want everybody to thrive andthat's our goal, is everybody to
(05:58):
live a long and healthy life withHIV. In order to do that,
we have to address things like stigma, we have to prevent new infections,
and we got to keep people incare. Yeah, and that's really where
you come in, Jackline Florist Leva, you're manager of care services for Congresso.
I wonder if you can tell usa little bit about how you're seeing
things on the ground in terms ofHIV and AIDS. Yeah. So Congresso
(06:23):
is in the northern section of Philadelphia, so a lot of these people don't
have income, and that's where theAIDS Fund comes in that they can support
us with the needs that the clientsmight have. We've also recently seen an
influx of people coming from Central andSouth America that are facing a lot a
lot of issues. They don't haveaccess to many of the social services out
for the community. Through programs likethe AIDS Fund and the formal walks of
(06:46):
Life Fund. We are able tosupport their needs and we are able to
help them well, rab let's getdown to the specifics. The event is
happening on October fifteenth. Yes,we'll start off at the Art Museum steps
seven am with the reading of names. We always want to begin the day
with remembering and honoring those we've lostto the epidemic. And we also have
(07:09):
on display twenty five blocks of theAIDS Memorial Quilt that's in partnership with the
National AIDS Memorial in San Francisco.These blocks memorialize a loved one who's been
lost to the epidemic. Usually thelargest display in this region each year.
Yeah, it's so moving to seeit because each one represents a human being
that we've lost, and the creativityand the care and the love that goes
(07:32):
into each of one of those squaresis just absolutely moving. It's the largest
community art project in the world,and there's over fifty thousand panels at this
point. We then have our openingceremonies with some wonderful hosts, including you,
Lorraine. Thank you for coming outand joining us again this year.
Wouldn't miss it that we kick offthe walk at eight thirty and the walk
(07:55):
will be on Kelly Drive this yearalong the boat House Row. We're excited
there's actually a regatta going on thatday, so people will be able to
see the regatta happening while they're walkingand then come back to the Art Museum.
We'll have music, we have somefun activities. We did a hul
hoop contest last year, and we'llhave some things for the little kids.
(08:15):
We kind of want that day toencompass all of those things, memorializing those
we've lost, raising lots of funds, and then celebrating the strides we've made.
The timeline is always incredible. It'sthis whole I don't know exactly how
to describe it, but they're likeplacards that are set up from the beginning
of our awareness of HIV to rightnow, and it's just remarkable to see
(08:39):
it in physical form. That's somethingwe're very proud of. It's a walk
through history of the epidemic. Grewout of my work with talking to high
school students and college students to makesure that they understand what we've seen in
our lifetime Loraine and the changes andhow scary it was in the eighties.
Still can be scary, certainly ifsomebody who's getting a new and positive test
(09:01):
result is very scared. But we'vealso made tremendous strides, yes, and
so we need to embrace those strides, make sure everybody's aware of them,
and everybody has access to those medications, and also PREP. Yes, I
want to forget PREP right, whichis the preventative medication that people who are
sexually active can take that gets youprotected against infection. Now, if people
(09:24):
would like to shign up for theage Walk, how do they do that?
They can visit our website at aidewalkPhilly dot org aids Walk Philly dot
org. They can call us attwo on five seven three one Walk Fantastic
and Jacqueline Floris Laba. If peoplewould like more information about the HIV and
AIDE services provided by Congresso, howdo they find out more? They can
(09:48):
look for us online at Congreso dotnet and there they can find the information
to our program and all and allthe other programs that we have at Congresso.
Our program is called this for us, so they can go to the
drop down menu and they'll find ourprogram and all the information will be there.
Thirty seven years it's just an incredibleevent and very moving event to participate
(10:11):
in. And we certainly Rob,you and I have seen so many changes
and evolutions. And you know,we talk about a time when it was
a death sentence to be diagnosed withHIV and age and now you can live
a normal life with the proper medicationand support. Yes, we need people
to go out and get tested ifthey've been everybody should get tested. Knowledge
(10:33):
is power and we need people togo out and get tested. And if
they come back with a positive result, there are services out there for them.
