Conference To Address Sexual Violence In LGBTQ Community

Speaker 1: 00:00 A conference aimed at addressing the me too movement and the Lgbtq community is planned for this Saturday. San Diego Pride is hoping it gives people the tools they need to respond to sexual violence, which happens at a much higher rate in the Lgbtq community. Joining me to discuss the me to Lgbtq conference is Fernando Lopez, the executive director of San Diego Pride. Fernando, welcome. Thank you so much for having me. So this is the second year for this conference and it was a personal experience for you that led to the creation of it. Can you tell us about that experience? Yes, so it was six years ago in May when I found myself needing services and care. I had been raped, sexually assaulted. I had been drugged in my own community and as I began the steps that one would take to begin navigating that care for yourself at every step, I recognize that there was intrinsic homophobia, transphobia that was woven into the system that maybe people didn't realize or recognize the implicit bias that they had. Speaker 1: 01:05 And so some of it was upsetting. Some of it was re traumatizing. It can say the responding officer on the scene, the words out of her mouth were, so what do you want me to do about it? Um, some of the materials I received talked about the shame associated with being gay, which is really old language. And then the shame that you would experience being a victim and there was no material that was culturally competent for the LGBT community. And over time I recognized that while I needed to care for myself, that for almost 20 years I've been a community organizer. And so what could I do to make things better for other survivors of sexual assault? And so sorry, you experienced that, you know, LG, the LGBT community is more likely to experience sexual violence more so than straight, cisgender or non trans people. Speaker 1: 02:02 Why is that? I think it all starts at the beginning. I mean the, we're living in a society and in social structures and systems that were never designed for the Lgbtq community. So it can start in childhood and simple normative behavior that is not granted towards intimacy for young people. So deconstructing homophobia and transphobia are key in helping our LGBTQ community be raised in an environment where they can live full and authentic lives. You know, when you look at 40% of homeless youth are Lgbtq identified because their families reject them. These youth are finding rejections from their friends at school, the faculty at school, their families and institutions of faith. So the societal structures that are in place to protect us and help us and guide us and mold us to be functioning members of society aren't there in the same way. And then let's talk about the fact that we don't have fully culturally competent sex education that includes people of the LGBT community or sex education that is based around issues of consent. Speaker 1: 03:09 And then you add on top of that layers of sexism, racism and classism and the way that all of those things compound and impact marginalized communities, it becomes that much worse. And I think if we're going to talk about battling the rates of sexual violence and intimate partner violence in the LGBT community, we're really talking about how do we holistically combat homophobia and Transphobia as a society. So our systems are better set to take care of us. And you mentioned a number of challenges in your own personal story. Um, what are some of the challenges for members of the Lgbtq community and reporting sexual violence? I think there's a lot. You look at the fact that even here in San Diego, or you know, we live in California, which is a fairly progressive state and there's a lot of laws in place that protect the Lgbtq community. But in San Diego we also have the highest concentration of military personnel and the whole world. Speaker 1: 04:02 And you weren't able to serve openly in the military until late 2011 really 2012 and right now we still have a ban on trans service members. And so when people are talking about protecting their own careers and their livelihoods, sometimes reporting sexual violence can mean putting their own lives and careers at risk. And when you can still be fired from your job in 30 states in this country, how does reporting acts of sexual violence, harassment and sexual assault even by an employer, how does that jeopardize your career? You're standing, your housing, your economic stability for yourself and your family. And so how does Saturday's conference aim to address some of these challenges? So Saturday's conferences geared specifically towards service providers in general, community members who want to learn more about sexual assault in the LGBT community and what trauma informed care looks like. So, uh, five years ago we put together this Lgbtq survivor task force that was listening to survivors and addressing some of those needs. Speaker 1: 05:07 And two of the biggest needs for survivors that we heard was that service providers, either we're not Lgbtq, culturally competent or LGBT organizations did not have enough trauma informed care and didn't know enough about sexual assault. So this conference hopes to bridge some of that gap and begin to bring folks together who understand this information and begin to teach one another. And I read that this conference aims to really be the first step in a longer term solution. Um, what are those next steps? So I think it's all part of that bigger story. So some of it is this public education. It's the fact that you and I are speaking on the air about sexual assault and the LGBT community. How many times does that happen and making sure that those stories are being told that this is in the public consciousness. Another is ensuring that our school districts are actually being compliant with the laws and regulations that are in place to actually teach sex ed that is based in science based around consent and inclusive of the LGBT community in a competent way and so, and again, I think it's all of us looking at the world around us differently. Speaker 1: 06:18 How can consent be a part of our daily lives and everything that we do and how can we all work to deconstruct homophobia and transphobia and all of those things don't mean anything unless we're also tackling issues of sexism, racism in class. Speaker 2: 06:32 I've been speaking to San Diego prior executive director, Fernando Lopez. Fernando, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having us. The me to Lgbtq conference is on Saturday at the San Diego LGBT community center and Hillcrest. It starts@nineamyoucanregisteratsdpride.org backslash me to Lgbtq. Speaker 3: 06:59 Okay.