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Summit 2022: Pushing Possibilities
Change doesn’t just happen. It requires force behind it—pressure, momentum. Over the past couple of years, that momentum has been building. Through difficult challenges and disruptions to our daily lives, we continue to push onwards—finding new ways to navigate through a global pandemic and strained healthcare system. Now, as people and systems settle into once-deemed impossible practices, we must ask ourselves: what new and other limitations must we break for 2SLGBTQ+ communities to thrive in this next era?
Time and time again, Two-Spirit, queer, and trans communities have demonstrated that we can be leaders in driving this change—through organization, collaboration, activism, and perseverance. Take Canada’s recent ban on conversion “therapy” practices, or Health Canada adopting a new gender-neutral approach to blood donation. Both were preceded by years of tireless advocacy where we asked ourselves, each other, and those with power and privilege, to keep doing better.
Still, there is so much more work to be done. More than a ban, we need a comprehensive strategy and funding for ending conversion practices and supporting survivors. We need further improvements to the blood donation policy while continuing to raise the alarm on stagnant HIV funding and the ongoing criminalization of HIV – all of which contribute to HIV stigma. There are also clear examples in which the dial is moving in the wrong direction, including increased hate and bigotry against trans people, as well as gender-based violence, racism and other forms of oppression. Despite any recent milestone, there remains so much more change to push for.
It is here, where meaningful progress and the need for further action meet, where we hold Summit 2022. Our collective achievements create pathways toward greater health equity amongst the many intersections we may belong to – queer people of colour and Two-Spirit folks, for example – but there are still many unexplored, overlooked, underresearched and underfunded needs to attend to. Where do we need to go? And with whom?
Summit 2022 will dive deep into strategies for strengthening access and dismantling barriers that impact our health and wellbeing, and explore ways we can build on these strategies to achieve even greater outcomes. As we continue to push for possibilities in and for our communities, this year’s conference will hone in on directions that we can take our research, programs, and advocacy, to critically investigate all the best possible outcomes for health equity while also providing support and care for each other in our own ways.
In our disruption of the status quo, in our reconstruction of systems to better respond to our needs, and in the many ways we show up to support each other, we can and have created better and healthier lives.
We know what is possible. Now let’s push further.
Information on Summit 2022
CBRC’s annual knowledge exchange and capacity building conference on 2SLGBTQ+ health research, programming, and advocacy in Canada takes place online from October 18-20 and in-person on October 27-28. Summit 2022 begins with free online events beginning on October 18, and concludes with a two-day in-person conference held in Vancouver on October 27 and 28.
Summit 2022 events taking place online will be offered free-of-charge, while a daily registration fee applies for participation at the in-person conference. A limited number of scholarships for Summit 2022 presenters and participants will be made available to support in-person participation. Please see the Summit 2022 Scholarship Application Form for more details – applications are due on August 7, 11:59pm PDT.
Registration
Registration to attend both the online (October 18-20) and in-person (October 27-28) editions of Summit 2022 is required. To register, please visit cbrcsummit.net.
If you require assistance to register online, please contact [email protected].
Conference Fees
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Online Summit: free
Two-Spirit Symposium: free
In-person Summit:
- 1 Day Regular Delegate* $200
2 Days Regular Delegate* $400
1 Day Non-profit, Students and Charitable Organizations $100
2 Days Non-profit, Students and Charitable Organizations $200
* Regular Delegate includes healthcare service providers, representatives of government agencies, other professionals, etc.
Accommodations at the Summit 2022 Conference Hotel:
To reserve a guest room at the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel, please use this unique link: https://book.passkey.com/e/50365659.
About Submitting a Proposal to Summit 2022
Everyone and anyone is welcome to submit a presentation proposal to Summit 2022, for either in-person and/or virtual conference activities This includes community organization staff and/or volunteers, researchers and/or students, health and/or service providers, community and/or grassroots organizers, government staff and/or policymakers, and 2SLGBTQ+ community members.
We invite proposals for short oral presentations, panels or roundtable discussions, workshops, or an alternative format that you propose. We welcome submissions that identify community need as well as promising interventions or practices in health, social, and community services that support the wellbeing of diverse 2SLGBTQ+ communities. Submissions can be based on research, programming, policy initiatives, advocacy, activism, art-based approaches, grassroots responses, and/or community-based actions engaging 2SLGBTQ+ people in Canada or abroad.
