Event centers legal and healthcare readiness for LGBTQ+ community
On a blustery December day, the University’s STAR Health Sciences Complex Atrium was a warm and welcoming space for Delaware’s LGBTQ+ community. The Empowered Futures event, presented by the Partnership for Healthy Communities, was dedicated to providing resources for legal and healthcare readiness.
Kate Culhane-Suluai, program manager, planned the event in part as a way to help others prepare for potential changes in federal protections.
“I know firsthand what it means to navigate complex systems as a member of the LGBTQ+ community,” said Culhane-Suluai. “As a person in a same-sex marriage, raising a son my wife carried, and as military veterans, both my wife and I have faced unique challenges in ensuring our family is protected.”
Rep. DeShanna Neal of Delaware’s 13th district joined the event as an advocate and part of the LGBTQ+ community. Neal is the first openly non-binary elected official in Delaware.
“Delaware ranked in the top three as one of the safest and most inclusive states for LGBTQ+ people,” said Neal. “Events like this allow us to showcase what it is we’re doing and what we will continue to do and grow for the community.”
In addition to a team of notary publics, who were available to notarize documents, representatives from more than 20 community and state organizations providing legal and health services were in attendance. The atmosphere was one of support and solidarity.
“I want to make sure people know the ACLU is here for them,” said Helen Salita, a reproductive freedom and immigrants rights campaign manager with the ACLU of Delaware. “As well as to talk to them about some of the policies we are looking to pass here in Delaware to make sure that our citizens are protected.”
Providing information about rights and services, organizations included Delaware Volunteer Legal Services and the Delaware Bar Association, and state agencies such as Delaware 211, the information referral service for the state of Delaware, and the Delaware Department of Justice.
“We are taking a special interest in and tackling hate crimes in Delaware,” said Jennifer Kutney-Soper, victim services specialist with the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust. The division was conferred permanent status in 2020 under Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings.
Representatives from ChristianaCare, Nemours, and Rising Hope Therapy shared resources on inclusive and affirming primary and mental health services.
“We know that our transgender diverse patients face challenges within our health care environments and within a behavioral health setting,” said Alex Waad, program manager with ChristianaCare’s Health Equity team. “There are particularly unique needs that the providers in those practices have studied for many years to be able to meet.”
Students from the Student Health Advisory Committee and the Lattice Project, groups focused on peer education on topics like University health and wellness resources and social justice respectively, shared affirmation cards and zines on themes like revolutionary optimism.
“We created a survey that we adapt each year to ask new questions about the student body,” said Jillian Orellano, senior Health Sciences major and member of the Student Health Advisory Committee. “We report back to staff and our club advisor to try to implement some of the changes that we see students wanting [in health and wellness resources].”
Delaware Pride, Coalition for a Safer Delaware, and local branches of national organizations PFLAG and Free Mom Hugs shared their messages of love and acceptance.
Impressively, the event was organized in just three short weeks.
“Every volunteer and organization showed up with the understanding that if they could help just one person, if they could lift even one individual, it was all worth it,” said Culhane-Suluai. “That kind of selflessness and dedication is what makes our community so extraordinary.”