They come back with a negative result, they'll talk to you about prep
all very important messages to send out. Rob Record, executive director of the
Age Fund Affiliate and Jacqueline Florist,labor manager of care Services for Congresso,
(10:56):
one of the recipients of the fundsthe microgrants that are provided as a result
of the money that is raised forthis wonderful event, the Age Walk Philly,
happening on October fifty. Thank youboth for joining us today. Thank
you you're listening to what's going on. When you're high. You feel different,
(11:24):
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(11:46):
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(13:26):
a month. Every month, wehave the fabulous Angela Gimpolo of Philly Gay
Lawyer and Gimpolo Law where we talkspeak out a series about issues related to
the lgbt q IA T plus communityand how some of the issues, while
actually all of the uses really relateto all of us, that we need
(13:50):
to really take a look at theseissues and I've been wanting to do this,
Angela, thank you so much forjoining us for a while, and
that is to break down these lettersand numbers. Lgbt q I A two
s now people are pretty familiar withlgbt Q. But the I A T
(14:11):
S. So let's let's break itall down. So let's start with the
L well, right, so LGBTQ, most people are familiar with just that,
seeing that or maybe at LGBTQ plusright, So the L lesbian,
b bisexual, g day T transtransgender Q though is both queer and questioning.
(14:33):
Okay, So a lot of folksdon't know that the Q stands for
two. It could be that youidentify as queer, you don't feel as
though you fall into the LGB right, that you're not necessarily gay, lesbian,
bisexual, even trans, that youjust identify as queer or questioning.
You haven't come out as anything.You know, you're in a marriage of
(14:54):
twenty seven years to kids, andbut you just have these questions. So
that person would fall under the queueas well, have lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning. All right, And then we come
to the I A to S andI is for intersex, which is the
(15:15):
PC more medically appropriate term for hermaphroditeintersex born with both sex organs at at
birth, A for asexual. Iremember when we went to Gay Pride Gay
World Pride into how many years ago? That was many years ago, but
places a decade, I know.So that's where I was first exposed to
(15:39):
some of the additional letters and numbersthat are that we're talking about today.
So so we talked about intersex,a sexual and then the two s what's
that? And then the two sis two spirited? So are two spirited
folks native nations? And really Ifeel like being who spirited? Because how
(16:02):
how does that differentiate? Or itreally transcends gender? Right, it's not
deconstructing gender. You're not You're notsaying I am born of this gender but
identify as another. It's transcendent.It transcends gender, does never was came
into this world two spirited of both, so one hundred percent one gender and
one hundred percent the other gender.So both transcending and sort of all encompassing
(16:27):
if you will, will be thetwo spirited folks. But that is literally
the Rainbow community. And there's anew show on TV Heartbreaker, I think
it's called a Netflix, and there'sthe first ever character that comes out as
asexual. Like we've talked previously aboutthe fact that TV brings certain things to
(16:52):
the forefront and then helps normalize it, and so it's really good again the
a's that a sexual, Like there'sa different coming out for those folks because
they don't understand why there's no thatdopamine receptor of like being in love and
wanting to kiss and all the things, whether you're gay or straight or you
know, pan sexual or whatever thatlike, that dopamine receptor is not kicked
(17:15):
in by anything sexual and it's veryhard to determine for folks. So to
see a character struggle through all ofthat through a whole season and then at
the very end that come out asa sexual, yeah, just very cool
that. Yeah. No, Ithink I think there's some power obviously to
putting a name to things because certainlyfor many decades and we see how language
(17:41):
informs our reality, right, andthere was a time when there were no
words. The LGBTQ didn't even exist, and we were only faced with words
like homosexual or pejorative words. Right, So to have words that they give
us some definition and identity is veryimportant. And so let's talk more about
(18:06):
the power of defining those letters andgiving a name to the different categories of
sexuality or asexuality, defending what isthe power in that it's the power of
being seen, right, it's thepower of belonging, of acceptance. Until
(18:30):
as folks come out in their respectivecommunities within the rainbow community, right and
sort of self identifying under one ofthose letters, they don't know where they
belong. They know they don't belongin sort of the groups that exist,
like let's just say high school,right, that they don't feel comfortable or
(18:52):
a sense of belonging in their immediatesociety or in their immediate family. And
so then all of a sudden,never knowing, let's say, the word
asexual even exists, and then findingout that it does, and then reading
about it, and then seeing yourselfon the pages or in the show,
and then there's like, oh that. So there's an orientation to self back
(19:17):
inward, right, and a selfascribed identity that you didn't otherwise have.
