Join us this week as we take a look at the connections our senior leadership share with our mission, core values, and hot initiatives making waves at the world’s largest HIV-AIDS service organization.
Joy and Identity in Every Community
How affinity groups help serve individuals and unite us all
GUEST BIO:
Jose Ramos is the founder of Impulse Group, as well as the AHF’s National Director of Sales.
Queen Victoria Ortega is International president of Flux and Chief Visionary Officer at the Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center, as well as a volunteer with AHF.
Edwin Elan is National President of Loud, Latino Outreach and Understanding Division
Chela Demuir is Vice President of Flux, an organization that aims to raise the profile of the trans and gender-nonconforming community.
CORE TOPICS + DETAILS:
[2:07] - About Affinity Groups
An essential role and partnership
Affinity groups are groups that are specific to an individual demographic within the community served by AHF, designed to take more focused advantage of AHF’s resources. It’s about taking a group of people and determining their unique needs and how AHF can serve them and help them most effectively.
[8:27] - More than a Disease
Why sexual health and education are so vital
One of the issues relating to sexual health in communities is pathologizing, or the consideration (and ‘treatment’) of trans communities based only on a mindset of disease and sickness. But this misses the larger context when breaking down the numbers around economic health and other factors in the trans community. Affinity groups and AHF resources work together to generate economic empowerment and community health.
[10:28] - Health & Education in the Latino Community
Overcoming misconceptions and miseducation
In the community of Latinos and gay men as a whole, misconceptions and miseducation abound. It’s important that it’s well known that antivirals are very effective, and there are preventative methods available. New diagnoses can be preventable if people are educated and empowered.
[15:00] - A Narrative of Joy
Changing the perspective on black trans people
Coverage of the black trans community is often bleak, pessimistic, and focused on suffering. But Flux helped change the narrative with a photo series and program called Black Trans Joy, showing the joy, highlights, achievements, and journey of the community and proving that it’s not all trauma. It’s been a powerful tool for breaking down barriers and helping black trans people become seen and heard in their fullness of experience.
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ABOUT AFTER HOURS:
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is the world’s largest HIV/AIDS service organization, operating in 45 countries globally. The mission? Providing cutting-edge medicine and advocacy for everyone, regardless of ability to pay.
The After Hours podcast is an official podcast of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, in which host Lauren Hogan is joined by experts in a range of fields to educate, inform, and inspire listeners on topics that go far beyond medical information to cover leadership, creativity, and success.
Learn more at: https://www.aidshealth.org
ABOUT THE HOST:
Lauren Hogan is the Associate Director of Communications for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and has been working in a series of roles with the Foundation since 2016. She’s passionate about increasing the public visibility of AIDS, the Foundation's critical work, and how everyday people can help join the fight to make cutting-edge medicine, treatment, and support available for anyone who needs it.
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Lauren Hogan:
Get unfiltered lessons from our leaders at AHF as we uncover real, raw stories of where we came from and where we are going. Join us for an unscripted look at the connections our senior leadership have to our mission, core values, and hot initiatives. AHF is the world's largest HIV AIDS service organization operating in 45 countries globally, 16 states domestically, including DC and Puerto Rico. Our mission is to provide cutting edge medicine and advocacy regardless of ability to pay.
Lauren Hogan:
Hello and welcome to the After Hours Podcast. I'm your host, Lauren Hogan, serving as your liaison to take you through this journey to learn more about AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Before we start the show, please make sure to remember to check out the show notes so you can follow along. Now let's get started.
Lauren Hogan:
Well hello, everyone. And welcome back to another episode of the After Hours Podcast. As always, I'm your host, Lauren Hogan, and not only today do we have special guests, but we're also touching on a special, special part of AHF as an organization. So I just want to get right into it. I'm going to go around my screen and just have you guys introduce yourself one by one. So Jose, let's get started with you.
Jose Ramos:
Hi, everyone. My name is Jose Ramos. I am the Founder of Impulse Group, and I also work for AHF as the National Director of Sales.
Lauren Hogan:
QV?
Queen Victoria Ortega:
Hi, I'm Queen Victoria Ortega. I'm the International President of Flux and the Chief Visionary Officer at the Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center, and I have the privilege volunteering with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
Lauren Hogan:
Edwin?
Edwin:
Hello, everyone. My name is Edwin Elan. I'm the National President of LOUD, Latino Outreach and Understanding Division.
Lauren Hogan:
And Shayla.
Shayla:
Hi, everyone. I am Queen Shayla and I am the International Vice President of Flux.
Lauren Hogan:
So let's just get started. Jose, I'm actually going to kick this first question to you since you guys were the first group. So what is an affinity group and why are they so necessary to our organization?
