Pride at the Intersections

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month — a time for celebrating the spectrum of LGBTQ+ identities, reflecting on our history and how far we’ve come, and assessing how much farther we have to go.

During Pride Month, it can be easy to see LGBTQ+ people as just their LGBTQ+ identity. But who we are is a multitude of distinct and overlapping identities. As civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw has defined it, this intersectionality is in part a way of understanding how various aspects of individual identity — including race, gender, social class and sexuality — interact to create complex, multifaceted experiences of privilege or oppression.

Learn more during a joint webinar from several National Council Interest Groups: LGBTQ+; Children, Young Adults and Families; Crisis Response; and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. In a panel discussion, we will explore the unique experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals and how to best support and empower patients, clients and friends with intersecting identities.

Register today to broaden your understanding of health in these spaces and consider joining an Interest Group (a National Council member benefit) to stay informed!

(Live captioning and ASL interpretation will be provided)

Casper Sweeney (he/they) is a Volunteer and Intern Specialist with the International Rescue Committee in Oakland, California, and a dedicated activist on behalf of LGBTQ+ individuals. He brings five years of experience in resettlement and immigrant services, including direct client interaction, program development, and training efforts. He was the co-facilitator and a founding member of the LGBT Inclusion Committee with Bethany Christian Services, a refugee resettlement agency headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Casper’s primary work and interests stem from the field of Medical Anthropology—understanding how cultural background, social stigma, and accessibility barriers surrounding various axes of oppression impact health care. Casper holds a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology from Utah State University.

Rev. Ben Bond (He/They) is the Associate, Faith Inclusion and Belonging, at RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community. Ben is ordained in The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) which is a mainline progressive Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. Ben is a queer multiply disabled person with lived experience both growing up with a disability and acquiring one later in life. Faith inclusion and disability have been at the center of their work for many years. Ben founded and co-chaired Yale Divinity School’s first disability student organization named DivineAbilities which was dedicated to centering disability issues at an institutional level as well as providing a space for students to explore interpersonally their relationship between disability and faith communities. Ben has earned their Master of Divinity Degree from Yale Divinity School along with a certificate from the Institute of Sacred Music and the Arts at Yale. An alumnus of Chapman University, he earned his Bachelor’s degree there in Religious studies. In his free time, Ben loves to nerd out about music, board games, and high-fantasy novels.

Jorge R. Petit, MD is a board-certified Adult, Community and Public psychiatrist and healthcare executive leader with over 30 years of focused attention on innovation and healthcare transformation for those most in need and vulnerable—people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, those struggling with mental health and substance use challenges, individuals in poverty, facing eviction or homelessness, and all those marginalized, unemployed and disadvantaged. Promoting social justice action-oriented approaches to increase access to: health and behavioral health supports, services and treatment; safe and dignified affordable/supportive housing settings; education and meaningful employment opportunities as well as ensuring social drivers of inequity like food insecurity, unsafe neighborhoods and lack of transportation are eradicated with intentional and deliberative grass-roots community building and engagement. Leadership through compassion, humility and bringing one's authentic self to serving others in need.

Dana Morcillo (she/her) is a Program Coordinator at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, dedicated to solving critical health challenges in the United States and around the world. She previously worked for the Virginia Department of Health on the COVID-19 team, where she played a vital role in supporting public health responses. Morcillo brings a unique perspective as the daughter of immigrants, navigating the intersection of queerness and her experience as a second-generation immigrant. She strives to utilize her experiences to bridge gaps between diverse communities while promoting inclusive and sustainable health solutions. Morcillo holds a Master of Public Health from University College London and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Richmond.

National Council Interest Group Staff Leads

Caroline Davidson

LGBTQ+ Interest Group Staff Lead

Director, Practice Improvement & Consulting

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Matt St. Pierre

Crisis Response Interest Group Staff Lead

Director, Practice Improvement & Consulting

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Anthony Carter

Children, Young Adults & Families Interest Group Staff Lead

Director, Practice Improvement & Consulting

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Nicole Cadovius

IDD Interest Group Staff Lead

Director, Strategic Programs | Mental Health First Aid

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Panelists