For this special series, Voices Lifting the Community, HIROC is partnering with the Alliance for Healthier Communities to highlight the work of several of the presenters at their online primary healthcare conference in June.

Today we're talking with Celeste Turner, the LGBTQ2+ Support Coordinator at the Niagara Falls Community Health Centre and a member of the Alliance's Rainbow Communities Advisory Group. Celeste uses the 'they/them' pronouns. At the Alliance Conference, they will be presenting the session, "Making the Invisible visible: How can we get support if no one thinks we are there."

Celeste's early dreams were to work with animals but they found their calling in the field of fitness and health promotion. They remember feeling lost for so many years as a young person and feel privileged to now be in a position of advocating for others in the LGBTQ2+ community.

When it comes to giving trans folks access, inclusion and visibility, Celeste says the building is on fire. Their personal mission is to get their voices at the table and make sure their stories are told.

Quotables

"The building is on fire and I'm putting out fires on the ground, dealing with the smaller, more local things but this is a huge systemic issue that we need to come together on." - CT

"If we want to look at who makes the decisions about trans healthcare from a very high up level, it's probably not trans folks. We need to get those voices at the table." - CT

"If I do my job right, no one will replace me when I retire." - CT

"Understanding that it's absolutely not a choice. Someone's gender identity is a strong internal sense of being, sense of knowing and sense of self." - CT

"It all could be boiled down to education." – CT

"We make today Day One and start that journey of learning." – PDS

"I don't think virtual groups, services, having that virtual option, I don't think it will ever go away because it's proven to be very beneficial." – CT

Mentioned in this Episode:

Alliance for Healthier Communities

Alliance for Healthier Communities Conference 2021

Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast

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