And I think that's very important bothfor mental health and as well as for
growth as a person. Yeah,you know, I can give a sort
of an analogy in that I ambi racial, and I always grew up
for the most part most of mylife in white neighborhoods, and so I
(19:42):
didn't have any role models. Ididn't even know there wasn't even a word
by racial. That's how old Iam. And so I remember as talking
about TV, and we've talked abouthow TV can shape popular culture and our
understanding. I saw a talk show, a late night talk show like at
One in the morning, where theyhad a panel discussion of biracial individuals.
(20:04):
Some were younger, some were older, and all of a sudden, I
saw, Oh my gosh, Isaw myself in a way I had never
seen before. I never knew thatthere are any other people like me.
And in knowing that and seeing thatand hearing the experiences of these individuals who
were biracial, I got to understandthat I wasn't alone. And I think
(20:26):
that that was incredibly powerful. SoI can identify with how important putting words
and having some identity to be ableto say, okay, there are other
people like me. I'm an Aor I'm a two S, or I'm
a v R G or an Lor whatever. I can see how important
(20:48):
that can be. And yet,you know, there's let's talk about the
backlash, because there is you know, people are already saying, oh my
gosh, so confusing. Why can'twe just keep it simple? Well,
what do you say to those folksthat it's not simple. We created binary
because binaries help our brain compartmentalize thingsand easily identify. That's why Pat back
(21:10):
in the eighties and nineties and Saturdayeight Live was funny, right, the
whole skit around basically a gender variantperson and not being able. There's a
whole skit on it. Like nowthat would not fly, right, but
it is the human brain to beable to see something, identify it,
and like just know from a safetyperspective. But ultimately, humanness is fluid.
(21:33):
Gender is fluid, Sexuality is fluid. As much as certain folks would
like for it to be easily compartmentalizedand defined because that's easy, right,
it's just not. So. We'veseen the lgbtq I a two S community
grow from making up seven percent ofthe population in a study last year,
(21:55):
it's now twenty two percent of thepopulation. So yeah, this back last
it's like, see the gay agendais working, They're recruiting all these folks.
It's not. It's not the gayagenda is working. It's that the
younger generations, which are very populousbetween the Millennials and the gen Zers,
it's a huge percentage of the populationare not ascribing to any bin air.
(22:18):
They are growing up in a worldof fluidity and they don't want to be
confined. And so that's what howwe grew from seven percent to twenty two
percent. It's not forty three yearolds like myself that identifies a lesbian like
we didn't grow exponentially. It's theyounger folks that are falling more in the
que i a like sort of youknow, in the all encompassing is queer,
(22:42):
right, you identify as queer,you identify than you're in the LGBTQI
two plus community. So yeah,there's a huge backlash a why can't it
be easier be how are these numbersgrowing? And the answer goes hand in
hand. Everything is fluid and noteasy. Shouldn't be easy to define a
(23:03):
human in just to binaries, right, and younger folks get that right.
And also again, it does providelanguage that helps us understand each other better
and also provides us with options wherewe can look at these letters, we
(23:26):
can look at these words. Ilook at the intellectual disabilities community as another
example, where there are a lotof words that were used to describe the
intellectual disabilities community that were really anegative. They were a pull on people's
identity. And so to be ableto have words that more accurately reflect your
(23:47):
own reality is tremendously freeing and supportive. And to the extent that we're willing
to accept them and to use them, I think, at least in my
opinion, is a good thing.And that's why I'm having every conversation because
I don't think everybody really understands whatall those letters stand for and what they
(24:10):
mean, and how important they arefor us to acknowledge that they exist now.
And I think, and I thinkyou your example of your analogy yourself
just of your life around race andthen intellectual disabilities and are as opposed to
able and even physical right and theverbiage about about being able bodied and not
(24:32):
in all of that language right,or a homeless person versus a person experiencing
homelessness right, such a different asopposed to me calling you a homeless person
that is you, that is attachingto you, versus you are a person
experiencing homelessness. Right. Right,words impact everything, and so we always
say that the show is for everybodythat, yes, we're talking about LGBTQI
(24:56):
two plus issues, but at theend of the day, they relate to
everyone. I think your analogy andintellectual disability abilities and then people experiencing homeless
as all of that. It justhelps show that these issues are we're all
one and we're all experiencing the issuesin different ways, right, And there's
no pejorative attached to the words.When you talk about someone is say the
(25:19):
word junkie for instance, or someonewho has substance use disorder, there's a
whole different attitude that you get fromhearing that word. Those words in a
different way. I mean, ajunkie is pejorative, it's it's judgmental,
but someone with the substance use disorderas someone who has a disease, and
that's something that we can do,we can treat, we can understand.
