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RHAC is proud to present QTBIPOC Community Sessions with our friends at Queer Events, Black Gay Men’s Network of Ontario, and N’Amerind Friendship Centre. Presented in collaboration with local community members and leaders, this special event series invites QTBIPOC community members to three exciting sessions:

BIPOC & PrEP with Dr. Zafiro Andrade Romo and Dixon Pinto

Saturday, July 9 from 5-7 PM  | Virtual via Zoom and in-person at Innovation Works (201 King St.)

Heard about PrEP before but think it isn't for you? PrEP has a reputation for only being used by cis, gay white guys, but we want you to know this isn't true! Come join this interactive session with Dr. Zafiro Andrade Romo and MD Candidate Dixon Pinto to find out more about how PrEP could be a part of your sexual health routine, where you can access PrEP locally and answer questions you may have about HIV and STI prevention. Featuring appearances from local providers and community support workers. 

Presenter Bios:

Zafiro is a Mexican feminist lesbian, medical doctor and PhD candidate in Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She is trained in clinical medicine and public health research and has almost a decade of experience in the area of LGBTQ+ health in Mexico. She was a physician in an HIV clinic on the west side of the country that provided medical care to >800 people living with HIV. She was a junior researcher at the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico for five years. She coordinated and implemented projects in Mexico, Brazil and Nigeria. The projects focused on HIV testing, HIV antiretroviral therapy adherence and discontinuation. Zafiro joined Re:searching for LGBTQ2S+ Health team in September 2019. Her current research focuses on the role of autonomy in the mental wellbeing of LGBTQ+ women. She has a cat named Lychee and loves cooking anything spicy with her wife. 

Dixon Pinto is a second-year medical student at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry. He completed his Bachelor of Health Sciences at McMaster University in 2021. His journey to medicine is guided by his lived experiences as South Asian Queer person who has witnessed the direct health inequities that his community faces. Dixon is a member of the Re:Searching for 2SLGBTQIA+ Health Lab at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto led by Dr. Lori Ross. Over his time as a student in the lab he was able to participate in several studies that look at the health care experiences and outcomes of 2STLGBQIA+ peoples. Dixon is also an incoming research trainee at the Options Collaboratory for HIV/STI Treatment and Prevention Science led by Dr. Darrell Tan at St Michael's Hospital in Toronto, ON. His project will focus of expanding access to PrEP in suburban and rural areas of Ontario through the PICME implementation approach. He will also be working on looking at acceptability of a Monkeypox vaccine among gbM people in Toronto area. Outside of research, Dixon loves theatre production, hiking, and exploring locally owned cafes.

 

Self-Portraits: A Look into the Future with Andres Garzon

Friday, July 29 from 6-8 PM  |  In-person at Innovation Works (201 King St.)

Imagining ourselves in the future can be a radical and empowering experience - who will we become? What lessons will we learn, and how will they change us? The legacy of queer community relies on our ability to see and place ourselves firmly in the future, while embracing our pasts and envisioning the many beautiful ways we may change in appearance or spirit. Join me for a self-portrait workshop using drawing, painting, and writing as ways to reach the versions of ourselves that have yet to emerge, to imagine us as limitless and powerful members of the world, and to give us hope for where life may lead us. As a group, we'll be writing letters and creating portraits of our future selves, stowing them away, and leaving a time capsule for ourselves to rediscover.

Presenter bio: Andres Garzon is a multidisciplinary queer Colombian-Canadian artist, based in Treaty 6 Territory, London township, Ontario. A new generation artist and first generation immigrant, the central parts of his practice – history, family, love and identity – inform his artwork and writing practices. Through drawing, painting and installation, his work explores queer experience and the many ways it overlaps with cultural assimilation. Andres’ artwork and writings have been featured in MUSE Magazine, See Collective, and Huron & Erie Regional Digest. He is a current resident artist at Good Sport Gallery & Studio. Website: andresgarzon.ca Instagram: @studioandresgarzon

To register for an event, contact Greg Owens at gowens@hivaidsconnection.ca or 226.376.5544.