Convocation week at UMass Chan Medical School continued with the 12th Annual LGBTA Convocation Celebration on Tuesday, Sept. 10. The virtual event featured Judy Hanlon, pastor at Hadwen Park Congregational Church, co-founder of the LGBT Asylum Task Force, and member of the Southern New England Conference Immigration, Refugee and Asylum Task Team; and Al Green, ministry director of the LGBT Asylum Task Force.
Green, a civil engineering graduate from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, said he became involved with the LGBT Task Force after receiving support through the organization upon his return to the United States from Jamaica due to persecution based on his sexual orientation. Green has since risen to leadership in the organization and in Worcester at large to offer LGBT asylum seekers the same radical hospitality that he was offered.
The task force, which organizers say is the only one of its kind, provides asylum seekers with housing, food and assistance navigating the legal system. Green said there are 60 countries where it’s illegal to be LGBTQ and reported that the task force has helped more than 400 asylum seekers from 30 countries.
“The process from seeking asylum to obtaining a work permit can take up to seven years. It is a long time for folks to be sitting idly and not being productive, and that significantly affects their mental health,” Green said. “We try to keep folks active and make sure that they’re in community during that period.”
The community connects asylum seekers with experts to talk about resources and partnerships with companies for mentorship that potentially lead to employment opportunities.
“Human rights are on the political chopping block, and it is time that we all become agents of change,” Hanlon said as part of a personal narrative that led her to work for LGBT rights. She urged attendees to challenge indoctrination and speak truth to power with love as they talk with those with whom they disagree.
“One of the great things about being at an educational institution is having young people around, and, in many cases, leading us of the older generation in understanding and in appreciation of celebrating our differences,” said Terence R. Flotte, MD, the Celia and Isaac Haidak Professor, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine.