(25:42):
It does alter I believe, ourperception and our attitude towards people. And
that's why these words are so important. Angela. If people want to know
more about you and Philly Gay Lawyerand your wonderful blog and also Angela gium
Polo Law, which you specialize andsupporting the lgbt QI. A two S
(26:03):
community yes solog list of letters tospit out and I can. I can
do it right and I want toand for short and for short LGBTQ plus.
But the I A to US communitylike to be heard, so if
you can say it, LGBTQI Ato S. But I represent the community
(26:26):
predominantly. I do represent straight folksas well, so all are welcome,
but predominantly represent the lgbt QI toplus community through Jampoo Alog Group. You
can find me at Champo Alog Groupdot com and I blog at Philly Gay
Lawyer dot com and you can findme on Instagram as your gay lawyer Fantastic
Angelo gm polo who comes to usonce a month every month with a feature
(26:48):
we called speak Out. Thank youso much, Thank you, Lorine.
You can listen to all of today'sinterviews by going to our station website and
typing in keyword Community. You canalso listen on the Iheartwating app ye Words
Philadelphia Community Podcast. Follow me onTwitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard. I'm
Lorraine Ballard Morrow and I stand forservice to our community and media that empowers.
(27:11):
What will you stand for? You'vebeen listening to what's going on,
ed. Thank you
Good morning, and welcome to what'sgoing on? A show about making a
difference in our lives and our communities. I'm Lorraine Ballardmorrow. Have you ever
wondered what the letters and number inLGBTQIA two S mean. We break it
down with Angela gian Polo for ourmonthly features Speak Out, and we discuss
(00:22):
why it matters to understand this importantalphabet soup. But first, the thirty
seventh annual AIDS Walk Philly is comingup on Sunday, October fifteenth, and
we have some folks here to tellus about the AIDS Walk and where the
money goes and why it's so importantstill for us to be aware and supportive
(00:43):
of services that address the concerns ofthose living with HIV and AIDS. Joining
us right now is Rob Rychard,he is executive director of the AIDS Fund
Philly, and Jacqueline Floris Laba,who's manager of care services for Congresso,
which is one of the recipients ofthe funds. So Rob, I'm going
to start with you. What Ilove about the Age Fund is that you
(01:07):
have really pivoted in terms of wherethe money goes. You are very specific
and intentional with the funds that areraised, and I wonder if you can
tell us exactly how that works.Sure, we went through a process where
we looked at where the greatest needswere Today the epidemic has changed a lot,
and what we found was there wasa real gap for clients people living
(01:30):
with HIV when they would have afinancial crisis, and so we evolved our
mission and we now do emergency financialassistance with the goal of keeping a financial
crisis from turning into a health crisis. Things like keeping somebody from being evicted
because they're behind on their rent orutilities, or if they're CouchSurfing or homeless
(01:52):
or living in a shelter. Theyfinally get to the top of the list
for a housing subsidy, but don'thave that first little bit of money,
that big chunk of money actually thatthey need to get into an unit.
Or there's other medical needs that aren'tcovered by insurance where sometimes people have fallen
behind on their health insurance, sowe want to keep them in care.
That's what makes this so when youdo fundraising, you know, you think
(02:15):
big dollars, but you know thatactually a relatively small amount of money can
make a huge difference. Because wewant people to be able to stay in
care because, as we all know, at this point, HIV is manageable.
It is now a chronic disease thatcan be controlled with medication as long
as people take the medication right right. And on top of that, Lorraine,
(02:38):
we now also know that those verymedications if somebody has an undetectable viral
load, so they are on treatment, and they're successfully on treatment and maintain
their treatments and have an undetectable viralload, which means the virus they still
have HIV, but the virus isso low in their system that it can't
be detected by the tests. Theywill not pass the virus onto somebody else.
(03:02):
That's big. Yeah. In thethirty years now that we've had,
you know, this combination therapy forpeople living with HIV, not one documented
case of somebody with an undetectable viralload passing the virus onto somebody else.
So it's from a public health perspectivethat we need to keep people in care
(03:22):
to slow the spread of the virus. Yes, absolutely, that is huge.
