The 2015 National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance ( NQAPIA ) National Conference took place Aug. 6-9 in the Student Center East Building at the University of Illinois at Chicago. According to NQAPIA administrative assistant Christina Adams, approximately 360 people attended the four-day event.
This conference, which takes place once every three years, featured "various workshops, panel discussions, presentations, open forums, caucuses, daylong strategy meetings and performance art" to "network, organize, educate, and build capacity" for the nation's LGBT Asian American Pacific Islander ( AAPI ) community, according to the NQAPIA website.
One of these workshops was about the changing landscape of HIV/AIDS prevention and another of them detailed what one needs to know about being an LGBTQ parent.
The first one, "Game-Changers: AAPI Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention in 2015," was led by Jacob Smith Yang and Ben Cabangun, both of whom work at the Capacity for Health ( C4H ), which provides free capacity building assistance to Community-based Organizations ( CBOs ) and Health Departments across the United States and its affiliated territories. Smith-Yang and Cabangun talked about the five "game changers" that impact the ways HIV services are provided today—the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States, the Affordable Care Act, the idea of treatment as prevention, the CDC High-Impact Prevention approach and the reformation of the HIV-funding environment.
The National HIV/AIDS Strategy, introduced in July 2010, has other federal offices comply with certain standards when it comes to the prevention and the treatment of HIV/AIDS. It's the first national strategy of its kind to address HIV domestically.
According to the workshop, the Affordable Care Act is a "game-changer" because it expands Medicaid coverage for the American population. By doing so it provides more affordable health care to millions who need it, and allows clients to access services from larger and established primary care providers who are able to monitor chronic health issues, such as HIV.
"Treatment as prevention" refers to HIV prevention methods that use antiretroviral treatment ( ART ) to decrease the risk of transmission by reducing the viral load in an HIV-positive person. This "game-changer" is associated with the "test and treat" strategy, which emphasizes full-scale testing and treatment in communities with registered high viral loads.
The CDC High-Impact prevention approach, released in 2011, is its way of reducing new HIV infections by intervening in certain areas based on the following criteria: the effectiveness and cost of intervening; the feasibility of full-scale implementation; the coverage in the target population ( how many people can be reached ); interaction and targeting ( taking into account how the interventions interact ); and prioritization of interventions that will have the greatest potential to reduce infections.
Lastly, in association with the prevention approach, changes in CDC funding have taken place. This, according to the speakers, means that certain jurisdictions are receiving more or less funding depending on the access to HIV treatment that they have. For example, San Francisco ( an area known for being on top of all things HIV-related ) is now receiving less funding from the CDC, while Atlanta ( which doesn't have that same track record ) is receiving more.
The discussion that took place afterward was about how all of these "game-changers" could possibly affect someone living with HIV. Cabangun got the ball rolling and talked about how he's been negatively impacted by them: He grew up in Southern California having benefitted from many HIV-prevention services, but as he got older the funding dried up and it was used elsewhere. Others in the room shared their own concerns, highlighting that while these initiatives might have been intended for good, they won't affect everyone in a positive manner.
The second workshop, "Wannabe Moms & Dads: How to Start a Family/Being an LGBTQ Parent," was led by Hye-John Chung, Sunu P. Chandy and Lance Toma. The three moderators talked about becoming LGBTQ parents and what it's been like raising their kids as one.
Each speaker made sure to interweave advice and pointed knowledge throughout his or her story. For example, as Chandy recalled how her adoption process took place with her own child, she talked about how fostering to adopt is something people should take advantage of, and how people need to "go on faith" throughout the whole process.
In addition, when Toma shared his life story about moving in with a man who already had a 6-year-old adopted son, he tried to calm the audiences' fear about the perceived difficulties of being a parent, especially to a kid that isn't biologically yours.
"It's the easiest thing in the world to be a parent, on some level, because there's no question about what my priorities are," he said.
Lastly, Chung, the mother of two, provided insight for individuals who might decide to utilize a fertility clinic like she and her partner did. She talked about how the process of finding a suitable donor can be strenuous, considering that one doesn't have much information to go off when looking through the applications.
"You're basically making a significant life decision based on one sheet of paper," she said. "There's nothing to go off of to get a sense of who this person was."
Luckily, Chung and her partner found one applicant who seemed to have more personality than the rest of the folks based on his age and career aspirations.
A Q&A session took place afterward, which gave the moderators a chance to answer concerns from those in attendance. During it, they spoke about various organizations for LGBTQ parents found throughout the country, the process of dealing with lawyers and concerns regarding one's biological clock.
In addition, the Community Catalyst Awards Celebration took place Aug. 7 at Cai Restaurant, 2100 S. Archer Ave. The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, Invisible to Invincible: API Pride of Chicago ( i2i ) and Trikone Chicago sponsored the event.
Activist I Li Hsiao, educator/organizer Liz Thomson, Tad and Marsha Aizumi ( parents of a transgender son ) and Madison, Wisconsin-based group Freedom Inc. were all honored. Actor Maulik Pancholy ( TV's 30 Rock ) hosted the event.
