Part of the panel: Adding Colour to the Rainbow: Research on the Intersections of Identity

Presented by David Absalom and Tyler Boyce at Summit 2019: Queering Healthcare Access and Accessibility, in Vancouver October 31 - November 1. For more information visit cbrc.net/summit

David Absalom is a public health professional dedicated to reducing the disparities Black gay men face in Ontario. During his graduate career, his research interests surrounded the intersections of HIV/AIDS, Gay Men’s Health, and the well being of Black communities. David has worked both on the front-lines as a MSM worker for the Region of Peel, and in public health research coordinating an Ontario wide HIV Pre- Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) cohort study out of St. Michael’s Hospital. In addition to this work, provincial organizations such as the Gay Men’s Sexual Health Alliance (GMSH) and the African Caribbean Black Council on HIV in Ontario (ACCHO) have invited David to contribute to the development of a Black Gay Men’s Health strategy in Ontario and identify avenues for action to address the sexual health and wellbeing priorities of Black gay men across Ontario. Currently, David is completing the Toronto Urban Fellows Program, a research & policy fellowship with the City of Toronto. As a Toronto Urban Fellow, David plans to use his lived experiences to contribute to the City of Toronto’s research and policy agenda from a community-minded, intersectional, evidence-based approach.

Tyler Boyce is committed to bridging the worlds of research, policy, social justice, and advocacy. He works to equip communities with tools for self-advocacy and ensure that communities are included at each stage of problem identification and response development models. His primary focus is on engaging those who've been excluded from opportunities and services that can support them to achieve their potential due to systemic racism, colonialism, and concentration of power. Tyler actively works to address these systems in pursuit of social conditions in which all can prosper. Most recently, Tyler has coordinated provincial as well as international programs of research focusing on HIV within African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) communities. He sits as a Board Member at MAX Ottawa - Ottawa's Health Connection for Guys into Guys; the Board Chair for Gay Zone - wherein queer and trans guys access STBBI testing and community programming; a Researcher with Turner Consulting Inc - wherein his research assesses the needs of Black Ontarians within the realms of education, law, health, employment, and housing; and he coordinates the HIV Anonymous Testing Program at Somerset West Community Health Centre. Tyler is a co-founder of Ottawa's African, Caribbean, Black Health Zone - wherein ACB communities access social programs, HIV testing/counselling, and primary health care as well as Dark and Fruity - a Black collective in Ottawa with the aim of creating safe spaces for Black Queer and Trans celebration. He is also a poet, documentary filmmaker, and has a Black belt in karate. Tyler Boyce holds a Bachelor of Social Science with honours in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from the University of Ottawa and is currently pursuing his master's in Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University.