Dear colleagues,

Please find the latest newsletter below. With this newsletter, we are reminding you of the section's call for abstracts for the EPH Conference in Helsinki later this year.

Newsletter March 2025

1. Reminder: Call for Abstracts - 2025 EPH Conference in Helsinki
2. Second European Conference on LGBTIQ+ Health, Brussels

1. Reminder: Call for Abstracts - 2025 EPH Conference in Helsinki

In preparation for the EPH Conference in Helsinki (November 2025), the EUPHA section on Sexual & Gender Minority Health would like to encourage all its members to submit abstracts on new and relevant work related to LGBTQIA+ health to the section leadership, in advance of the general submission deadline. 

As in previous years, the section aims to draft several symposium/workshop proposals (including 4-5 individual presentations) focused on sexual and gender minority health (SGMH) and submit these proposals on behalf of the section. If you are interested in joining a section-initiated workshop proposal, you are invited to send your abstract to the section leadership first. The section’s steering group will then review and organize the abstracts into thematic draft proposals. More information about abstract formatting and general submission can be found on the European Public Health Conference website. 

All contributions that are related to SGMH (i.e., LGBTQIA+ health) are welcomed. We further encourage, but do not limit to, abstracts of work that are related to the following themes:

1. Activism and resistance for public health researchers & practitioners working with LGBTQIA+ populations;
2. Gender-affirming health care and rapidly changing political climates;
3. Underrepresented groups in LGBTQIA+ health research, including asexual and intersex individuals;
4. LGBTQIA+ homelessness & insecure housing;
5. Intersectional approaches to LGBTQIA+ health;
6. Structural climates and LGBTQIA+ health;
7. Intracommunity stress – within-group discrimination and stress;
8. Resiliency & LGBTQIA+ health prevention and promotion;
9. SOGIESC status and neurodiversity;
10. Visibility and representation of SOGIESC in routine and survey data collection.

Please send your abstract to Dr. Van der Star (avanderstar [@] sdsu.edu) and Dr. Markovic (lovro.markovic [@] pm.me) by March 31st, 2025.  

NB: If you decide to send your abstract to the section, please do not also submit the abstract using the official submission system of the EPH Conference. We will notify you when your abstract is selected as part of a workshop proposal (or not) ahead of time. In this way, there will still be ample time to submit your contribution as an individual abstract before May 1st. All of our proposed symposia/workshops, as well as any individual abstract, will be evaluated and scored by the EPH International Scientific Committee before a decision is made on whether contributions are accepted as part of the conference program. 

2. Second European Conference on LGBTIQ+ Health, Brussels

The second edition of the European LGBTIQ+ health conference is taking place in Brussels from Wednesday May 21 to Friday May 23, 2025. Registration for the conference is already open. More information can be found here.

The conference will showcase community health initiatives from all across Europe, foster links between academic research and activism, and discuss tools and strategies to best advocate for the resources we require to answer the specific health needs of our communities. In the light of the attacks from the US government on our communities and of the current political climate in Europe, this conference is a unique opportunity to provide a platform for our movement to organise and gain strength in order to resist. 

Best regards,

Arjan van der Star, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Section President
EUPHA-SGMH

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