Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2000)
news When an ordinary Realtor simply won 1 do... «4 # I Getting queer heolth issues mentioned in an important government blueprint is no easy task by B ob R o e h r 1 ancl^errcfrve ^ea^Srs www.climbatree.com 933 SE 31st Ave. Portland, OR 97214 office: 503-238-7617 REALTOR® ix/am H ealthy H okeypokey a E l-in i ^REaT Hay-cut ? $25 • - ilIJs To m tik 9 % w 3621 SE H^wthoWI IS 0 3 * - c®ns • N e w p u rc h a se • 1 0 0 % e q u ity loans • P re -q u alifica tio n b y p h o n e o r fax • R efin an c e /ca sh o u t • P re-ap p ro v e d loans • R esid en tial, c o m m e rcial & in v e stm e n t p ro p e rty • A p p o in tm e n ts at your c o n v e n ie n c e Office 297-9900 Evenings/Weekends 780-1561 “I ’m a vailable Colleen Weed when you are! ” J M J i MORTGAGE y .wn—^ P IB ( 0 R S U FFE R th e People 2010, queer concerns were mentioned in federal Department of Health 20 different places in the document. and Human Services has taken a Patricia D unn, GLM A’s policy director, was major step backward from includ optimistic th at the third version, released Jan. ing gay men and lesbians in the 25, would be even better. JL. government blueprint for health But D unn was shocked when she finally services over the next decade. plodded through the three-volume tome. The Healthy People 2010 is the blueprints name. 20 references had been pared to just four. Gay men and lesbians were virtually ignored in “We never dreamed that they would take the initial draft of the massive 800-plus-page things out,” she says. document when it came out in December 1998. “W e’ve tried to talk to everyone that we The word gay was used twice, while lesbian and transgender did not appear at all, accord- _ I i ing to an analysis by the Gay and Lesbian ¡jj i\ Medical Association, a San Francisco-based « organization of 2,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual > and trans physicians and medical students. o Founded in 1981, GLMA works to com- § bat homophobia within the medical profes sion and in society at large and to promote quality health care for sexual minority I patients. GLMA and its allies bombarded H HS v' ; m with more than 400 suggestions for changes « during the public comment period, and the effort prompted a unit of HHS, the Health Resources and Services Administration, to commission a report from GLM A and Columbia University’s Center for Lesbian, G LM A Policy D irector Patricia D unn Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health. “This report is not just about what we know,” could, and we’ve heard very different things by way of an explanation, she adds. Some argued said Dr. Darren Carter, a GLMA board member, when the document— titled Lesbian, Gay, Bisex that it was simply an editorial abridgment of the ual and Transgender Health: Findings and Con massive docum ent. “In a few of the places where they took out cerns— was released in January. “Because LGBT the references, they took out all references to issues are rarely researched and frequently not included in the training of medical profession special populations,” D unn concedes. “But in most of them it goes into all of the ethnic and als, the report discusses what we don’t, but racial breakdowns, and nothing about sexual absolutely should, know.” The paper outlines how “stigma and preju orientation.” Dunn says Marsha M artin, H HS Secretary dice are powerful forces that adversely impact" Donna Shalala’s liaison to the sexual minorities the health of sexual minorities. community, told her: “It is not a big deal. “As is the case for many minorities, there are GLM A’s board of directors met in San Fran health-related challenges facing lesbians. There cisco in early February and said restoring an are another set of challenges for gay men, still increased queer presence in Healthy People 2010 others for bisexuals, and even more for trans gender people,” Carter added. “However, many is its No. 1 policy priority over the next few mainstream health care providers have no idea months. what specific health concerns there might be There still may be time to add more inclusive relative to these populations. Often they do not language before the final version of the blue know what questions to ask or how to ask print is published this summer. them.” The lobbying effort by GLMA and others ■ B ob R oehr is a free-lance reporter based m paid off when, in the second draft of Healthy Washington, D .C . unmu jrJF W A A d v o c a te s 9 9 0 0 S. W. Wilshire Street • Portland, Oregon 9 7 2 2 5 ju s t r r m Our office hours are Mon-Fri 10am-4pm, But www.justout.com is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week visit us on the Internet for all of the following: • write a letter to the editor • E-m ail ju s tP T T ^ s ta ff • • • • • • order a subscription to ju s tM 11 ■ forward your Out & About announcement send in your JUST FRIENDS VOICE PERSONAL AD submit your classified ad check for calendar deadlines view newest JUST FRIENDS VOICE PERSONAL AOS
