Blair Peters, a gender-affirming surgeon and advocate for LGBTQ health, will be the keynote speaker at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences’ inaugural LGBTQIA+ Education and Inclusivity in Health Care event on May 23.

The event, to be held from 4:30-7:45 p.m. in the Dozoretz Auditorium, Room 2220 in the Jacobs School, is free and open to the public; registration is required. Dinner will be provided for attendees.

The event will begin with three consecutive workshops: EMS Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse Patients; Words and Actions Matter: Rethinking the Hippocratic Oath; and Transgender Protections under Federal and State Law.

Peters, assistant professor at Oregon Health & Science University with dual appointments in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the Department of Urology, will speak on “The Current State of Gender-Affirming Surgery.”

A member of and steadfast advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community, Peters lectures frequently across the country regarding advocacy and policy change for all queer people. He strives to be a strong queer voice in medicine and surgery, focusing on mentoring future generation of gender-affirming surgeons.

Following his speech, Peters will join a panel of local experts for a discussion titled “Affirming the Right to Be.” Panelists are:

• Dylan Stannard, paramedic and licensed physical therapist.
• Mikaela Middleton, resident, Department of Emergency Medicine, Jacobs School.
• Andrew J. Freedman, lawyer and diversity partner at Hodgson Russ LLP Attorneys.
• Nat Voos, MD ’23, Jacobs School alumnus.

OUTpatient, the Jacobs School’s LGBTQIA+ student organization, began planning the event with the school’s Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement after UB student groups hosted a controversial speaker with anti-trans views earlier this year.

The event is being funded by the Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement and the Office of Biomedical Education. 

“The OUTpatient group came to us and said that the only way to combat hate and discrimination is with education,” says Maria Wilson, inclusive workforce specialist in the Jacobs School’s Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement. “This event is providing a tremendous public service because it will educate about transgender and LGBTQIA+ health care in an inclusive, scientific and fact-based way.”