Yes, Black veterinarians exist. And some are LGBTQ+. Meet Christopher Inniss.
Growing up in the Caribbean nation of British Guyana, Christopher Inniss, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Area Chief of Staff at Banfield Pet Hospital in Lawrenceville, GA, had no blueprint for a career in his chosen field. Of the veterinarians he was exposed to, not a single one matched the reflection he saw when he looked in the mirror. Now decades later, Inniss is becoming a role model for aspiring veterinarians during a crucial time when there is an industry shortage and an even greater shortage of Black veterinarian students and professionals.
Of the more than 104,000 veterinarians in the nation, nearly 90% are white, less than 2% are Hispanic and almost none are Black, according to 2019 BLS figures.
“It’s a problem in the United States. Everyone is looking for vets. There’s not enough,” says Inniss. “Tuskegee [University] is the only accredited College of Veterinary Medicine on a Historically Black College [and University] campus. It’s the only HBCU that provides 80 to 90% of the Black veterinarians in the United States from one school,” he adds.
Inniss was one of those students in Tuskegee's renowned veterinary medicine program after immigrating to the United States in the early 90s—a move that proved to be beneficial professionally despite the initial culture shock.
“I arrived at that little exit in a rural part of Alabama,” says Inniss. “That is not what you see,” he says jokingly as he recalls researching images of America before leaving for college.
“Everyone is looking for vets. There’s not enough. Tuskegee is the only accredited College of Veterinary Medicine on a Historically Black College campus.”
But what he expected, and what Inniss says Tuskegee University provided, was a rigorous program that helped prepare him for his future. Today, that program is even more competitive than when he was a student.
“For Tuskegee alone, they only accept 65 students every year. They get 800+ applications a year,” he says.
This is one reason Inniss tells The Reckoning he is reaching back to mentor students in Tuskegee's veterinary medicine program, and to ensure that his profession is a viable career option that remains diverse. But his influence doesn’t begin and end at the collegiate level. Through social media, parents have requested his mentorship for their teenage children who have expressed an interest in veterinary medicine.
“It's a matter of finding someone you're comfortable asking about the process,” he says. “You don't just graduate high school and go to vet school.”
According to Inniss, a barrier for many aspiring Black veterinary students is the required experience to be considered for admission into veterinary programs, which they often lack. This is where Inniss says he gladly steps in.
“All of them require some sort of work history, even if it's a volunteer opportunity. I write letters recommending these students. Anything that will give you a foot up if I know that you'll be a good veterinarian,” he says. “Even now, I still get, ‘I didn't know there were Black veterinarians.’ We're in 2021 and that mindset is still out there, which is unfortunate,” says Inniss.
It’s this mindset that fuels his passion for being visible at Banfield and beyond as a successful Black veterinarian who is also gay, married, and the father of a son.
A Husband, Son, and Two Geckos
Like his career at Banfield, it’s been 20 years since Inniss and his husband Shelton Stroman-Inniss, a realtor, began writing their love story upon arriving in Atlanta for an internship following graduation from veterinary school. Inniss says he was previously engaged to a woman and deeply closeted. The couple celebrated their 20th anniversary in May, and five years of legal marriage after being lead plaintiffs in the 2014 lawsuit challenging Georgia’s previous ban on marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. He credits his husband, whom he only knew for a week before the pair moved in together, for giving him the confidence to live authentically.
“I did not come out until I was at Banfield. My husband helped me come out,” says Inniss. “We moved to Atlanta, the Black Gay Mecca of the South, and I was like, wow, you really can live and be open. There are a lot of Black gay men openly walking the streets or going to clubs. It definitely helped. And then my husband has been out and confident since he was a teenager. And so that helped bring me out,” he says.
“I did not come out until I was at Banfield. My husband helped me come out. We moved to Atlanta, the Black Gay Mecca of the South, and I was like, wow, you really can live and be open. ”
Atlanta is also the place where the couple’s love expanded to include their son Jonathan, 16, to the surprise of Inniss’s mother.