Jose Ramos:
So yes, we Impulse was the first one I started about 13 years ago. So what is an affinity group? Impulse Group is based around gay men and gay men's health and mental needs. So we really, it's about a group that it's a specific demographic in our community that needs their resources that AHF has. So it's really taking this group of people, what kind of needs they have, and how can AHF serve them and help them better.
Lauren Hogan:
And how did your affinity group actually get started?
Jose Ramos:
It actually began in my kitchen after my best friend got diagnosed with AIDS and he was seen in help by AHF clinic. So that was my affiliation with AHF. That's how I first ever heard about AHF. So after he made it through an AIDS diagnoses here in LA, I decided to get back to get involved and understand why we were still dying of AIDS, understanding what the new medications. This is 13 years ago. We didn't have a lot of the medication that we have now, but we had enough to prevent it, or to stop it. And that got me involved. Why are we still dying as gay men when we have the resources not to?
Lauren Hogan:
And Edwin I'm going to go to you next, so please talk a little bit about your affinity group, and how it started, and the population that it serves.
Edwin:
So basically, LOUD was started as part of a marketing project. We realized that a lot of the clients that were coming to our clinics, especially in LA County, 27-28% were monolingual Latinos. So we needed a way to address those issues. And noticing that the same percentage of demographic was not only in LA, but also in various cities that we were in, we decided to start with LOUD to understand better ways to address very cultural sensitive needs that Latinos have in the US.
Edwin:
But at the same time, being very mindful of the diversity among Latinos in the US. People from Angeles angels are different than Latinos from New York, and DC, and Florida, including Puerto Rico.
Lauren Hogan:
And QV and Shayla.
Queen Victoria Ortega:
Awesome. Well, I guess I'll cover the genesis. So I'll start if off like Sophia. So it was 2016, picture it. Inside an AHF office. There was a trans-identified board member who had gathered a group of cis people to work around trans issues. I was just invited to do like a Trans 101, that was it. And then they asked my opinion and I said, "Well, can I tell you the truth?" And they said, "Go ahead." I'm like, "It might not be very nice, but it's very true," around what was needed.
Queen Victoria Ortega:
And everybody supported it. And the discussion was around having distributive leadership and having trans people at the helm. And then, once we took over in that sense, and supported by the people that were there, we were able to really connect with community. And one of the unique things is, and Shayla could expand on this, is we're one of the most cross sectional communities.
Queen Victoria Ortega:
Because you could be trans and be black, you could be trans and be gay, you could be trans and be trans, and you could be Latino. So we really are cognizant about the fact that trans and non-binary people are not only cross sectional around sexual orientation and gender identity and gender expression, we're a full gamut. And we have to be cognizant of that all the time. And Shayla, I don't know if you want us to give also your expertise?
Shayla:
No, you said it all. Absolutely. And we do definitely flex highlights those intersections. And we're really proud that it's become like a melting pot of leadership for our trans and non-binary community.
Lauren Hogan:
So follow up to you, QV and Shayla, what cities is Flux located in? And if you're international, you can say those countries as well.
Shayla:
Yeah, thank you for that question. We are in Los Angeles, we are in Las Vegas, Washington DC, South Florida. We are also working with developing chapters in Houston and Chicago. We also do have some international chapters with Puerto Rico and Mexico. We're also looking into London. So we've actually grown our little baby, and so we're really excited.
Lauren Hogan:
That's amazing. And Edwin, what about LOUD?
Edwin:
So LOUD started with the big cities, New York, we call it South Florida because we are all over south Florida, and in Los Angeles. But now we have Central Florida, which is composed of Orlando, Tampa, that whole area. We also have Chicago, New York. Also looking into New Jersey, since it's very close. We have Las Vegas, Puerto Rico, San Diego, and Los Angeles. But also, we do a lot of work in Tijuana as well.
Lauren Hogan:
And Jose, the big-
Jose Ramos:
No worries at all. I won't go through all 27 cities. So we are officially in 25 global cities and we have two opening up this year. So the United States, we have a total of 12, in all major cities from New York, Dallas, Houston, LA, Miami. And in Latin America, from Mexico City, Rio, Buenos Aires. We are also in London, in the UK, South Africa, in Africa and Asia, in India, from Beijing to Mumbai and New Delhi. So total we're in all five continents and in 13 countries, which has been really fun and a lot of headache.
Lauren Hogan:
So bottom line, you guys are really meeting people where the need is at the end of the day. So with that being said, and Jose, you kind of touched on it a little bit to start, but why is sexual health and education so important in your respective communities? QV and Shayla, I'll start with you guys.
Queen Victoria Ortega:
One of the aspects of sexual health is that communities are pathologizing. One of the things that has been one of the really only resources that is earmarked for trans communities, HIV prevention, or HIV treatment. And we're much more than a disease. Even though that we talk about health being an issue, there's a larger context of when we look at breaking down the numbers around economic health. We looked at really what economic empowerment would do for the health of our community and access to our community.
