Norwich ― Educators, students and community members gathered at Three Rivers Community College Friday to discuss the well-being and inclusion of the region’s LGBTQIA+ community.

OutCT, a nonprofit serving the region’s LGBTQIA+ community, held its second annual Health and Wellness Symposium with various workshops and speakers.

“People came to support folks, to get support or to feel supported,” said Chevelle Moss-Savage, vice-president of outCT and a licensed LGBTQ+ identifying therapist.

Moss-Savage said the symposium’s workshops took a holistic approach at discussing the six components of health and wellness: emotional, spiritual, social, physical, sexual, and mental health. She said there was also a massage room, reiki room, a vaccination clinic and food.

Moss-Savage added she is grateful to Three Rivers for hosting the event and sponsors for allowing admission to be free. She said there was 150 attendees this year.

Kris Wraight, a restorative justice educator and trainer, was among the speakers and spoke about how everyone is socialized, or taught how to fulfill the expectations of a specific identity (gender, sexuality and race) and how to treat those of different identities.

Wraight taught attendees about the social discipline window, a tool of four basic approaches to changing negative learned behaviors. Using the window, Wraight provided the example that people raised to be a girl are taught to be permissive when conflict arises while those assigned the role of boy are taught to be punitive.

A panel discussed what it meant to be an ally, or someone who support the rights of a minority or marginalized group without being a member of it.

Raven Dillon, a queer and indigenous college recruiter at Three Rivers, said being an ally is not a job, it’s part of who you are. She said it is not done for a reward but because it’s the right thing to do.

“There’s also a level of trust,” Dillon said. “If I consider them to be an ally of mine... that person is gonna have my back.”

Moss-Savage as a panelist said someone should not have to call themselves an ally but rather it should be shown in their actions and deeds.

Workshops covered topics about spirituality and religion, supporting queer youth and housing. Nichole Mayweather-Banks, a licensed therapist with Changing FACES for LGBTQ+ adults, presented a workshop on the reality of transgender homelessness.

Mayweather-Banks said transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. She said 1 in 5 transgender people have experienced homelessness at some time in their lives because of discrimination and family rejection.

Mayweather-Banks said barriers transgender people face to attain housing include not having identification documents that align with their preferred name and identity and higher rates of unemployment due to workplace discrimination.

Despite federal and state laws that prohibit housing discrimination based on gender identity, Mayweather-Banks said if someone is visibly a transgender person and meets with a landlord, there is a likely chance their application will be denied.

j.vazquez@theday.com