GLMA LGBT Health Digest Update

Teaching DO Students LGBT Health
In this May 1, 2014, article in The DO, the author outlines common concerns faced by LGBT patients when accessing healthcare, including seeing a healthcare provider who is not aware of or comfortable with LGBT-specific health issues. The article notes the lack of LGBT health education providers receive. “There are too few health professionals who are trained in LGBT healthcare. And you cannot rely on physicians and medical students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender themselves to deliver all that care,” says Henry Ng, MD, MPH, clinical director of LGBT health services at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland and President of GLMA. Sean Tai, DO student and recipient of the AMSA/GLMA Achievement Award, notes that sexual orientation and sexual practices fall under the osteopathic principal of treating the whole patient.

Henry Ng, MD, MPH, is the President of GLMA.
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Ongoing LGBT Health Disparities Addressed by Affordable Care Act
This April 2014 AAMC Reporter post details the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for LGBT people, including increased access to insurance, provisions prioritizing cultural competence standards and training to improve LGBT health outcome and increased data collection. Additionally, the ACA has shifted more attention to how healthcare policy may contribute to negative health outcomes for LGBT people, notes Henry Ng, MD, MPH.

Henry Ng, MD, MPH, is the President of GLMA.


Trans Bodies, Tran Selves to Be Released Soon
As described in this May 1, 2014, Washington Post article, a new resource for transgender people is soon to be released. With 672 pages and “encyclopedic in scope,” Trans Bodies, Trans Selves is positioned to be the go-to resource for topics from health and law to history and politics. Reflecting on the book’s predecessor for women, Our Bodies, Ourselves, editor, Laura Erickson-Schroth, “At a time when over 90 percent of physicians were men ... it was an extremely daring and exciting thing to publish a book in which women taught other women about their bodies, their sexuality and their rights.” As the article notes, the goal of the book is to empower transgender people and provide them with a wealth of information about their lives.

Laura Erickson-Schroth is a Member of GLMA’s Board of Directors.


Defense Secretary Indicates Military Should Review Ban on Transgender Service As reported by ABC News on May 11, 2014, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has indicated the ban on transgender individuals serving in the US military "continually should be reviewed,” although not going so far as to indicate whether he believes the policy should be overturned. Hagel also said, "Every qualified American who wants to serve our country should have an opportunity if they fit the qualifications and can do it."

HHS Expected to Lift Medicare Ban on Gender-Affirming Surgery According to this May 8, 2014, Advocate article, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is expected to lift Medicare’s 1981 ban on gender-affirming surgeries, which claims the surgeries are “experimental” and denies any and all requests for coverage. Advocates argue the 33 year old ban is based on outdated science, which was reviewed by independent HHS panel formed last year.

Resource: SIECUS Releases New Edition of the State Profiles For ten years, SIECUS has “followed the money” to provide educators, advocates and policymakers with an annual snapshot of how federal funding is impacting sexual health education across the country. For the first time, the newly released publication, SIECUS State Profiles: A Portrait of Sexuality Education and Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs in the States, Fiscal Year 2012 Edition, also includes a State Profile At A Glance for each state, providing an overview of adolescent sexual health education state policies, data and federal funding. Click here to access the publication.


Resource: LGBTQ Organizations Release Intimate Partner Violence Community Action Toolkits The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) in association with GLAAD, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the Gay and Lesbian Taskforce and Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC) announce the release of two community action toolkits that provide LGBTQ communities, survivors of intimate partner violence and advocates working on their behalf, resources to address intimate partner violence on the individual and community level. The toolkits are focused specifically on intimate partner violence in transgender and people of color communities and highlight the adverse impact of intimate partner violence on transgender individuals and LGBTQ people of color. Click here to learn more.