Queen Victoria Ortega:
So we look at policy and systems change being baked into how we develop programming and how we develop our interaction with community. We never forget that community is the perk that people believe. Being righteous rebels is not something that we forget because that's still where we're at, as a trans community not having access to many of the things that are accessible to other populations, regardless of our race or our gender identity.
Queen Victoria Ortega:
Many times we're left behind in those conversations and equity is not extended towards our community. Because we're not seen as family units, or being worthy of being a family unit, there's not a lot of investment. Therefore, it impacts our health directly. So we have not only HIV zero prevalence rates that continue to be at 25%, in a general population sense, so one in four. And also, we continue to see low levels of economic payment. Our median income in the United States, which is a first world country, is $10,000 a year. And our death rates, your 94% at risk to be a victim of extreme light violence just by being trans. It doesn't matter what country you're in.
Lauren Hogan:
And Jose, from your perspective, why is sexual health and education so important for the Latino community?
Jose Ramos:
So for Latino and also just for gay men as a whole. So we are definitely more privileged than a lot of the other minorities in the LGBTQ plus communities. But I do think that there's a lot of misconceptions, there's a lot of miseducation. And as I mentioned earlier, we have antivirals that are very effective. We have preventive methods, prep and pep. And I feel like a lot of the times, in gay men, a lot of the new diagnoses can be preventable, if we educate them and empower gay men, whether they're Latino, whether they're black.
Jose Ramos:
So even though we are gay focused, we work with all demographics. Some of our chapters are more heavily diverse than others. So I do think for us, it's just owning our sexual health and understanding that we don't have to be positive anymore to be gay.
Lauren Hogan:
And Edwin, I kind of want you focus more so on the education component, because I think LOUD does such amazing work around education, whether it's with DACA or immigration. So can you touch on why the education piece is so important in your community?
Edwin:
You know what, this is funny because this morning I got email from not illegal this. And I think it's not education in general, how you approach education with a different segment. Right? Like I said earlier, we are very diverse, even with our own Latino communities, that we have to be very mindful how to address with monolingual woman about education, not only on sexual health, but also mental health, which is very important.
Edwin:
I think having the ability to navigate and find those providers, to navigate and able to not standardized, but cater to the demographic at their level, I think is one of the things that LOUD always tries to work on.
Lauren Hogan:
And so moving on to more so the marketing piece behind you guys as affinity groups.
Jose Ramos:
Jose, I'm going to start with you again. Tell us some about these signature events that Impulse has and what some of those initiatives that coincide with those events that you guys have. So I hate to say it, but probably our most successful most known parties are pool parties.
Jose Ramos:
So we have Soap, which is what we called test for tickets, which is something that began in LA, but now it's being done from Bangkok, to Buenos Aires, to Mexico City. So it's a concept of, we really try to remind people to be tested on a regular basis. And for them to come into our party, they will have to know their status. And if they're HIV positive, they have to know their SCI status. So we do that. That's partly one of our most signature.
Jose Ramos:
We also have sex ed education events around mostly Latin America and global, which we will take a topic around, whether it's prep, pep, or drug use, and we educate the community. So those tend to be some of our signature events. From initiatives right now, we are working highly on educating around fentanyl death and meth addiction. Right now we're seeing a huge increase of death around gay men at big metropolitan cities due to meth or due to fentanyl.
Jose Ramos:
In LA county, just alone, we have on average four people are dying related to meth every single day, mostly queer. So it is a huge initiative. Lastly, we're working a lot in mental health. And Impulse is going to have our first mental health house in Guadalajara, in collaboration with AHF Wellness. This is going to be the first time we have therapists, psychologists, and take people in our community and help them through coping through addiction, newly diagnosed, and mental health such as suicide and other issues. So that will be one of our biggest, one of the first times that we actually provide services. That will be one of our initiatives for 2023.
Lauren Hogan:
And QV and Shayla, tell us a little bit about Flux.
Shayla:
Okay. So we do have initiatives. Flux is all about the elevation of trans people and non-binary communities. And so we have an initiative called Black Trans Joy, which initially started as a photo campaign, which really was about changing the narrative of what you hear in the news about black trans folks. This was developed at a time when the murders of black trans people was at an all time high. It's historically at an all time high, but a few years ago it was extremely high beyond what we're typically used to.
Shayla:
And so we wanted to change the narrative of what you see and what you're hearing about black trans people in particular. And so we created a photo series that simply asked black trans community members what brought them joy. And so it was really about sending a different message, the joy of our community, the highlights, the achievements, the journey that isn't about the trauma. And so we are really proud of that. And that campaign itself has become a calendar and also a museum exhibit. And so it's grown in many ways. And so now we actually have a trans joy day that we have developed, which is sort of like a flea market for trans and non binary leaders, our business owners, to come into a space and sell their goods and advertise their products. And so it's open for the allies to attend and our loved ones. So, Queen?