“It's really funny that out of our three siblings, I am the only one that's married and has a child,” Inniss says. “The other two are straight and they are not married and they don't have any kids. So her only grandchild is from me.”
With a teenager in tow, the Stroman-Inniss household wouldn’t be complete without animals, and they are present—all kinds.
“We have one dog. I also have a bearded dragon, which is a lizard, and two geckos, which are lizards also,” says Innis.” “I used to have a turtle, but my son's girlfriend has the turtle now.”
Lead With Pride
It’s not a surprise that Inniss’s love for animals extends beyond his day job at Banfield. It’s one reason why his clients, specifically his LGBTQ+ clients like engaged Braselton, GA couple Casey Arceneaux and Shannon Weinert, drive over 40 minutes to have Inniss care for their six female dogs.
“He goes above and beyond. He doesn't limit our need to answer a question for us. We can call him anytime with any concern,” says Weinert.
"There's been many times that I've texted him on a Sunday afternoon. Hey, Christopher, this is happening. Look at this picture," says Arceneaux.
“Most of the time, you don’t feel as comfortable. With Christopher, he’s part of our community. So it’s just an added bonus that he’s part of it. And he’s so good with the girls and so caring.”
Arceneaux, a military retiree, and Weinert, a real estate closing manager, tells The Reckoning that they discovered Inniss through a Facebook post by a mutual friend after having experienced several veterinarians before that weren’t a good fit. They say it was a bonus once they learned Inniss was openly gay.
"Most of the time, you don't feel as comfortable," says Arceneaux. “With Christopher, he's part of our community. So it's just an added bonus that he's part of it. And he's so good with the girls and so caring,” she says.
For Inniss, it makes a difference in the experience he’s able to give the LGBTQ+ owners of the pets in his care because there is no “awkwardness” when one half of a lesbian couple asks him in her partner’s absence if a pet’s care plan can be discussed with her wife.
Or husband—as with Jay Rome and Cas Carr—two of Inniss’s gay clients and close friends outside of Banfield.
“In our eyes, he has one patient: Kain,” says Rome, referring to the ShihTzu he shares with Carr.
Rome, an IT engineer, and Carr, a contract network manager, met Inniss through a Facebook group in 2012 and quickly developed a brotherhood. Rome says it was only “natural” that he became their veterinarian.
“He is a vet, and we needed a good vet we could trust. It happened naturally. It just made sense,” he says.
Inniss was also there when Rome and Carr had to make the tough decision to euthanize two of their pets—a decision that weighed heavily on Inniss as their veterinarian.
“I always worry that they're thinking, oh, you're the one that reminds me that my pet was put down,” says Innis, of the guilt he initially experienced but eventually worked through.
Carr views the experience differently.
“It was reassuring. The fact that he was there, readily available, and accessible. He was a sense of comfort through it all,” Carr says.
Both couples say having Inniss as their Banfield veterinarian within an organization that celebrates diversity is why they continue to bring their pets to Banfield for care.
“That's icing on the cake because we're using them as a partner in the care of our pets. So knowing that they are diverse and open makes a difference,” says Rome.
“Because if they had a totally opposite view, we would not be members of the organization,” says Weinert. “We couldn't support that. It’s great to know that we go somewhere where we are accepted,” she says.
Inniss tells The Reckoning the Banfield organization is very supportive of their LGBTQ+ employees and the broader community, with “PRIDE,” an LGBTQ+ group, and “POWER,” a resource group for African-American Banfield employees. Inniss is a member of both.
“Even though we're very low on Black or people of color, veterinary medicine has a lot of gay veterinarians and team members,” he says.
And with Inniss existing at the intersection of both, he hopes by being visible and encouraging more African-Americans to pursue veterinary medicine, aspiring veterinarians of color won’t have to conduct a deep internet search to find role models as there will be a plethora to choose from.
