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|  | Feature Gay Men’s Health Issue  In October of 2001, the Utah AIDS Foundation brought the first Gay Men’s Health Summit to Utah. On that beautiful fall weekend nearly 100 gay men from the intermountain region came together in Deer Valley to begin the conversation about gay men’s health – a conversation that involved HIV/AIDS but went far beyond just this one issue. Since then, over 150 men have gathered each year to continue this tradition.
This year, INVENIO, the Utah Gay Men’s Health Summit, will take place October 15 to 17 at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City. Registration is $25 per person, and there is a special room rate if you want to stay at the hotel for the weekend.
For the past three years, INVENIO has served as a safe place for gay men and their allies to carry the conversation about health beyond HIV/AIDS. Although HIV/AIDS remains a critical health concern, gay men understand that it is not the only issue being faced.
“Being a healthy person is about more than just your HIV status,” said event organizer Tyler Fisher. “Even medical health is not the only aspect of that.”
According to Fisher, the summit tried to embrace being healthy in many areas of our lives: mentally, emotionally, financially, medically, sexually, psycho/socially and even spiritually.
INVENIO features provocative workshops that are designed to encourage participation. Rather than focusing on lectures and panel discussions with experts, organizers would rather have an interactive, experiential discussion. While the volunteer organizers of the 2004 Utah Gay Men’s Health Summit have put together interactive workshops with an emphasis on holistic health, attendees and their shared experiences will determine much of the tone. Some of the best health discussion comes from shared experiences rather than dispassionate medical talks.
“The rule of thought in the national gay men’s health movement is that there are no experts,” said Fisher. “We drop our titles when we come together. We all have life experiences. The workshops are really more like facilitated discussions.”
INVENIO is a part of a national movement that seeks to raise the level of awareness of health issues that gay men are facing without minimizing the importance of HIV. The movement here in Salt Lake City and the surrounding area has gained substantial momentum and is thought of as the leader in the national gay men’s health movement.
“In the past, topics like relationships, communication or conflict resolution have drawn the biggest crowds,” Fisher suggests, “but this year, there are so many great topics, that I don’t know what would be the most popular.”
When you make the decision to participate in INVENIO, you will be joining hundreds of other men in the Intermountain Region who have decided to play offense with their lives and take charge of their own future.
“So many people are looking for a sense of community in Salt Lake, always searching and never quite finding it,” commented Fisher. “This [INVENIO] is the place where we find it.” — JK
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