“What can I do, Elizabeth?” “How can I help?” “What does PROMO need?”
So many of you have asked me questions like this since I started working at PROMO. My answers ranged from, “please sign this petition” to “please donate in support of our efforts in the movement.” Starting today, you have another option to be involved. To feel engaged in your LGBTQ communities. To make a difference. Just Show Me YOU.
The Show Me YOU Wellness Project Kicks off with Show Me YOU: An LGBT Health and Wellness Questionnaire. For the first time in Missouri history, we are asking LGBTQ community members from across the state of Missouri to be represented. To self-identify. To SHOW ME YOU.
Have you ever filled out a survey and felt discouraged because you couldn’t identify your gender identity or familial status? This questionnaire attempts to heal some of the dismissed feelings you may have experienced in the past by allowing your whole self to be recognized, represented, and counted. In our questionnaire you are more than a statistic; YOU are part of the solution.
At PROMO, we write policy and help policymakers make informed decisions about the communities in which we work and live. If we do not know who are community members are, where they live, and how they interact with the world around them, then we cannot fully and effectively do our job. When money is allocated in funding non-profit organizations, like PROMO, showing need is a necessary part of the application process, and without an accurate depiction of who our community is and what they need, we do not know if we are actually meeting your greatest need. Please help us serve you better.
We know that LGBTQ community members still face discrimination in health care systems and the workplace resulting in poorer health outcomes and lower incomes. With the results from this questionnaire, PROMO will be more informed about Missouri’s LGBTQ community members’ experiences with discrimination and interactions with social and health care services across the state. You will help PROMO educate lawmakers, health care practitioners, and social service agencies on the gaps in services in our state for LGBTQ Missourians. We will be able to show where discrimination is happening, to whom, and why. We will be able to target specific issues or disparities and seek funding sources that can support the needs LGBTQ Missourians.
Today is International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, and I can’t think of better way to honor today’s theme then by rolling out this questionnaire. The best way we can take a stand against homophobia and transphobia is to live our authentic selves, be represented, and be visible.
Your story matters. Use your voice to Show Me Your Barriers – Show Me Your Perseverance – Show Me Self-Love – Show Me YOU!
Be a part of Missouri History by helping us create LGBTQ-specific data in our state.