Queen Victoria Ortega:
Yeah, I think the point being, I want to challenge listeners and everyone to think about affinity groups of AHF, AIDS Healthcare Foundation being in the name, goes beyond giving somebody a condom. It goes beyond creating programs. And one of the things that we looked at in Flux is what are co-factors or resiliency factors to infection? How do you keep people and have people reach for that prep pill or reach for that condom? And it's by creating self worth.
Queen Victoria Ortega:
So we create a community where imbued our own community with our worth. And we talk about financial literacy and wealth management being part of a resiliency factor. We talk about Maslow's theory of need. We need a home, we need a place to rest our head, to store our food and to store our medication. We need to know we belong to decision making bodies, even internally within AIDS healthcare foundation. And we've had that autonomy through Flux to do that. And it's really a movement that is changing how community operates, and how even governmental organizations and institutions interact with trans community. Never before how we've seen that. And we speak from a place of truth, power, and community.
Lauren Hogan:
Edwin, can you tell us a little bit about some of LOUD's signature events?
Edwin:
At the beginning of LOUD, we tried to celebrate, also to bring people that are in community, working for community, by community. But especially after the pandemic, we pretty much decided to focus on going to more of at the grassroots effort.
Edwin:
For example, one of our big campaigns are COVID rights in certain cities that is very, very cold, like New York and in Chicago. But also, smaller events have been very targeted to demographics that are hard to reach. For example, we have this event that people don't identify as gay or bi, but they still have sex with men. So that's a demographic that is really hard to find. And because of the difficulties, it is really hard to reach out to them. So we're trying to bring venues that cater to that demographic. Also, COVID has impacted a lot of Latino businesses. So we have been doing events in which we invite or we pay for the retail space so they can provide their businesses and they can market.
Edwin:
That has been great, because it's not only us helping us, but also it's them helping us spread the word about HIV, mental health. So we have different types of engagement that allow us to do all that.
Edwin:
And another event that has been very successful, and almost every city is doing it on their own, is the back to school. So that's basically reaching out to Latino youth and helping them with notebooks, pens, pencils, backpacks, things like that. And also allow us to engage with their parents and their friends and reach out these demographics that you don't see coming out if it wouldn't be for this type of a specific event.
Edwin:
Lastly, I would say that that woman supports groups, we partner with various organizations that also focus on family violence, violence against women, and not Roe vs Wade. So we have been working on those issues as well. It's very broad and it's also based on the demographic of the location of the region.
Lauren Hogan:
So guys, this goes by really fast. We are unfortunately at time. And I know there's so many more things that we could be talking about. But before we ring off, I do want to ask you guys one final question, and it's how do people get involved? How can people participate? How can people join your affinity group? What's the process look like? So QV and Shayla, I'll go back to you guys first.
Shayla:
Thank you. Well, we have a really heavy social footprint, and so folks could follow us on Instagram @flux_ahf. We also do have a Facebook page. All they need to do is search for Flux. And yeah, send us a DM and we are glad to communicate with you. Come one, come all.
Lauren Hogan:
Edwin?
Edwin:
Well, yeah, basically the same. Our social media pages are Facebook. It's at Somos LOUD. No sorry, on Facebook it's Latino Regional Descendant Division. And our Instagram is @somosloud. And our website is somosLOUD.org. And then you just can scroll and it says contact us. And that email will go directly to me and I will send it to the press centers of the locality for better type of engagement.
Lauren Hogan:
Jose?
Jose Ramos:
Yeah, and for Impulse Group, we do have Impulse Group United as a main platform. For all of the global chapters where people can reach out on Instagram or Facebook. We also have impulsedrp.org, which is our website. Most people interact with us by local chapters. So most of our chapters have their own local Instagram. So Impulse Group LA, Dallas, Houston. So anybody that's interested based on the location, they can either go to our website, email directly to the city that they're in, or go to Impulse United and we can link them to those locations. So either one, they can go to the locals chapter or United and we can guide them through.
Lauren Hogan:
Well, thank you guys so much. This has been very insightful. And thanks for taking your time out to be here with us today. As always, I'm your host, Lauren Hogan, and can't to see you guys next time for a new episode.
Jose Ramos:
Thank you.
Lauren Hogan:
See you guys later.
Shayla:
Thank you.
Edwin:
Bye.
Lauren Hogan:
Thank you so much for joining us. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the show, please subscribe, share it with your friends, like, post about it on social media, or leave a rating and review. Follow us on Instagram at After Hours and see you next time.