Author: Noelle Marie Javier, MD
As Pride Month celebrates identity, visibility, and advocacy, the AAHPM webinar, “LGBTQIA+ Leadership: A Calling to Serve,” offers a timely opportunity to explore the role of LGBTQIA+ leaders in medicine. We spoke with Noelle Marie Javier, MD to discuss why this topic is so vital—and what they hope to bring to and gain from the conversation.
1.) What inspired you to participate in the AAHPM webinar on LGBTQIA+ leadership?
I was inspired to participate in this webinar in support of and because of this topic, that could not be more timely for members of this marginalized community to serve as leaders especially at a time of heightened oppressive policies and legislation especially against trans and gender diverse individuals and the providers who are serving and helping them in their care. Additionally, as the current DEI Chair and a former LGBTQI+ SIG Chair, I am invested in ensuring that there is an ongoing forum where like-minded individuals who champion the rights of this community can come together and learn from our speakers and each other. This is a welcoming space for allies and everyone else who wants to be on our side and assist us in upholding what is right and just. Since its inception in 2023, the pride webinar has been an annual presentation in collaboration between the DEI Committee and the LGBTQI+ SIG to celebrate with pride the scholastic achievements in LGBTQI+ healthcare.
2.) How does the theme of the webinar resonate with the goals of Pride Month?
The theme resonates well with the goals of Pride Month. We honor and remember the fearless LGBTQIA+ individuals led by Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera who are two women of transgender experience and who resisted and led the community to resist and stand up to police hostility and brutality on June 28, 1969. This has been dubbed as the civil and human rights movement for the LGBTQIA+ community and is celebrated annually in June. Truth be told that becoming a leader for the LGBTQIA+ community in our respective places comes with enormous courage, strength, humility, and responsibility to shine a light on various healthcare issues impacting the community at large. Even though the community is facing a lot of adversities in various domains, as a community we are standing strong to affirm the rights of our community members and raise our voices in resistance that no amount of legislation can erase and make this community invisible and dispensable.
3.) What are some key messages or themes you hope attendees will take away from the webinar?
There are so many takeaways. Some key areas I wish to highlight are as follows: One is the power of storytelling and anchoring it in your own truth. We all have unique lived experiences. There is a lot to learn from regarding the characteristics of the person(s) who choose a life of service including being a leader. The power of storytelling can inspire others to answer the call to leadership because even though the experiences are quite varied from person to person, somehow there is a shared narrative of the struggles, victories, and attributes a person develops over time. These could resonate well with potential and future leaders. A good leader is also a good doer and follower. Having that sense of humility and collaborative nature with diverse members of one’s tribe are essential attributes for successful leadership. There is also an appreciation of the reality that we are in and that being a leader now could be fraught with fear and ambivalence. That said, one could seek out mentors and other support networks that could uplift and help you get to your destination of becoming an effective and successful leader.
4.) Can you share a personal experience that highlights the importance of LGBTQIA+ leadership in healthcare?
As a former LGBTQI+ SIG Chair for AAHPM, I was able to advocate for working collaboratively with the DEI Committee to organize a pride webinar that has since become a tradition for this collective endeavor between the two committees. Moreover, I was able to advocate for a seat at the table for the annual assembly planning committee for AAHPM which allowed me to use my voice and position to ensure that scholarly work around inequities in care impacting the LGBTQIA+ communities are being recognized. I was also able to nominate two plenary speakers who are considered pioneers in hospice and palliative care for the community. I was able to work collaboratively with the DEI Committee and HPNA on ideas for celebrating DEI at the 2024 assembly. For the first time in history, we were able to celebrate drag performers and cultural presentations from diverse groups to include the East and South Asian as well as the Hispanic and Latinx communities. I also advocated for renaming our group from LGBTQ+ to LGBTQI+ to ensure that our Intersex community members are recognized in this SIG. Moreover, I was also fortunate to be featured as a speaker for the Hospice and Palliative Care Voices to share my unique lived experiences as a straight woman with multiple intersectional identities including being Asian, Filipina, born transgender, immigrant, Catholic among others. Last but not the least, I was able to lead a couple of community activities that allowed people to share ideas on how they envision the SIG to evolve across time.
5.) What steps can healthcare organizations take to better support and uplift LGBTQIA+ leaders?
Healthcare organizations can better support and uplift LGBTQIA+ leaders through their unwavering support and commitment no matter the challenges that exist systemically and politically, both at the federal and state levels. We need our allies to stand up for us and ensure that all the progressive good work that we have done and planning to do are protected and upheld. It also means that organizational leadership is invested in our professional growth and development so we can lead with a steady hand in uncertain times. We ask that this support is not purely lip service, but rather shown in tangible and concrete ways such as program funding, protective policies, inclusive environments, pipelines for professional growth and development, etc. We also want to make sure that we are not left out in essential conversations that will impact how we deliver inclusive and affirming care for the community at large.