{"id":2089,"date":"2024-06-21T08:34:45","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T08:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/?p=2089"},"modified":"2024-06-21T08:34:45","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T08:34:45","slug":"avi-ela-she-her-medical-student-and-imperial-college-union-lgbtq-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/2024\/06\/21\/avi-ela-she-her-medical-student-and-imperial-college-union-lgbtq-officer\/","title":{"rendered":"Avi Ela (she\/her), Medical Student and Imperial College Union LGBTQ+ Officer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Avi<\/h3>\n

\u201cI have adored every moment of my time as Imperial College Union\u2019s LGBTQ+ Officer 2023-24.\u201d<\/h3>\n

As a queer British-Asian female of colour, I have experienced much hatred and prejudice. I believe that amplifying the voices of underrepresented people is vital. I wish for the world to become a more inclusive place for marginalised folk. I strongly believe that we are all capable of creating change for the better. I pride myself in wanting to help others and have found that a personal connection to the work fuels my passion. I will do all I can to fight the battles of discrimination inspired by fearless queer activists who came before me, such as Marsha P. Johnson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As LGBTQ+ Officer for the Imperial College Union<\/a>, I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to make meaningful changes\u00a0 that benefit Imperial\u2019s community. I am particularly proud to have launched the LGBTQ+ Students of Imperial video series<\/a> for Pride Month, produced in collaboration with Digital Media Lab. As a Medical student, it was also a fantastic opportunity to attend NHS England\u2019s LGBTQ+ Health Conference 2024 and gain insights into various aspects of LGBTQ+ healthcare. Being short-listed for Activist of the Year by the nationwide Queer Student Awards<\/a> and receiving a Union Fellowship Award<\/a> are humbling accolades of my efforts this year for which I am beyond grateful.<\/p>\n

Despite this, there is still much that needs to be done to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people. As the sub-group that faces the greatest disparities in health, quality of life and beyond, I would like to see more support for trans+ students at Imperial and more generally for trans+ people nationally. Systemic change to reduce stigma, prejudice and discrimination is paramount to achieving queer liberation globally.<\/p>\n

If it weren\u2019t for the increased academic demands of fifth-year Medicine, I would have loved the opportunity to run for this role again. I will miss it and have adored every moment of my time as Imperial College Union\u2019s LGBTQ+ Officer 2023-24. I will still be involved in LGBTQ+ advocacy and aim to use the knowledge I gained this year to work as IQ<\/a>\u2019s Campaigns and Union Liaison Officer.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, I will continue pursuing research in LGBTQ+ Health, with the overarching aim of reducing health inequalities experienced by this marginalised group. In my clinical practice, I am also keen to promote and develop inclusive healthcare systems free from queerphobia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI have adored every moment of my time as Imperial College Union\u2019s LGBTQ+ Officer 2023-24.\u201d As a queer British-Asian female of colour, I have experienced much hatred and prejudice. I believe that amplifying the voices of underrepresented people is vital. I wish for the world to become a more inclusive place for marginalised folk. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1793,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1793"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2089"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2093,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089\/revisions\/2093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}