Now, Jacqueline Floris Sliva, youare a manager of care services for
Cornet, So tell us what hasreceiving this kind of funding meant for the
clients that you serve. It's amazing. Like Ravo's sharing, we're able to
support our clients with the small financialneeds that they might have. We've been
(03:44):
able to help our clients keep theirhousing or move into safer housing. We've
also helped clients be able to receivemedical equipment that they might need, like
walkers or braces. So it's anamazing, amazing program. The changes that
we can make in people's lives,or that the AIDS Fund has made in
people's lives, it's amazing. Oneof the stories that really has impacted me
(04:06):
and the work that I do isthat through the AIDS Fund, we were
able to help a young client fromCentral America received funds for a translator.
Because this client was trying to getasylum here and he needed to go to
court for his last court appearance,he needed a translator. He didn't have
the funds, he didn't have thesupport, but through the AIDS Fund,
we were able to get the moneyfor the translator. In this client was
(04:29):
granted asylum. He's thriving. Thiswas a couple of years ago, but
this client is thriving, so It'sone of those stories that's always with me.
I'm so thankful for the work thatthe AIDS Fund does every year to
collect money and get money so thatthey can support our clients because it definitely
makes the difference in their lives.I love that story, and I think
that what this really illustrates is thatwhen you address the issue of HIV and
(04:50):
AIDS, that there are so manyother moving parts to it. It's not
simply about getting the medication and thetreatment. It's really about creating an environment
in which the person has access andalso has the ability to continue being treated.
And what a wonderful story that youshared. Thank you so much for
that. Now, Rob, justlet's do a little check in right now
(05:13):
in terms of the state of thestate. Where are we at in terms
of the levels of HIV in thecity of Philadelphia. Sure, we have
about nineteen to twenty thousand people livingwith HIV in the city of Philadelphia,
and in an additional close to tenthousand living in the suburban areas of Philadelphia.
There's twenty seven thousand people living inthis region with HIV disease. There's
(05:38):
a full continuum of how they're doing. We see that communities of color are
disproportionately impacted, including poverty, disproportionatelyimpacted, which is why our program really
helps those who have the greatest need. And of course some people are thriving,
but we want everybody to thrive andthat's our goal, is everybody to
(05:58):
live a long and healthy life withHIV. In order to do that,
we have to address things like stigma, we have to prevent new infections,
and we got to keep people incare. Yeah, and that's really where
you come in, Jackline Florist Leva, you're manager of care services for Congresso.
I wonder if you can tell usa little bit about how you're seeing
things on the ground in terms ofHIV and AIDS. Yeah. So Congresso
(06:23):
is in the northern section of Philadelphia, so a lot of these people don't
have income, and that's where theAIDS Fund comes in that they can support
us with the needs that the clientsmight have. We've also recently seen an
influx of people coming from Central andSouth America that are facing a lot a
lot of issues. They don't haveaccess to many of the social services out
for the community. Through programs likethe AIDS Fund and the formal walks of
(06:46):
Life Fund. We are able tosupport their needs and we are able to
help them well, rab let's getdown to the specifics. The event is
happening on October fifteenth. Yes,we'll start off at the Art Museum steps
seven am with the reading of names. We always want to begin the day
with remembering and honoring those we've lostto the epidemic. And we also have
(07:09):
on display twenty five blocks of theAIDS Memorial Quilt that's in partnership with the
National AIDS Memorial in San Francisco.These blocks memorialize a loved one who's been
lost to the epidemic. Usually thelargest display in this region each year.
Yeah, it's so moving to seeit because each one represents a human being
that we've lost, and the creativityand the care and the love that goes
(07:32):
into each of one of those squaresis just absolutely moving. It's the largest
community art project in the world,and there's over fifty thousand panels at this
point. We then have our openingceremonies with some wonderful hosts, including you,
Lorraine. Thank you for coming outand joining us again this year.
Wouldn't miss it that we kick offthe walk at eight thirty and the walk
(07:55):
will be on Kelly Drive this yearalong the boat House Row. We're excited
there's actually a regatta going on thatday, so people will be able to
see the regatta happening while they're walkingand then come back to the Art Museum.
We'll have music, we have somefun activities. We did a hul
hoop contest last year, and we'llhave some things for the little kids.
(08:15):
We kind of want that day toencompass all of those things, memorializing those
we've lost, raising lots of funds, and then celebrating the strides we've made.
