January 2009

Late last fall, the Obama transition team posted their human rights agenda online (available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/).  A substantial section of the plan is dedicated toward support for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.  Employment non-discrimination, federal rights for LGBT couples, expanding adoption rights and a plan for promoting HIV prevention are some of the things outlined in this plan.  For years, our community has fought to expand the civil rights agenda to be inclusive of LGBT issues with mixed success.  To have our community’s needs prioritized within the context of an overall civil rights plan for the nation is monumental.  Read more.

Facilitators & Barriers to Routine HIV Testing Among Massachusetts Community Health Centers
Did you know that, beginning in 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends voluntary, routine HIV testing for all patients age 13 to 64 in all health care settings, including hospital emergency departments, community clinics, and primary care environments? Ideally (since CDC recommendations are not legally binding), everyone in that age range seeking health care services (including prenatal care) would be notified by their provider that an HIV test will be performed as a routine part of their care unless the patient declines. This is known as “opt-out testing”. People at high risk for HIV, including men who have sex with men, injection-drug users and their sex partners, and people who have had more than one sex partner since their most recent HIV test, should be tested for HIV at least annually. The CDC further recommends that separate written informed consent and prevention counseling should no longer be required for HIV testing.  Read more.

Center for Population Research in LGBT Health
The Center is pleased to announce the launch of the National Mentoring and Fellowship Program in LGBT population health research.   The program is a key initiative in our mission to advance the scientific study of gender and sexual minority populations.  Through the program, the Center will offer opportunities for training and mentorship to aspiring and junior researchers in the United States.  Our program will link promising young scholars interested in the interdisciplinary study of LGBT health with the resources they need to improve the reach, quality and methodological rigor of their work.  Read more.

Counting Your LGBT Patients
As the year begins, we encourage you all to do everything possible to put LGBT health at the front and center of healthcare reform, particularly when developing proposals at the federal and state levels.  One simple, but key LGBT health strategy we plan to highlight is helping clinicians identify LGBT individuals in their practice by taking informed and non-judgmental histories. It's basic, but also sits at the core of improving the health of our community. Being out to your doctor is good for your health!  Read more.

The Fenway Institute Addresses Needs of Older Gay/Bi Men with 40 and Forward Program
The problem with aging in the LGBT community was well illustrated in an exchange between Queer as Folk characters Brian and Justin as they walked into a bar:

Justin: Look at all these old guys.
Brian: Sad, isn't it?
Justin: Yeah. Some of them are even older than you are. But I guess at their age if you want it, you gotta pay for it.
Brian: Another reason to die young.
Justin: Or to accept the fact that youth and beauty are fleeting. That time will inevitably leave its mark, and that we should accept our mortality with grace and dignity. <pauses>
Justin: Until then, I could really clean up this place.

Nowhere in our society is “youth-culture” more evident than in the gay community where gyms are referred to as “gay church” and men with gray hair still sport skin-tight Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirts.  Although there is nothing wrong with staying in shape and looking your best, maintaining physical appearance isn’t always possible, or even an option for some people.  And even if it were, is physical appearance the yardstick by which we want to judge others? Or for that matter have others judge us?  Read more.

TFI Helps National Push for LGBT Data Collection
Years ago, TFI researchers were instrumental in the push to get sexual orientation included as a named category of people who experience discrimination in the federal government's leading health policy blueprint, Healthy People 2010. As part of this work, federal officials recommended one lead health group be named as contact for all LGBT health interests.

This recommendation led The Fenway Institute researchers and others around the country to create the National Coalition for LGBT Health. Fenway Health has played an active role in this body since its inception: Dr. Scout was an original Executive Committee Member, Dr. Bradford has been very active, and Henia Handler has been Co-Chair of the board for many years.  Read more.