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Conference: 5th Annual Infectious Diseases Update Friday, June 13, 2014
1:00pm – 5:00pm
New York City, NY

This half-day course consists of five lectures by leading experts from the fields of infectious diseases. There will be ample time for audience participation and opportunities to engage the speakers in dialogue about current controversies in HIV management. This Weill Cornell CME activity is designed to lead to improved patient care. The program will strive to: Summarize the advantages and disadvantages of commonly used first line antiretroviral regimens, discuss three new technologies available in the clinical microbiology laboratory, review the epidemiology and diagnostic approach to malaria, summarize the approach to managing HCV infection in 2014 and three teaching points related to outpatient infectious disease cases. To register and learn more, click here.
GLMA’s LGBT Health Digest is an electronic newsletter with information and resources for health professionals concerned about the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) populations.

The Digest highlights issues, events, publications and other newsworthy items pertinent to LGBT health. Please feel free to circulate the Digest to your colleagues.

To sign up, send your request to digest@glma.org. Also, to submit an item to be considered for publication in the Digest, please send your request to Emily Kane-Lee at ekanelee@glma.org

'Everyone' Doesn't Always Mean Me

Liz Margolies, L.C.S.W.
Clinical psychotherapist; founder and executive director, National LGBT Cancer Network, Posted: 03/ 7/2012 8:06 pm

As the executive director of the National LGBT Cancer Network, my work is all about LGBT cancer survivors and those at risk. In the vast, multi-million dollar world of pink and teal ribbons, cancer organizations and foundations, we are nearly alone in this focus. I often interact with these mainstream groups, and when I do, I bring up the underserved and invisible LGBT community. "Oh, don't worry," they always say in that reassuring voice. "Our organization and our services are meant for everyone."

Really? In almost every instance, the flyer, the event, or the webpage for "everyone" doesn't include me.

If they write about cancer risks, there is no mention of the increased cancer risks of LGBT people. If they speak about screening or early detection, there is no mention of the additional difficulties LGBT people face, including discrimination and lower rates of health insurance. If they offer referrals for support groups, they rarely have one for LGBT survivors or caregivers. Most articles on of the impact of cancer treatment on sexuality assume that all of us are heterosexual. I am tired of feeling grateful for the information they do provide.

Let's try this test ourselves now. Imagine that I'm a lesbian whose partner was just diagnosed with lung cancer (remember that LGBT people use tobacco at nearly twice the national rate). I go to the Internet for information and support. Google's first suggestion is the National Lung Cancer Partnership. Their tag line is "Research, Awareness, Change." Sounds good so far. I click through to the website and type the word "lesbian" in the search box. What do I find? "No results matched your query." No, "everyone with lung cancer" does not include me.

Or let's imagine I am a transgender man looking to find a free, safe, and respectful place to receive a cervical pap smear. Let's also imagine that I don't live in one of the largest metropolitan centers in the country, but in, let's say, Clearwater, Fla. I go to Google and find the Florida Breast & Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. The opening paragraph tells me that they are free (good!), but I only qualify if I am a "woman." No, I am not welcome there. I suppose I could call and explain that, although I am not a woman, I have a cervix, but I fear the discomfort and discrimination I may face. No, "we provide pap smears for everyone who needs one" does not include me.

I know that there is an increasing number of organizations, facilities, and cancer websites that recognize the LGBT community. They show us that by including information we need, not by asking us to accept their one-size-fits-all approach. We need everyone to follow suit.

Last week, I met with a woman who wanted the National LGBT Cancer Network to distribute her articles on cancer survivorship. She said, "I don't specifically mention LGBT people in any of the pieces, but this information is of great benefit for everyone."

Really? She didn't understand that her information on the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, FMLA, is of limited value for LGBT people. FMLA is the federal law that requires that workers at large companies (with 50 employees or more) be granted unpaid, job-protected leave to recover from a serious health condition or to care for a seriously ill family member. But due to the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), LGBT workers cannot take paid and protected leave to care for domestic partners or same-sex spouses, even in states where they are legally married. So, no, I did not agree to distribute her articles.

As an LGBT person, my family is different, my support system is different, my access to care is different, and my welcome in your support groups is not guaranteed. If you don't know that and show me that you do, you are not including me. I will no longer be invisible and grateful.

Follow Liz Margolies, L.C.S.W. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/liz-margolies-lcsw/lgbt-cancer_b_1322293.html?ref=gay-voices


Reprinted at http://www.keystothecloset.blogspot.com