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

Talking About Suicide & Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) Populations

mThere has been signifcant news coverage of several recent suicide completions by youth that are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). These highly publicized events have raised awareness about suicide risk among the LGBT population, but some of the coverage has "oversimplified or sensationalized a number of the underlying issues, and in some cases may have created the potential for suicide contagion risk" according to a new resource from a partnership between the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation [GLAAD], the Movement Advancement Project [MAP], and others.

Talking About Suicide & LGBT Populations provides detailed recommendations for more safely discussing suicide in public conversations and social media, while at the same time expanding public conversations about the well-being of LGBT people, promoting the need for family support and acceptance, and encouraging help-seeking by LGBT people who may be contemplating suicide. http://www.lgbtmap.org/effective-messaging/talking-about-suicide-and-LGBT-populations
Reposted at http://keystothecloset.blogspot.com
There are other briefs on subjects ranging from transgender discrimination,improving the lives of older adults, workplace laws and policy change downloadable on this site as well.

I'm Letting Aunt Betty Feel Awkward This Thanksgiving

#awkwardthanksgiving
This Thanksgiving, Let Aunt Betty Feel a Little Awkward…

The LGBT community has a ton to be thankful for from the past year. But we also have a long way to go. And believe it or not, putting down that forkful of stuffing for a minute and just talking about yourself (if you can) this Thanksgiving can make a huge difference.

We've all had those Thanksgiving dinners where Aunt Betty decides this is the perfect time to discuss a year's worth of ailments and medical treatments. Well, you know what? If she can talk about her podiatrist, you can talk about your partner.

The fact is, while you're scarfing down mashed potatoes and staying silent while everyone else at the table is freely speaking their minds, you're missing a golden opportunity to make real, honest progress by talking about your life, and the things you care about. It's okay if Aunt Betty feels a little awkward at first, it's important for her to know that someone she loves cares deeply about LGBT equality. And the more we all talk about what's important to us, the less awkward those conversations will become.

Today some LGBT people can't be open about who they are. But if you do feel comfortable, speaking openly and honestly about your life with your loved ones is one of the best ways for all of us to move forward together.

Are you going to let Aunt Betty feel a little awkward this Thanksgiving?
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Why this is really important.
In 2008, we did a study of people who said their opinions on LGBT issues were more favorable than they were five years prior. Of those who were now more supportive of LGBT equality, four out of five cited personally knowing someone who was lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender as a primary reason.

The more comfortable you are talking about your life, the more comfortable other people will be standing up for LGBT issues with their friends and co-workers. Maybe Aunt Betty will speak up and use you as an example the next time someone at her office speaks out against marriage equality.

What about straight allies?
If you're a straight ally, there are a lot of perfectly natural and easy ways to talk about how important LGBT issues are with your friends and family. If politics come up, you can talk about where various candidates stand on LGBT issues. If you're watching the 49ers/Ravens game, you can talk about how Baltimore linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo has filmed multiple videos in support of marriage equality. If you're talking about the year in TV, you can talk about how great it was to see Chaz Bono on Dancing with the Stars, and the attention it brought to the transgender community. If you're talking about movies, mention an LGBT-themed film you saw, like Beginners, or J. Edgar, or even the last Harry Potter film. (Dumbledore!)

What are you thankful for?
2011 was a banner year for the movement towards LGBT equality. The number of same-sex couples who can get married in the United States doubled when New York legalized marriage equality. Gay men and women are now legally allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military. Millions of people "went purple" around the world to show support for LGBT young people on Spirit Day. Chaz Bono brought unprecedented awareness of the transgender community when he was picked to compete on Dancing with the Stars. Numbers came out showing that in the past decade, the number of same-sex couples who have adopted children in the United States has more than tripled, from fewer than 6,500 couples to nearly 22,000.

The Bottom Line.
At GLAAD, we try to amplify the voices of the LGBT community in the media, so that people in households all across America have a better idea about what it means to be LGBT. But there's no substitute for getting that info firsthand. Talking about our lives with our loved ones and family members is vital to advancing equality. It doesn't just put a human face to an otherwise politically charged issue. It puts YOUR face on the issue. And to people who care about you, that really matters.

So go ahead and tell your stories. Be true to who you are around your loved ones this Thanksgiving. And even if Aunt Betty feels a little awkward this year, she'll be greeting you with open arms and asking you for info next year.
Posted at http://www.glaad.org/thanksgiving and reposted at http://keystothecloset.blogspot.com

Funding Opportunities

GLAAD Announces National Media Training Institute for People of Color
The new program will provide people of color who are LGBT or LGBT allies with advanced spokesman training plus ongoing support and coaching from GLAAD staff; sessions will be held in Los Angeles and New York City....

Posted on March 16, 2011
Deadline: March 25, 2011

Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice Invites Letters of Inquiry From Social Change Organizations
Grants will be awarded to social change organizations and projects that directly address the depth and complexity of critical issues in LGBTI communities; all potential grantees, including 2010 recipients, must apply for consideration....

Posted on March 11, 2011
Deadline: March 15, 2011 (Letters of Inquiry)

Posted at Keystothecloset