Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center Announce Transgender Health Partnership
The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) joined the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center today in announcing the formation of a partnership designed to improve access to quality health care for transgender New Yorkers.
NEW YORK, NY (PRWEB) April 27, 2006 -–
The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) joined the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center today in announcing the formation of a partnership designed to improve access to quality health care for transgender New Yorkers. The partnership, which is housed within TLDEF’s community organizing project – the Transgender Health Initiative of New York (THINY) – is designed to ensure optimal access to health care for transgender and gender-variant people in New York City. The partnership will be know as the THINY – Callen-Lorde Transgender Health Partnership and will involve quarterly meetings between Callen-Lorde staff and THINY members.
Transgender New Yorkers routinely face obstacles including harassment, humiliation, and refusals to provide services when seeking access to health care. TLDEF and THINY members have been meeting with Callen-Lorde staff members since late last year to formulate concrete solutions to these obstacles. And Callen-Lorde recently adopted a patient protocol that reaffirms its commitment to providing transgender-sensitive health care services to its transgender and gender-variant patients.
“Callen-Lorde has always been at the forefront of transgender care, and we applaud Callen-Lorde for its commitment to eliminating all obstacles to care that transgender people experience,” THINY member Justine Nicholas said. Through this partnership, Callen-Lorde has reaffirmed its commitment to providing quality, transgender-sensitive health care. “We are committed to working with the community to ensure that our services to transgendered people are as good as they can be,” said Jay Laudato, Callen-Lorde’s Executive Director.
The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc., is a national non-profit civil rights organization committed to ending discrimination based upon gender identity and expression and to achieving equality for transgender people through public education, test-case litigation, direct legal services, community organizing and public policy efforts. The Transgender Health Initiative of New York is a TLDEF project whose objective is to empower the transgender community to demand equal access to safe, non-discriminatory health care services.
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center provides quality health care and related services primarily to New York's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities regardless of ability to pay. To further this mission, Callen-Lorde promotes health education and wellness and advocates for gay, lesbian, and transgender health issues.
Contact:
Michael Silverman
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc.
Office: (347) 328-6710
Mobile: (917) 292-1495
Www. transgenderlegal. org
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