We especially encourage submissions that answer the following questions:
- What programs, advocacy, and/or research are helping to push possibilities for strengthening health and wellbeing for 2SLGBTQ+ communities, such as our ability to access and navigate healthcare systems or services? How can we support, sustain, and scale-up these initiatives?
- What insights from research, programming, and/or advocacy can shed light on how we can push for a more equitable, inclusive, and accessible future for 2SLGBTQ+ communities? How can we leverage these insights to reduce barriers to care and support for HIV and STBBIs, mental health, gender-affirming care, substance use, and chronic health needs within 2SLGBTQ+ communities?
- Who is being left out of current 2SLGBTQ+ health research, advocacy, and/or programs? How can 2SLGBTQ+ community organizations and researchers, as well as healthcare and service providers and policymakers stand in solidarity for community members facing exclusion, marginalization, and/or violence?
The Call for Proposals for Summit 2021 is now closed.
We encourage queer and trans people with diverse lived experience to submit a proposal, and in particular, Indigenous, Black, and racialized individuals, Francophones, and historically underserved and underrepresented people in our communities, including but not limited to people living with HIV, drug users, sex workers, disabled folks, and people who are not “out.”
Never attended or presented at Summit before? Not a problem. We highly encourage first-time presenters to submit a proposal, as well as past Summit presenters. For additional questions or support on preparing your proposal, please contact Darren Ho at [email protected].
CBRC is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible Summit in order to support participation for everyone. This commitment includes offering free-of-charge participation for online events, providing full and partial scholarships for the in-person conference, enabling simultaneous interpretation and captioning services (in-person and online), and offering support to potential Summit 2022 proposal submission authors. Additional information on CBRC’s commitment to accessibility at Summit 2022 will be included in the conference program.
Keynote Speakers – Online
CBRC is thrilled to announce our keynote speakers for online Summit 2022 (October 18-20).
Hannah Kia (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Social Work. She is also affiliated with the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity. Her current program of research addresses a variety of issues pertaining to sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations. Hannah’s work centres questions related to SGM health, aging among SGM people, as well as social work and other professional practice with SGM groups. As a qualitative researcher and social work practitioner with interests in the health and well-being of SGM populations, Hannah is particularly drawn to intersectionality and other critical frameworks of scholarship and practice to conceptualize responses to the social and health inequities of these groups.
Most recently, Hannah has been awarded an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to examine the role of peer-based social support in building resilience among transgender (trans) and gender diverse people. She is also a co-investigator on several other projects supported with tri-council funding that address the social context of SGM health. Hannah maintains registration as a clinical social worker in British Columbia and consistently incorporates her lived and professional experience to draw connections between research and practice.
Hannah’s keynote, “Staying Support”: Leveraging Possibilities of Being Across Time, will take place on Tuesday, October 18 at 9 am PT (presentation in English, with live interpretation to French).
Chanelle Gallant (she/her) has over 20 years of experience in movements for sex workers’ rights and racial justice. She is an activist, strategist, boss bitch and a reluctant writer. Her work appeared most recently in “Disarm, Defund, Dismantle: Police Abolition in Canada”, “Pleasure Activism” and “Beyond Survival,” and her series "Protest and Pleasure" was a finalist for the Canadian National Media Awards for best column. She is on the Board of Directors for Showing Up for Racial Justice in the US, and she is co-authoring a forthcoming book on the politics of the anti-trafficking industry.
Chanelle’s keynote, Top Ten Reasons Why Defunding the Police is Good for the Health of Marginalized Communities, will take place on Wednesday, October 19 at 9 am PT (presentation in English, with live interpretation to French).
Jorge Flores-Aranda (he/him) is a professor at the School of Social Work of the Université du Québec à Montréal. He holds the Canada Research Chair TRADIS (trajectories, diversity, substances) and is a regular researcher at the l’Institut universitaire sur les dépendances. He is interested in the links between substance use and sexuality, and the social problems experienced by various populations, including sexually and gender-diverse individuals and people experiencing homelessness. He also studies the use of new technologies in social interventions. Through his projects, he works in close collaboration with the community of practice, particularly with community organizations.
