A partnership between the Ruth Ellis Center and the Henry Ford Health System that aims to improve the long-term health outcomes of LGBTQ youth is the topic of a panel discussion.
“Trans Health Activism in Detroit: Moving Forward Together” begins at 2 p.m. Jan. 26 in the Vandenberg Room of the Michigan League, and is free and open to the public. It will be presented by the Institute for Research on Women & Gender, the Department of Women’s Studies, the Spectrum Center, the Center for the Education of Women, the College of Pharmacy and the Child and Adolescent Gender Services clinic at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
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“(The event) celebrates the energy of collaborative activism that has emerged in Detroit between doctors, transgender youth and community LGBT organizers,” IRWG Director Anna Kirkland said. “While we recognize the many challenges trans youth face, we wanted to highlight the leadership from the Detroit community and create a space for the people involved to speak from their many points of expertise.”
The Ruth Ellis Center is a youth social services agency in the Detroit area that provides short-term and long-term “residential safe space” and support services for runaway, homeless and at-risk LGBTQ youth.
In its partnership, the Henry Ford Health System and the Ruth Ellis Center provide community-based health care services to LGBTQ youth in a newly constructed health and wellness center that is on-site at the Ruth Ellis Center.
There, the health system provides general primary care and services tailored to the needs of LGBTQ youth, including HIV/AIDS prevention, sexual health services and transition medications and hormone therapy for transgender individuals.
The Ruth Ellis Center then provides behavioral health and social services, including counseling for depression or substance abuse.