The timeline is always incredible. It'sthis whole I don't know exactly how
to describe it, but they're likeplacards that are set up from the beginning
of our awareness of HIV to rightnow, and it's just remarkable to see
(08:39):
it in physical form. That's somethingwe're very proud of. It's a walk
through history of the epidemic. Grewout of my work with talking to high
school students and college students to makesure that they understand what we've seen in
our lifetime Loraine and the changes andhow scary it was in the eighties.
Still can be scary, certainly ifsomebody who's getting a new and positive test
(09:01):
result is very scared. But we'vealso made tremendous strides, yes, and
so we need to embrace those strides, make sure everybody's aware of them,
and everybody has access to those medications, and also PREP. Yes, I
want to forget PREP right, whichis the preventative medication that people who are
sexually active can take that gets youprotected against infection. Now, if people
(09:24):
would like to shign up for theage Walk, how do they do that?
They can visit our website at aidewalkPhilly dot org aids Walk Philly dot
org. They can call us attwo on five seven three one Walk Fantastic
and Jacqueline Floris Laba. If peoplewould like more information about the HIV and
AIDE services provided by Congresso, howdo they find out more? They can
(09:48):
look for us online at Congreso dotnet and there they can find the information
to our program and all and allthe other programs that we have at Congresso.
Our program is called this for us, so they can go to the
drop down menu and they'll find ourprogram and all the information will be there.
Thirty seven years it's just an incredibleevent and very moving event to participate
(10:11):
in. And we certainly Rob,you and I have seen so many changes
and evolutions. And you know,we talk about a time when it was
a death sentence to be diagnosed withHIV and age and now you can live
a normal life with the proper medicationand support. Yes, we need people
to go out and get tested ifthey've been everybody should get tested. Knowledge
(10:33):
is power and we need people togo out and get tested. And if
they come back with a positive result, there are services out there for them.
They come back with a negative result, they'll talk to you about prep
all very important messages to send out. Rob Record, executive director of the
Age Fund Affiliate and Jacqueline Florist,labor manager of care Services for Congresso,
(10:56):
one of the recipients of the fundsthe microgrants that are provided as a result
of the money that is raised forthis wonderful event, the Age Walk Philly,
happening on October fifty. Thank youboth for joining us today. Thank
you you're listening to what's going on. When you're high. You feel different,
(11:24):
you think different, to talk different, to draw different, you listen
to music different. But you probablyknew that the problem is you also drive
different, and not in a goodway. That's why driving high is illegal
everywhere. So if you're high,just don't drive. Make a plan to
get a sober ride, because ifyou feel different, you drive different.
(11:46):
Brought to you by NITZA and theAD Council. The Alzheimer's Association and the
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I know. He's been a professorat two major university's been a teacher for
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(12:09):
didn't remember the answer. And Ialso noticed that he was letting his class
out earlier than they were supposed tolet out, and he was telling them
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him was just immense. When somethingfeels different, it could be Alzheimer's now
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ever wanted to go above and beyondfor your community? Volunteering for your local
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fire or EMS department is your opportunity. Join a family that will serve with
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dot org. That's make Me aFirefighter dot org. As we do once
(13:26):
a month. Every month, wehave the fabulous Angela Gimpolo of Philly Gay
Lawyer and Gimpolo Law where we talkspeak out a series about issues related to
the lgbt q IA T plus communityand how some of the issues, while
actually all of the uses really relateto all of us, that we need
(13:50):
to really take a look at theseissues and I've been wanting to do this,
Angela, thank you so much forjoining us for a while, and
that is to break down these lettersand numbers. Lgbt q I A two
s now people are pretty familiar withlgbt Q. But the I A T
(14:11):
S. So let's let's break itall down. So let's start with the
L well, right, so LGBTQ, most people are familiar with just that,
seeing that or maybe at LGBTQ plusright, So the L lesbian,
b bisexual, g day T transtransgender Q though is both queer and questioning.
(14:33):
Okay, So a lot of folksdon't know that the Q stands for
two. It could be that youidentify as queer, you don't feel as
though you fall into the LGB right, that you're not necessarily gay, lesbian,
bisexual, even trans, that youjust identify as queer or questioning.