Jorge’s keynote, Substance Use and the Need for More Interventions and Research Opportunities, will take place on Thursday, October 20 at 9 am PT (presentation in French, with live interpretation to English).
Keynote Speakers – In Person
Dr. Percy Lezard is a sqilxw under the Indian Act and a registered member of Penticton Indian Band in unceded B.C. Their work centres Indigenous knowledge, teaching and research methodologies. They are an assistant professor of Indigenous Studies at Laurier – Brantford. Some of their work centres Indigenous knowledge, Two-Spirit pedagogies, community Indigenous health, missing and murdered women and 2S/LGBTQ+, and gender-based violence in 2S/LGBTQIA+ communities. They are the lead writer of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ sub-working group final report.
Percy’s keynote, Sorting Out Our Bundles: The Way Forward is Back to Basics, will take place on Thursday, October 27 at 9:45 am PT (presentation in English, with live interpretation to French).
The CBRC Research Team is a group of dedicated, hardworking, and passionate people who collaborate to implement novel community-based research projects for the betterment of our communities’ health and wellbeing. This panel presentation will include the following people (alphabetical by first name): Anu Radha Verma (2SLGBTQQIA+ Chronic Health Research Manager), Ben Klassen (Research Manager), Chris Draenos (National STBBI Testing and Linkage Implementation Manager), Nahomi Amberber (Social Epidemiologist), and Nathan Lachowsky (Research Director). Based across Canada, these presenters are representing the work of our larger CBRC research team and our critical collaborations with community organizations and CBRC affiliated researchers.
The Research Team’s keynote, Putting the CBR in CBRC: Our Health, Sex Now, Test Now, and More! will take place on Thursday, October 27 at 1:15 pm PT (presentation in English, with live interpretation to French).
Olivier Ferlatte is an assistant professor at l’École de Santé Publique de l’Université de Montréal and a research scientist at the Centre de Recherche en Santé Publique (CResP). He is the director of Qollab, a community-based and collaborative research lab promoting the participation of 2S/LGBTQIA+ people in research. His research focuses on the relationship between stigma, substance use and mental health in 2S/LGBTQIA+ communities. He is a recognized expert on the applications of syndemics theory and intersectionality to 2S/LGBTQIA+ health, and findings drawn from his research have influenced the development of policies and programs aimed at improving the health of 2S/LGBTQIA+ people. His scientific work is based on several methodologies (qualitative, quantitative, art-based method, mixed approaches) and is motivated by a particular interest in community engagement and the participation of people affected by health inequalities as research partners. Dr. Ferlatte holds a Junior One salary award from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé.
Olivier Ferlatte’s keynote, Pushing the Possibilities of Queer Research with Art, will take place on Friday, October 28 at 9:00 am PT (presentation in French, with live interpretation to English).
Darrell H. S. Tan is an infectious diseases physician and Clinician-Scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital, where he leads the Options Collaboratory in HIV/STI Treatment and Prevention Science (www.optionslab.ca). He is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on clinical trials and implementation science in the areas of HIV prevention and treatment, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and COVID-19. Dr. Tan holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in HIV Prevention and STIs, is Co-Lead of the HIV Prevention Core of the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network and is a member of the Governing Council of the International AIDS Society.
Darrell Tan’s keynote, Leaning Into Science and Mobilizing Community as Pillars of the MPX Response, will take place on Friday, October 28 at 1:45 pm PT (presentation in English, with live interpretation to French).
Accessibility Statement
CBRC is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible Summit in order to support participation for everyone. This commitment includes offering free-of-charge participation for online events, providing full and partial scholarships for the in-person conference, enabling simultaneous interpretation and captioning services (in-person and online), offering support to potential Summit 2022 proposal submission authors, and ensuring that conference proceedings and ancillary/social events are fully accessible for people with physical disabilities (e.g. wheelchair access, reserved front row seating).
Though we are doing our best to enable everyone’s participation during Summit, we recognize that some needs may not be met through these measures. If you have other accessibility needs which have not been addressed through this statement, please let us know when completing your registration.
If you have questions or comments regarding Summit 2022’s accessibility, please contact [email protected].
