I couldn’t get to this yesterday, but it’s still timely: this week, from March 28 to April 3, marks LGBT Health Awareness Week in the U.S. This year’s theme is “Closing the Gap,” the gap being the compromised health care that the queer community gets, in large part due to fear and prejudice, and, ya know, that kyriarchy thing we’re always squawking about.
This week is sponsored by the National Coalition for LGBT Health, which has put together a nice website with all kinds of resources, including a list of events and things you can do to support the cause, whether or not you’re queer (everyone can call their government reps or write a letter to the editor).
The healthcare (insurance) reform bill was signed into law last week, but that barely scratches the surface of the particular problems faced by people who don’t hew to the heteronormative model: access to educated and allied doctors being only the beginning.
The National Coalition also has some great fact sheets that you might want to consult when you’re writing those impassioned letters, or even just to educate yourself so you can be a better advocate/ally for the LGBTQ community all 52 weeks of the year.
Also, if you’re a medical provider who is interested in educating yourself about providing better care for trans people, the Canadian website checkitoutguys.ca goes a step further in providing a tip sheet for providers on giving Pap smears to trans men with respect and sensitivity (plus some practical concerns).
Great link, philosophyerin! Thanks! Anyone else have additional resources? If so, please drop them here.
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Can I jump in and ask for any comments or resources that would be helpful in setting up forms for a non ob-gyn medical practice? I’m working on creating patient history and demographic forms for a (non-reproductive) specialty medical practice, and I want to be inclusive as possible, but other than leaving a blank for “gender” and including “domestic partner” on the forms, I’m not sure what would be helpful. (I’ve googled, but most of the info seems to be for GPs or OB-GYNs.)
The doctor himself is really open and non-judgmental with patients; I just want to make sure people feel as comfortable as possible when they walk in the door.
[...] -days (apologizes if I’m missing any) including: Passover, Easter, April Fool’s Day, LGBT Health Awareness Week, International Transgender Day of Visibility, and World Autism Awareness Day (It is now autism [...]