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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing
5124.0: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 - 12:48 PM

Abstract #150917

Inter-cultural collaboration for health promotion among gay Latino immigrants

Brad A. Vanderbilt, MPH(c), Department of Health Education / MPH Program, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132, (415) 338 – 1413, bvsf@mac.com

In 2006, white and Latino health advocates in San Francisco's gay community began collaborating on a community-participatory documentary film project exploring ways that gay Latino immigrants cope with multi-fold oppression. The struggles were well known: racism, homophobia, health disparities, etc. The project organizers, however, envisioned something more than just cataloguing community woes. They saw an opportunity to be a catalyst for empowerment through Inter-Cultural Collaboration. Working across lines of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender, the organizers made the process of filmmaking as important as the film itself. This process was an opportunity to explore the meaning of being an outside and an insider. It was a process in which each was learner and teacher. And a process in which the centrality of the target population's role in defining the issues and articulating the message was paramount. The result was not just a film, but a space for gay Latino immigrants to debate critical community concerns, to enhance individual social support networks, and to build new skills related to filmmaking and media advocacy. It also created opportunities for all to engage in an important process of inter-cultural dialogue, where some were called to confront their privilege and struggle with the question of how to be a responsible ally, and others were able to more fully actualize their power and agency in the broader community. Throughout the project, an emphasis was placed on having an inclusive process that drew attention to opportunities for bridge-building and creating meaningful inter-cultural alliances.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Latinos, Gay Men

Related Web page: www.twentyfive7.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

LGBT Health Policy & Advocacy

The 135th APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 3-7, 2007) of APHA