You haven't come out as anything.You know, you're in a marriage of
(14:54):
twenty seven years to kids, andbut you just have these questions. So
that person would fall under the queueas well, have lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning. All right, And then we come
to the I A to S andI is for intersex, which is the
(15:15):
PC more medically appropriate term for hermaphroditeintersex born with both sex organs at at
birth, A for asexual. Iremember when we went to Gay Pride Gay
World Pride into how many years ago? That was many years ago, but
places a decade, I know.So that's where I was first exposed to
(15:39):
some of the additional letters and numbersthat are that we're talking about today.
So so we talked about intersex,a sexual and then the two s what's
that? And then the two sis two spirited? So are two spirited
folks native nations? And really Ifeel like being who spirited? Because how
(16:02):
how does that differentiate? Or itreally transcends gender? Right, it's not
deconstructing gender. You're not You're notsaying I am born of this gender but
identify as another. It's transcendent.It transcends gender, does never was came
into this world two spirited of both, so one hundred percent one gender and
one hundred percent the other gender.So both transcending and sort of all encompassing
(16:27):
if you will, will be thetwo spirited folks. But that is literally
the Rainbow community. And there's anew show on TV Heartbreaker, I think
it's called a Netflix, and there'sthe first ever character that comes out as
asexual. Like we've talked previously aboutthe fact that TV brings certain things to
(16:52):
the forefront and then helps normalize it, and so it's really good again the
a's that a sexual, Like there'sa different coming out for those folks because
they don't understand why there's no thatdopamine receptor of like being in love and
wanting to kiss and all the things, whether you're gay or straight or you
know, pan sexual or whatever thatlike, that dopamine receptor is not kicked
(17:15):
in by anything sexual and it's veryhard to determine for folks. So to
see a character struggle through all ofthat through a whole season and then at
the very end that come out asa sexual, yeah, just very cool
that. Yeah. No, Ithink I think there's some power obviously to
putting a name to things because certainlyfor many decades and we see how language
(17:41):
informs our reality, right, andthere was a time when there were no
words. The LGBTQ didn't even exist, and we were only faced with words
like homosexual or pejorative words. Right, So to have words that they give
us some definition and identity is veryimportant. And so let's talk more about
(18:06):
the power of defining those letters andgiving a name to the different categories of
sexuality or asexuality, defending what isthe power in that it's the power of
being seen, right, it's thepower of belonging, of acceptance. Until
(18:30):
as folks come out in their respectivecommunities within the rainbow community, right and
sort of self identifying under one ofthose letters, they don't know where they
belong. They know they don't belongin sort of the groups that exist,
like let's just say high school,right, that they don't feel comfortable or
(18:52):
a sense of belonging in their immediatesociety or in their immediate family. And
so then all of a sudden,never knowing, let's say, the word
asexual even exists, and then findingout that it does, and then reading
about it, and then seeing yourselfon the pages or in the show,
and then there's like, oh that. So there's an orientation to self back
(19:17):
inward, right, and a selfascribed identity that you didn't otherwise have.
And I think that's very important bothfor mental health and as well as for
growth as a person. Yeah,you know, I can give a sort
of an analogy in that I ambi racial, and I always grew up
for the most part most of mylife in white neighborhoods, and so I
(19:42):
didn't have any role models. Ididn't even know there wasn't even a word
by racial. That's how old Iam. And so I remember as talking
about TV, and we've talked abouthow TV can shape popular culture and our
understanding. I saw a talk show, a late night talk show like at
One in the morning, where theyhad a panel discussion of biracial individuals.
(20:04):
Some were younger, some were older, and all of a sudden, I
saw, Oh my gosh, Isaw myself in a way I had never
seen before. I never knew thatthere are any other people like me.
And in knowing that and seeing thatand hearing the experiences of these individuals who
were biracial, I got to understandthat I wasn't alone. And I think
(20:26):
that that was incredibly powerful. SoI can identify with how important putting words
and having some identity to be ableto say, okay, there are other
people like me. I'm an Aor I'm a two S, or I'm
a v R G or an Lor whatever. I can see how important
(20:48):
that can be. And yet,you know, there's let's talk about the
backlash, because there is you know, people are already saying, oh my
gosh, so confusing. Why can'twe just keep it simple? Well,
what do you say to those folksthat it's not simple. We created binary
because binaries help our brain compartmentalize thingsand easily identify. That's why Pat back
(21:10):
in the eighties and nineties and Saturdayeight Live was funny, right, the
whole skit around basically a gender variantperson and not being able. There's a
whole skit on it. Like nowthat would not fly, right, but
it is the human brain to beable to see something, identify it,
and like just know from a safetyperspective. But ultimately, humanness is fluid.
