Calgary conference aims to inform, empower LGBTQ advocates

Helping business and health care professionals become better advocates for the LGBTQ community was the focus of a three-day conference that wrapped up in Calgary over the weekend.

WELL: Queer Health and Wellness Conference for Allied Professionals was held at the newly opened Calgary Central Library from Thursday to Saturday, a location that was somewhat metaphoric for co-organizer James Demers.

"Part of the reason we wanted to do the conference is because if you are the only queer person in the room, often you become the library for that room. And that can be kind of exhausting because not everybody wants to talk in that much detail about their private life at like, a house party," said Demers, who serves as the executive director of the Calgary Queer Arts Society.

Demers said the conference provided people with the opportunity to ask questions and have an open discussion about the LGBTQexperience.

More than 400 people registered for the event, which featured 22 speakers at 29 workshops on topics like identity, sexualityand drag. There was alsoa gender-neutral clothing swap.

"We want to empower folks to be better community members," said Parker Chapple, a co-organizer whoalso serves as the executive director of Calgary Pride.

"The conference was intended to empower folks with information specific to being an allied professional. So when you're in a professional environment, how can you best serve as an ally? For health care providers, obviously they're dealing with individuals' bodies, so it's important that they, more particularly, are equipped with that information."

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Lindsay Peace saidwhen her son transitioned, she didn't expect they'd be able to get help in such a public space, like the central library.

"I really pictured being in like church basements and back alleys where he would access the things that he needed," Peace said. "So the fact that we're here in this space, having these conversations, that's awesome. But the fact that it's here for me is actually kind of what means the most."

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