May 16, 2022 Newsletter

Connect with the Commission

Public Meeting of the LGBTQ Commission

The Washington State LGBTQ Commission will host its January public meeting on Friday, May 20^th from 10:00 am – 12:30 pm. This will be virtual meeting, free and open to the public. The general public can watch the meeting live through our YouTube channel here or access it through this link.

Please note that the agenda and other materials for the meeting will be made available no later than 24 hours prior to the event through our website here.

Pride events around Washington

5/29/22

Asia Fest LGBTQ+ API Celebration

Location: Hing Hay Park, Seattle

www.prideASIA.org | @prideasiaorg

6/4/22

Capital City Pride

Location: Port Plaza, 701 Columbia St NW, Olympia, WA 98501

 https://www.capitalcitypride.net/welcome

Clark County Rainbow Walk 2022

Location: NW La Center Rd, La Center, WA

https://clarkcountypride.com/

6/18/22

Yakima Pride Festival & Parade

Location: 15 N Naches Ave, Yakima, WA 98901

www.yakimapride.org

Wenatchee Pride Festival

Memorial Park, Wenatchee, WA

https://www.wenatcheepride.org/2022-pride-festival

6/24/22

Trans Pride Seattle

Location: Seattle, WA

https://transprideseattle.org

6/25/22 – 6/26/22

Seattle Pridefest

Location: Capital Hill and Seattle Center

https://www.seattlepridefest.org/

7/9/22

Tacoma Pride

Location: Pacific Avenue between S 7th and S 9th Streets

www.tacomapride.org

7/23/22

Kitsap Pride

Location: Kitsap County Fairgrounds

www.kitsappride.org

8/20/22

Battle Ground Pride

Location: Virtual event, Battle Ground Clark County

https://www.pflagswwa.org/

10/29/22

Pacific Northwest Black Pride

Details to be announced

https://www.nwblackpride.org/events/2022/8/18/northwest-black-pride

Have an event to share.  Let us know here.  

Opportunities for the Community

Alphabet Alliance of Color Leadership Institute

Applications due by June 1 | Institute June 2022 - December 2022 The Alphabet Institute is an opportunity for QTBIPOC to increase their leadership skills. By facilitating mentorship relationships, the Institute helps connect community members with each other in non-hierarchical and reciprocal ways, with an understanding that we can all learn from each other. These transformational relationships support people in growth toward their own radical visions and goals. More information and application through this link.

Reimagining Access to Substance Use Services with and for Youth and Young Adults

Health Care Authority (HCA), Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery (DBHR) is excited to be partnering with Do Big Good, a human-centered design consulting firm to work with young people, reimaging access and treatment for substance use disorder (SUD) services. They will facilitate co-design sessions with youth and young adults (YYA) as well as facilitate community sessions with parents, families, behavioral health providers and YYA serving agencies. Do Big Good will produce a report inclusive of the co-design process and recommendations from young people that will be incorporated into the behavioral health strategic plan from HB1890, Concerning the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Workgroup. Recruiting youth, young adults (13-24) Compensation will be offered for the session. We will be leaning on you as YYA behavioral health agencies, service providers and families in identifying young people to participate in the initial project plan development (late May, early June) as well as participate in co-design sessions (June-August). More information to come soon. Wanting this on your radar and to be thinking about young people to share this info with as well as participating yourself as a parent/guardian, youth, young adult serving agency. 😊 Please reach out if interested or have any questions! – Amanda Lewis (she/her) amanda.lewis@hca.wa.gov or 360-628-1730.

TransActive Workshop for Parents/Caregivers of Gender Diverse Kids

Hosted by PFLAG SW WA

Tuesday, May 24th from 6:30 - 8:30 PM via Zoom

Open to parents and caregivers in the community

Jenn Burleton, Presenter

Jenn Burleton is the recipient of the 2021 national ‘Hometown Hero’ Award from LGBTQ Nation and is considered an authority on issues relating to transgender and gender-diverse children and youth.

TransActive's Philosophy: We believe gender-expansive and transgender children, adolescents, and teens have an innate right to receive uncompromising affirmation of their self-identity and that caregivers, families, and allies deserve to receive the support they need to continue doing what they do best; raising, nurturing, and loving the children in their lives.

These are some of the topics the workshop will cover:

• Can you be gay AND trans?
• How can they know and is this a phase?
• How do we explain this to friends and family?
• What are puberty blockers and are they safe?
• How can I tell fact-based information from disinformation online?