(21:33):
Gender is fluid, Sexuality is fluid. As much as certain folks would
like for it to be easily compartmentalizedand defined because that's easy, right,
it's just not. So. We'veseen the lgbtq I a two S community
grow from making up seven percent ofthe population in a study last year,
(21:55):
it's now twenty two percent of thepopulation. So yeah, this back last
it's like, see the gay agendais working, They're recruiting all these folks.
It's not. It's not the gayagenda is working. It's that the
younger generations, which are very populousbetween the Millennials and the gen Zers,
it's a huge percentage of the populationare not ascribing to any bin air.
(22:18):
They are growing up in a worldof fluidity and they don't want to be
confined. And so that's what howwe grew from seven percent to twenty two
percent. It's not forty three yearolds like myself that identifies a lesbian like
we didn't grow exponentially. It's theyounger folks that are falling more in the
que i a like sort of youknow, in the all encompassing is queer,
(22:42):
right, you identify as queer,you identify than you're in the LGBTQI
two plus community. So yeah,there's a huge backlash a why can't it
be easier be how are these numbersgrowing? And the answer goes hand in
hand. Everything is fluid and noteasy. Shouldn't be easy to define a
(23:03):
human in just to binaries, right, and younger folks get that right.
And also again, it does providelanguage that helps us understand each other better
and also provides us with options wherewe can look at these letters, we
(23:26):
can look at these words. Ilook at the intellectual disabilities community as another
example, where there are a lotof words that were used to describe the
intellectual disabilities community that were really anegative. They were a pull on people's
identity. And so to be ableto have words that more accurately reflect your
(23:47):
own reality is tremendously freeing and supportive. And to the extent that we're willing
to accept them and to use them, I think, at least in my
opinion, is a good thing.And that's why I'm having every conversation because
I don't think everybody really understands whatall those letters stand for and what they
(24:10):
mean, and how important they arefor us to acknowledge that they exist now.
And I think, and I thinkyou your example of your analogy yourself
just of your life around race andthen intellectual disabilities and are as opposed to
able and even physical right and theverbiage about about being able bodied and not
(24:32):
in all of that language right,or a homeless person versus a person experiencing
homelessness right, such a different asopposed to me calling you a homeless person
that is you, that is attachingto you, versus you are a person
experiencing homelessness. Right. Right,words impact everything, and so we always
say that the show is for everybodythat, yes, we're talking about LGBTQI
(24:56):
two plus issues, but at theend of the day, they relate to
everyone. I think your analogy andintellectual disability abilities and then people experiencing homeless
as all of that. It justhelps show that these issues are we're all
one and we're all experiencing the issuesin different ways, right, And there's
no pejorative attached to the words.When you talk about someone is say the
(25:19):
word junkie for instance, or someonewho has substance use disorder, there's a
whole different attitude that you get fromhearing that word. Those words in a
different way. I mean, ajunkie is pejorative, it's it's judgmental,
but someone with the substance use disorderas someone who has a disease, and
that's something that we can do,we can treat, we can understand.
(25:42):
It does alter I believe, ourperception and our attitude towards people. And
that's why these words are so important. Angela. If people want to know
more about you and Philly Gay Lawyerand your wonderful blog and also Angela gium
Polo Law, which you specialize andsupporting the lgbt QI. A two S
(26:03):
community yes solog list of letters tospit out and I can. I can
do it right and I want toand for short and for short LGBTQ plus.
But the I A to US communitylike to be heard, so if
you can say it, LGBTQI Ato S. But I represent the community
(26:26):
predominantly. I do represent straight folksas well, so all are welcome,
but predominantly represent the lgbt QI toplus community through Jampoo Alog Group. You
can find me at Champo Alog Groupdot com and I blog at Philly Gay
Lawyer dot com and you can findme on Instagram as your gay lawyer Fantastic
Angelo gm polo who comes to usonce a month every month with a feature
(26:48):
we called speak Out. Thank youso much, Thank you, Lorine.
You can listen to all of today'sinterviews by going to our station website and
typing in keyword Community. You canalso listen on the Iheartwating app ye Words
Philadelphia Community Podcast. Follow me onTwitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard. I'm
Lorraine Ballard Morrow and I stand forservice to our community and media that empowers.
(27:11):
What will you stand for? You'vebeen listening to what's going on,
ed. Thank you
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