Motivating youth to take an active role in their own health and well-being is a difficult but necessary endeavour. This is especially true for young gay, bisexual, queer, two-spirit, and trans (GBQ2ST) men whose identities and experiences are negatively influenced by discrimination and stigma. While biomedical interventions may be making it easier for people to live healthier lives, underlying stigma is exacerbating and perpetuating health disparities.
Resist Stigma is a national initiative that engages young GBQ2ST men in combatting stigma by sharing knowledge, creating capacity, and providing support in sharing stories of stigma. In this webinar, Keith Reynolds, Project Manager for Resist Stigma, and Brook Biggin, a Resist Stigma Steering Committee Member who works at HIV Edmonton, will be exploring the unique aspects of the project which led to its success as a social marketing campaign for young GBQ2ST men.
Keith Reynolds is a writer, blogger and social media consultant. Previously he was the Project Manager for Resist Stigma, a program of the Community-Based Research Centre for Gay Men’s Health (CBRC). He has also worked on numerous social marketing campaigns for gay men’s health including for Health Initiative for Men (HIM), Sex Now Survey, and the Investigaytors.
Brook Biggin is a community organizer based in Edmonton, Alberta. Brook works as a Community Education Facilitator with HIV Edmonton and also holds a contract with the Alberta Community Council on HIV. He is the Founder of the Edmonton Men’s Health Collective, a grassroots organization run by and for GBTQ men and masculine-identifying individuals, which works toward health equity for sexual and gender minorities through community education, support and capacity building; provider training; and community based research.
