COMPASS partner, The Normal Anomaly Initiative, is opening a new community center in Houston this month! Black Queer Plus: Center for Liberation is dedicated to building community resources for an intersection of the community plagued by multiple social, economic and health disparities.
“The Black Queer Plus (BQ+): Center for Liberation is dedicated to building community resources through programming, events and collaboration that reduces the incidence and effect of HIV, creating and procuring employment opportunities, housing a community burial fund in partnership with community organizations, building community knowledge around policy and advocacy and providing support groups for issues like sexual health, intimate partner violence, racial injustice and social injustice.”
This center is funded by the Fund for Resilience, Equity and Engagement at AIDS United through Elton John AIDS Foundation. Ian Haddock, Founder and Executive Director of the Normal Anomaly Initiative, was inspired to build this center to create and curate collective resources that address the ignored needs of this particular community.
Discrimination and stigma affect every facet of the Black transgender community from threats of violence, to healthcare disparities, to poverty. Underemployment and unemployment amongst much of the community is a problem, but especially for our Black transgender people. GLAAD reports that 34% of Black transgender women make less than $10,000 placing them well below poverty level.
“This community was already dealing with multiple crises including Texas being deemed the transgender murder capital of America, the projection of 1 in 2 Black, gay men contracting HIV in their lifetime and racial injustice and discrimination being pervasive because of race, gender and sexuality; the COVID-19 pandemic did nothing more than exacerbate the issue. For this, The Normal Anomaly Initiative knew that it would take a community effort to create opportunities for liberation through necessary programs to build the collective.”
BQ+: Center for Liberation’s mission is to combat all of these intersecting traumas with and for the entire Black, queer plus community. The grand opening will be held on March 10,2021 at 7PM and everyone is welcome to attend via Facebook Live. For more information about the Normaly Ananomly, please visit www.thenormalanomaly.org.
Atlanta, Georgia (November 30, 2018) – In recognition of the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day and in support of
Our first contributors need no introduction. Well-known in their respective fields, Patrick Sullivan, PhD, DVM, Nic Carlisle, JD, and Samira
Column By: Tiffany Smith Tiffany lives in Atlanta, GA and works with the Emory COMPASS Coordinating Center. She previously worked
Column By: Tiffany Smith Tiffany lives in Atlanta, GA and works with the Emory COMPASS Coordinating Center. She previously worked
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