Ten times a year, on a certain Friday afternoon, a group of dedicated and passionate individuals meet together with the goal of improving health and wellness among transgender communities within Maryland. This is the Transgender Response Team (TRT).

The TRT was convened by the Maryland Department of Health and Human Services, Infectious Disease and Environmental Health Administration (IDEHA) in response to input received at a series of Transgender Health Forums held during the summer of 2007. The forums revealed a common desire among transgender consumers, health and human services providers, and other stakeholders, for the creation of a stable venue to engage in activities to tackle the many barriers transgender Marylanders face to full and equal inclusion in society, which collectively contribute to heightened risk for HIV for transgender people.

The purpose of the TRT is to launch and sustain a linked framework of culturally competent, evidence-based HIV prevention services for transgender communities and individuals in the state of Maryland. The TRT focuses on efforts that reduce the stigma and oppression that fuel risk and risk-taking behavior; facilitate power-sharing between consumers and providers, and; promote solution-based dialogues and actions.

Over the past two years, the TRT has worked diligently to identify and engage partners outside of the traditional circle of HIV/AIDS prevention and care services, particularly those who can help move efforts forward to attain equal access and cultural competency in services for transgender consumers. At any given meeting, you might find, among others, representatives from the Baltimore City Community Relations Commission, Interfaith Fairness Coalition of Maryland, Women Accepting Responsibility, AIDS Action Baltimore, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Connect To Protect: Baltimore, the Office of Baltimore City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and transgender consumers representing themselves and their communities.

Some of the group’s accomplishments include expansion of HIV prevention programming to transgender youth and adults in Baltimore City, development and dissemination of the first transgender-specific HIV prevention brochure used in Maryland, and provision of transgender-specific culturally competent care recommendations to the Greater Baltimore HIV Health Services Planning Council. 

This year marks the second year that the Team has focused community-building efforts around the Transgender Day of Remembrance. In 2008, the TRT worked to bring the Transgender Day of Remembrance event back to Maryland after a 5-year absence. 

In the coming year, the TRT will focus on supporting the Baltimore City Health Department’s planned expansion of needle exchange services to hormone injectors and other transgender consumers, and on conducting a statewide Transgender Persons’ Needs Assessment. 

For more information about the TRT, including an annual meeting schedule, please contact Jean-Michel Brevelle, Sexual Minorities Program Manager, IDEHA Center for HIV Prevention at jbrevelle@dhmh.state.md.us or (410) 767-5016.