Charlie has been a UCSF employee since 2005. She’s been OUT for 11 years and identifies as a queer female. Her home town is Cupertino. Charlie serves the missions of UCSF as Course Coordinator for the Foundations of Patient Care, part of the core curriculum for medical students at UCSF.
What she likes about working at UCSF
I love being able to combine my passions for health education and higher learning. Working with faculty is an opportunity for information sharing—I have been able to bring to the table my knowledge from being queer and a sex educator to assure that the next generation of physicians is aware of the specific issues and concerns in providing excellent health care for the LGBT community.
How Charlie is OUT, IN the UCSF Community
I am completely out within my department, and attend LGBT functions regularly. I am an active member of the staff LGBT film committee, and am becoming active in the LGBT literary reading series.
How Charlie is OUT IN the community
I regularly organize, attend and support queer events. I stay involved in activist issues. As a sex educator for San Francisco Sex Information, I develop a curriculum which addresses LGBT issues & concerns, training individuals how to disseminate this information within their communities.
Charlie’s role models are
My mom, for teaching how to be strong and resilient against all odds. My mentor, Lisa Gerick, who inspired, challenged, and advised me on how to be a successful queer woman at UCSF.
How Charlie would change UCSF to improve the quality of life for LGBT people
There needs to be more awareness & sensitivity around LGBTI-specific concerns among health care providers, especially in regards to trans and intersex individuals. For many professionals, this is an unfathomable population, and I have had many friends who have had less than ideal interactions because of it.
How Charlie would change the LGBT community to improve the quality of life for LGBT people?
There is fragmentation and stagnation in the community. I think we need to redirect our energies toward building an inclusive LGBTI community.
Audio: Charlie discusses her cultural sense of her personal queer identity and her concern that the queer community in SF has fragmented, and some of her sense of why that's occurred.
