Chris Bartlett (born March 29, 1966) is an American gay activist,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, educator, and researcher who lives in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, PA, and is the former executive director of the William Way Community Center.

Life and works

Bartlett grew up in

Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania Cheltenham Township is a home-rule township located in the southeast corner of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It borders Philadelphia to the south and east, Abington Township and Jenkintown to the north, and Springfield Tow ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1988 and a second Bachelor of Arts in Literae Humaniores from

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

in 1991. He was director of the SafeGuards Gay Men's Health Project in

from 1991 to 2001, where he developed innovative programs addressing the broader health needs of

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

and

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

men beyond HIV and AIDS. In his early research, he directed a survey of over 1400 gay and bisexual men in the

region in order to assess their risk for

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

STDs A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral s ...

and other health challenges. In 2003, Bartlett joined forces with gay activist

Eric Rofes Eric Rofes (August 31, 1954 – June 26, 2006) was a gay activist, educator, and author. He was a director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center in the 1980s. In 1989, he became executive director of the Shanti Project, a nonprofit AIDS se ...

to create the Gay Men's Health Leadership Academy, a national center for excellence for leadership development of gay and bisexual men and their allies based at the White Crane Institute. The academy hosts biannual retreats on the East Coast (Greenwich, NY) and the West Coast ( Guerneville, CA) of the United States, and also works with organizations and governments to strengthen their cadres of gay leadership. Since Rofes' death, the program has been co-facilitated by Kevin Trimell Jones of Philadelphia, PA; Fred Lopez of San Francisco, CA; Scott Pegues of Denver, CO; and Kaijson Noilmar of Seattle, WA. In 2005, under the leadership of Michael S. Hinson Jr., he directed the

LGBT Community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ people, LGBTQ individuals united by LGBTQ culture, a common culture and LGBTQ movements, social movements. These Community, comm ...

Assessment, an assessment of the broad health related needs of LGBT populations in the Philadelphia region. The City of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Foundation subsequently funded an LGBT Youth Assessment, which he also directed. In 2008, Bartlett received a grant from the Arcus Foundation to create the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

Leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

Initiative, a convening of thinkers in the United States about the strategic leadership needs of

communities in the United States. His leadership interests include intergenerational communication and connection, as well as mentorship of younger leaders. In the November, 2008 Instinct Magazine he was named one of the "Leading Men of 2008." He has created an on-line

Wiki A wiki ( ) is a form of hypertext publication on the internet which is collaboratively edited and managed by its audience directly through a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages that can either be edited by the public or l ...

to document the deaths of gay men from

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

between 1981 and the present. The site acts as an on-line

quilt, on which community members and families can document the lives of their friends and loved ones. Bartlett is also a long-time leader in the Gay Men's Health Movement, both nationally and internationally. He has participated in each of the Gay Men's Health Summits and

LGBTI Health Summit The LGBTI Health Summits are an opportunity for individuals working for the health of intersex, trans, bisexual, lesbian and gay people to meet and share ideas. Attendees are mostly health activists, a mix of medical care professionals, alternativ ...

s as an organizer and presenter, as well as presenting at the Warning Gay Men's Health Summit in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, in 2005. His work has shown a continuing interest in

participatory democracy Participatory democracy, participant democracy, participative democracy, or semi-direct democracy is a form of government in which Citizenship, citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their ...

, starting with his early participation in ACT UP Philadelphia. His current work focuses on the role of

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

, including

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, and other tools in developing on-line communities that can participate in effective social change. Out of his engagement in social media work, he hosted the

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

conferences in Philadelphia on November 18, 2010, and November 8, 2011. In 2014, he presented his own TEDxPhilly talk, "How To Make the Neighborhood You Want", which shows the city planning lessons that Philadelphia's Chinatown has for its Gay neighborhood. He is a member of the Philadelphia circle of

Radical Faeries Radical Faeries are a loosely affiliated worldwide network and Counterculture, countercultural movement blending queer consciousness and secular spirituality. Sharing various aspects with neopaganism, the movement also adopts elements from anarchi ...

. During his tenure at the

William Way LGBT Community Center The William Way LGBT Community Center is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and nearby communities, located at 1315 Spruce Street in Philadelphia in the Gayborhood. ...

, he has focused on community building through arts and culture, technological innovation, and intergenerational approaches. He has been a leader in the effort to build housing that is friendly for LGBT seniors. In 2013 under Bartlett's leadership the community center has received grants to fund the nation's first LGBT Jazz Festival (2014) and a city-wide exploration of LGBT history in Philadelphia (2015)Crimmins, Peter, Newsworks, May 7, 2014,
"Nation's first gay jazz festival, OutBeat, will debut in Philadelphia"
/ref> His writings include
Levity and Gravity
, in Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore's

>; and "Choosing Faerie" in Mark Thompson's ''The Fire in Moonlight: Stories from the Radical Faeries: 1975-2010''.

References

External links

Video of Chris Bartlett's 2017 talk on the importance of solidarity with African LGBTQ organizingVideo of Chris Bartlett's 2016 talk: "Queer Generation" at Washington CollegeVideo of Chris Bartlett's 2014 TEDxPhilly talk: "How to Make the Neighborhood you Want."WRTI's Meridee Duddleston interviews Chris Bartlett about Outbeat, the nation's first LGBT jazz festival.Video of Chris Bartlett's talk on personal brand: Being @harveymilk. Video of Chris Bartlett's presentation: Social Networks for the DeadA short movie created for Chris Bartlett's 40th birthday by Peter Lien and Matty HartThe Gay History WikiThe Gay Men's Health Leadership Academy Chris Bartlett's writings for the Lifelube Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Chris 1966 births Living people American feminists American LGBTQ rights activists American health activists American gay men Brown University alumni Alumni of New College, Oxford Political activists from Pennsylvania Activists from Philadelphia Members of ACT UP Radical Faeries members American male feminists People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania LGBTQ people from Pennsylvania Gay feminists 21st-century American LGBTQ people