NAESM: Finding a Home
By: Micah Lubensky, PhD (he, him, his)
Participant Engagement Director The PRIDE Study/PRIDEnet
The NAESM Conference is one of my favorite community gatherings of the year. They are an HIV services, advocacy, and community-wellness organization in the metropolitan Atlanta area, focused on serving Black sexual minority men [gay, bisexual, same-gender loving, and other men who have sex with men (MSM)] and Black transgender communities. Operating since 1990, NAESM provides services such as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infection (STI) & HIV, linkage to care, housing assistance, substance abuse counseling, behavioral health support, and even personal development opportunities for LGBTQIA+ youth.
However, NAESM is known among some Black and African diasporic communities far beyond the Interstate 285 perimeter of Atlanta. Since 2002, it has also produced an annual event — the NAESM National Leadership Conference on Health Disparities and Social Justice (affectionately called “the NAESM Conference” in brief). This national conference first started over 20 years ago and is the largest annual event to focus on health care, research, and policy relevant to the holistic well-being of Black sexual minority men and transgender people. Historically the conference alternates its location every other year between Atlanta and different cities with large Black populations.
I attended my first NAESM conference in 2008, when the conference came to Oakland, California. At the time, I was the Community Development Manager for a program at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, called Black Brothers Esteem (BBE). I was new to the conference and excited to see all programs and research happening in different places in the United States, focused on HIV prevention and holistic health promotion for Black sexual minority people… It was completely in line with the program priorities we had for BBE, and helpful to see where we could learn from other programs, and where our efforts could provide guidance for other programs.
The content of the NAESM conference is always excellent, with workshops and presentations about holistic health for African diasporic sexual minority men and transgender folks. However, one of the biggest draws to the conference, for me, is the community of people who participate in the conference. I spent many years in higher education prior to coming to work in HIV health. In most of my years of education, I was in programs and/or institutions where there weren’t many other people like me, from the African diaspora and LGBTQIA+ identified. As a result, I often felt very isolated with my intersectional identity as a Black/biracial same-gender-loving man. But, when I arrived at the NAESM conference, and saw all these LGBTQIA+ Black folks, working for HIV prevention/health promotion, and overall health justice, I felt like I had finally found my dream professional network. Not only were these folks likeminded and focused on the same goals, we also had so many personal and cultural issues in common. Conference sessions were inspiring and invigorating, and the professional networking was fantastic! My encounters were all culturally fulfilling, validating, and professionally motivating, and constantly filled with kiki moments. Some of the people I’ve met at NAESM over the years have become very dear personal friends.
I look forward to attending the NAESM conference every year, and being in community with those who attend the event and festivities. Going to the NAESM conference is an annual homecoming for me. Since I started working with PRIDEnet/The PRIDE Study in 2016, I have also been happy to share the excitement of our projects with the NAESM conference community and build and retain interest in our work.
NAESM is also producing a PrideFest event in downtown Atlanta this year that is open to the public. It will be an LGBTQIA+ Pride event in the month of June, separate from Atlanta’s other Pride events that happen later in the calendar. PRIDEnet will be tabling and exhibiting there too! If you’re in the metro Atlanta area, I hope that we’ll get to see you this week! I’ll be joined by JT Williams, PRIDEnet’s LGBTQIA+ Regional Engagement Coordinator (South).
