May 2, 2025

By: Tai Simpson, MPH, Graduate Research Assistant, Dornsife School of Public Health 

On April 16th, the Queer Inclusion, Equity, Rights, and Health (QuIEHR) Working Group hosted the 3rd Annual Symposium on Sexual and Gender Minority Health. We chose this year’s theme, “Advocating for LGBTQ+ Health in Philadelphia: Past, Present, Future,” in direct response to the growing number of threats on LGBTQ+ rights and health, which harm our community. We hoped the symposium would serve as both a space for reflection and a rallying point, grounded in Philadelphia’s deep-rooted legacy of LGBTQ+ advocacy and positioning the city as a powerful site of ongoing resilience and collective mobilization.  

The day began with a short welcome, contextualizing the conversations to follow through emphasizing the moment we’re in. We moved to a networking lunch, where community members, faculty, staff, and students built connections with one another.  

Our first panel, “Queer Health and Rights in Philadelphia: Progress, Barriers, and Next Steps,” featured David Acosta (founder of GALAEI), Jasper Liem (Executive Director of the Attic Youth Center), and Rex Yin (Philadelphia Asian and Queer). The panelists highlighted decades of LGBTQ+ activism in Philadelphia, underscoring our city’s longstanding history of fighting for equality. They reflected on the challenges with the current political landscape, acknowledging both the struggle and the resilience of the LGBTQ+ community in Philly. They offered words of encouragement, advising us to lean on each other and that the shared fight for health equity touches everyone: the fight for one of us is the fight for all of us.  

Our second panel, “Queering Mental Health: Addressing Disparities and Expanding Care in Philadelphia,” included Felix-Long Laneri (Therapist at Arrive Therapy), Dr. Noel Ramirez (Director, Senior Psychotherapist, & Consultant at Mango Tree Counseling & Consulting), and Dr. Shanay Rowe (Director of Quality Management at Bancroft). The conversation emphasized holistic approaches to health—recognizing we are shaped by our context, environment, identities, and lived experiences. The panelists also spoke about how, while the mental healthcare system may fail us, our community is a place of empowerment and dignity. They urged us to keep using our voices, uplift the fight, and take care of one another. 

The keynote address, “Where Do We Go from Here? The Next Era of Health Equity Advocacy in Philadelphia,” was delivered by outgoing Executive Director of GALAEI and incoming Director of LGBTQ+ Affairs for the City of Philadelphia, Tyrell Brown. Ty’s speech focused on questions to ask ourselves when thinking about advocacy in practice. They centered their discussion on compassion, integrity, and unity, emphasizing how we can always go one step further. Ty challenged us to think about our values by saying, “If [health equity] is not a personal commitment, what is it then?” They concluded achieving health equity requires all of us working together toward collective liberation.  

The QuIEHR Health Symposium was a stark reminder of the importance of involving community in all aspects of what we do in public health. It’s easy to stay in the confines of academia, but what sets our field apart is the advocacy, commitment to social justice, and activism that is not only reflected in our work, but in our lives outside of the academy.  

Missed the Symposium?

View the Panels and Keynote Address here. 

Passcode: a4e6@uD* 

The Queer Inclusion, Equity, Health, & Rights (QuIEHR) working group comprises Drexel community members and community partners engaging in research, education, training, practice, and advocacy related to public health, medicine, human rights, and social inclusion for sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations.  

Visit our website: quiehr.com 

Email: quiehr@drexel.edu 

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