Registration required. Please visit this link to register: https://tinyurl.com/GenderDiverseKids

From the Department of Health – COVID-19 Collaborative Partnership

Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant – Feedback Opportunity

The Department of Health (DOH) receives funding each year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including a grant called the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant. The purpose of the grant is to address public health needs through innovative and locally defined programs. We invite you to join us for a community conversation to share your feedback on the following:

• Our planned program activities for the next grant cycle
• How we can better inform our work through local solutions and with a wider range of community partners

• Feedback will be utilized to
  • To guide the programs that DOH funds with this block grant

• Identify ways to better improve engagement

• Meeting Details: To better accommodate scheduling needs, we are offering two meeting times. Please choose the one meeting time that works best for you. Both meetings will have the same content. Please RSVP to Emma Wolf at wolf@doh.wa.gov or 564.999.3217 and specify which date you will be attending

• Tuesday, May 10, 2022, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM (PDT) via Zoom
• Wednesday, May 18, 2022, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM (PDT) via Zoom
• Language interpretation is available! Please contact Emma Wolf with your access needs at least 10 business days before the meeting date. We may not be able to honor requests that we receive with less than 72 hours’ notice before the event.  Compensation is available! Attendees to receive a $30 gift card in appreciation of your time and expertise..

 Can’t make it to a meeting? No worries, you can still provide feedback! Copies of the draft grant application are available from the Department of Health by phone: 564-999-3217, or email: emma.wolf@doh.wa.gov. We will accept written comments until 5:00 p.m.  on May 18, 2022. If you prefer, we can also arrange time for you to provide feedback over the phone.

 More about the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant:

The grant currently funds three programs:

• Birth Equity Project: This project seeks to improve maternal and birth outcomes in communities that have inequalities in these outcomes: American Indian and Alaska Native, Black and African American, and Pacific Islander communities. The birth equity project invests in community-rooted services and expertise. Currently the project funds three local birth equity programs across the state.
• Health Literacy: It is the responsibility of the organization delivering the health services to provide information that is easy to understand and accessible. The goal of this program is to improve the health literacy of the population. Program activities are focused on developing the skills and abilities of the public health workforce, such as teaching DOH staff to plan, implement, and evaluate health interventions that promote health literacy.
• Sexual Violence Prevention: The objective of this program is to reduce sexual violence. Primary prevention activities include skill-building and changing social norms to foster environments where sexual violence is unacceptable. This program includes a social marketing campaign that has been implemented in 13 middle schools in six counties to date.

Healthy Youth Survey - Partners Feedback

Share your feedback on The Washington State Healthy Youth Survey. Biennial partner meetings are scheduled for mid May-June and will provide an opportunity for feedback on 2023 survey questions. Partner feedback meetings will be held online via Zoom. Registration is required. A detailed agenda and materials will be distributed one week prior to the meetings. The agenda will be identical for both dates, so you do not need to attend both meetings. Meeting dates are: Thursday, May 12, Zoom 8:30 am -5:00 pm. Register Here. Thursday, June 9, Zoom, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm. Register Here. Topics include: Lifetime and current alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) use Other alcohol questions Other tobacco questions Other marijuana questions Other ATOD use (Prescription, general ATOD questions, school use) Nutrition, fitness, height and weight Mental health, social and emotional, and quality of life Bullying and harassment Disability, health conditions and care, sleep Peer-individual risk and protective factors Abuse Community risk and protective factors Sexual behavior Safety, fighting, gangs, gambling Demographics and miscellaneous (e.g., work, honesty) School support, prevention, attendance School risk and protective factors Family risk and protective factors COVID If you are not able to attend the meetings you can still offer feedback. Please offer feedback here.

Interested in serving on Commissions and Boards?

Monthly Upcoming Appointment Opportunities

Washington is home to vibrant communities and diverse Washingtonians who all have unique talents, skills and experiences. Governor Inslee places a high priority on boards, commissions, and agencies that are reflective of the diverse make-up of Washington and that utilize the impressive talent of Washingtonians. We are always seeking skilled and experienced individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds to participate in boards and commissions ensuring an effective and representative government. We are excited to share the highlighted Current and Upcoming Gubernatorial Appointment Opportunities. As someone with deep roots in your respective communities and organizations, we hope that you will share these opportunities.  Anyone interested in being appointed will need to fill out this Application.  Please explore the Boards and Commissions Profiles if you are interested in learning more about the many opportunities to get involved! Thank you for your assistance in helping Governor Inslee find well-rounded candidates with significant talent and diverse experiences. Please feel free to reach out to Boards and Commissions staff with any questions you might have.  Thank you for your time.

Jobs Opportunities for LGBTQ Washingtonians

Check out the list of job opportunities for the community on our Careers Opportunities page by visiting this link.

We are excited to share job postings sent to the LGBTQ Commission. There are three requirements to be included on our page:

• The job needs to be able to be done in Washington State (virtual works)
• The business must have an inclusivity and/or equal opportunity statement
• The job posting must include a salary range.

 Please send any job opportunity to share with the community to our Program Manager, Tracey Carlos (she/her) to tracey.carlos@lgbtq.wa.gov