Welcome Romeo: Rainbow’s new educator focuses on the health and care of 2SLGBTQ+ Manitobans

Romeo NEWSLETTER Web

By Craig Gibb, Romeo Gauthier, Ashley Smith

Rainbow Resource Center is excited to share that Romeo Gauthier (they/them) has joined our Education Team in the role of Training & Education Coordinator, with a focus on health and long term care, particularly for 2SLGBTQ+ older adults.

With a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Women and Gender Studies, Romeo also brings a wealth of experience in creating health promotion content. Their thesis focused on healthcare access for 2GBQ+ men in Manitoba, utilizing decolonized, community-based methods through the Village Lab.

Romeo's role at Rainbow fits into our larger strategy to lay pathways to safe health and long-term care for 2SLGBTQ+ Manitobans. They will be working to develop workshops specific to the health sector with a focus on providing healthcare providers, long-term care staff, as well as those in the permanent residence sector with the skills, language, and competence to better care for 2SLGBTQ+ Manitobans, no matter which health region their in. Part of Romeo's work in the coming months will be to further Rainbow's eLearning course offerings, but adapting this new material into an eLearning course that can be delivered to entire health systems at once, and can be taken at learner's pace.

While Romeo is new to the team, they're not new to Rainbow. Romeo explains, "My connection to Rainbow started when I began attending the social support group, Transmasculine Manitoba. Although I was initially scared to join this group, I immediately felt welcomed into the community. I was amazed by the generosity, knowledge, and acceptance shown to me."

"I am eager to improve healthcare access for the 2SLGBTQ+ community within my new role," Romeo says. They recognize the barriers that the community faces in accessing quality healthcare—particularly the barriers faced by our community's older adults—and they hope to work at effecting change in our systems.

When asked how excited they are to work with Rainbow and what they're looking forward to, Romeo says, "I am beyond honoured to join the Rainbow team. I am excited to learn more about the healthcare sector in Manitoba and the experiences of community members and healthcare providers across the entire province."

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