Community Guidelines
Our shared commitment to queer and trans health is part of what brings us together at Summit each year. In response to feedback from participants, we have introduced community guidelines to help us build a safer, supportive, and inclusive space. These guidelines include our expectations for how we treat each other within this space. We ask that you please:
- Respect personal experiences. In many cases, presenters, moderators, facilitators, and participants share their personal experiences as part of the Summit. We know these personal experiences are powerful in shaping our understanding of the world around us. The experiences, and the words that the person uses to describe them, are not up for debate or disagreement.
- Follow guidelines from presenters, moderators, and facilitators. Summit welcomes many presenters and guests each year, and there are a variety of session types, each with different possibilities for participation. Throughout Summit, follow the specific guidelines for each presentation about confidentiality and participation (e.g., posting comments or questions). Most sessions will be recorded and published online in our content library after the Summit. If you have any concerns about being included in a recorded session, please contact us at [email protected].
- Share the space! Many of us have lots to say about the topics we will be considering. During questions and conversations, our team will prioritize first-time attendees, those who have not yet spoken, and people who identify as a peer to the topic being discussed. We will do our best to ensure as many people as possible join the discussion. When participating in the live chat during an online presentation, please ask your question or make your comment once, and our team will be sure to pass them on to the presenters.
- Participate from a place of learning and with an open mind. We all have something to learn from the Summit program, as well as things we can teach others. As a participant, you will play a key role in pushing discussions forward, asking questions, and building your capacity to enact change in your own local community.
- Presentations will be in the language preferred by the presenter(s)/speaker(s). We aim to ensure every online presentation is accessible in either French or English by means of simultaneous automated closed captioning. All plenary and keynote sessions will include live interpretation. Live interpretation will also be available for one out of the three presentations per concurrent session.
The live chat will be monitored for all online Summit sessions. We will work with participants to ensure that all community guidelines are upheld and will follow up directly with those who do not respect them. If an attendee is unable to participate in the Summit in a way that creates a supportive environment for everyone, they will be removed. Should you have a concern about someone’s behaviour, please let us know at [email protected].
Racism, transphobia, biphobia, sexism, homophobia, ableism, anti-Semitism, classism, fatphobia, Islamophobia, and other forms of discrimination or hate speech, as well as intimidation and personal attacks, are not permitted. Our team will address any of these instances immediately and will remove any participant who behaves in this way.
Content Note and Accessing Support: The Summit will cover a range of topics, including many that may bring up harmful, traumatic, violent, or isolating experiences. These topics include racism, anti-Black violence, sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts, criminalization of people living with HIV, suicide, addiction, sexualized violence, cissexism, and colonization.
We recognize that these kinds of presentations may be emotionally taxing for Black folks, Indigenous Peoples, and people of colour (BIPOC). We encourage participants to reach out to the counselling and mental health professionals that have partnered with Summit to process any of the content, feelings, or experiences it brings up. We also encourage participants to choose whether or not to attend sessions based on their content.
About the Summit
The Summit is CBRC’s annual national knowledge exchange and capacity building conference on the health of 2S/LGBTQI+ people. Since 2005, the Summit has brought together researchers, service providers, community members, and organizations from across Canada to share the latest in queer and trans health research, programming, services, and advocacy. While the Summit has historically focused on addressing the impacts of HIV and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) on gay, bisexual, trans, Two-Spirit, and queer (GBT2Q) people, in recent years the conference has made intentional shifts to become a more inclusive space to engage with 2S/LGBTQI+ community-based research, health promotion, and advocacy.
Summit 2022 will include a total of 25 hours (16 hours in-person, 9 hours online) of multidisciplinary and community-centered content, including panel presentations, workshops, readings, and roundtable discussions from a diverse range of community, academic, clinical, public health, and policy stakeholders on 2S/LGBTQI+ health. Summit 2022 will also feature keynote speakers including researchers and advocates from across Canada whose work is supporting community and public health responses to HIV/STBBI, monkeypox, substance use, mental health, and structural discrimination and inequities facing 2S/LGBTQI+ people and communities.
Sponsors
Summit 2022 is made possible through the support of this year’s Presenting Partner ViiV Healthcare, Presenting Sponsor Gilead Sciences Canada, as well as project funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Women and Gender Equality Canada, and Canadian Heritage.
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