LGBTQ+ Communities & Mental Health: Thriving with Courage in the Face of Adversity

LGBTQ+ Communities and Mental Health: Thriving with Courage in the Face of Adversity

When: June 22, 2021 @ 11:00 AM PT

Info & Register: https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/post/webinar-lgbtq-communities-and-mental-health-experiences-of-thriving-with-courage-in-the-face


In honor of Pride Month, we have invited speakers from the LGBTQ+ and mental health communities to share their personal stories of courage, strength and purpose.

They affirm that we all have the ability to reach our fullest potential. From their lived experiences, we will learn how support, guidance and encouragement have empowered them to voice their own needs and advocate for their rights.

Please join us as we discuss:

--Personal Stories
--LGBTQ+ Communities and Mental Health
--Self-Advocacy Strategies
--Accomplishments and Message of Hope


SPEAKERS:

Victor Alvarez

Victor Alvarez (he/him/his) lives in Sacramento with his husband, Ryan, and two teenage kids. Passionate about theater, languages, cultures, and coffee, Victor is eager to travel and be around diverse people once more.

Victor studied Latin American Studies, Spanish, Italian, French and Russian at CSU Chico. Upon graduating cum laude, Victor became a Youth and Young Adult Director in Minnesota and California while pursuing his Master’s Degree in Pastoral Administration from Loyola University - New Orleans. Victor started at DRC in January 2014 as an Administrative Assistant. He has been a Patients’ Rights Advocate at Napa State Hospital since July 2017.

At CSU Chico, Victor came out as bisexual to his close friends. In 2002, Victor married Nicole and had two children in 2004 and 2008. After a messy divorce in 2010, Victor dated men and more closely identifies as a gay man, marrying Ryan in 2018.

Victor has struggled with depression and anxiety all his life, but did not seek treatment or receive an official diagnosis until 2003. Victor manages with a combination of talk therapy, medication, and light therapy – for those pesky winter blues (Seasonal Affective Disorder).

A pop-culture, Drag, & Disney junkie, Victor can usually be found drinking iced coffee while playing with his two chihuahuas and people-watching outside a local coffee shop. He loves reading biographies about the secret, sordid lives of Hollywood’s Golden Age actors and is currently learning Portuguese.

Mary Jensen

Mary Jensen (they/them/their) is a Reviewer in the Office of Payee Review and Beneficiary Assistance with Disability Rights California. They graduated with a degree in Deaf Studies from CSU Northridge and have been with DRC since 2016. Mary is an Autistic, Hard of Hearing wheelchair user with mental health disabilities; they are also transgender and mixed raced. Mary is passionate about advocating for disability justice and mental health care equity through an intersectional lens.