Trans Communities Have More Cancer
Breaking: transphobia is making cancer worse. A new report from the World Health Organization found that cancer is higher among trans folks because stigma and discrimination stopped people from getting preventative screening.
Straight Providers Favor Straight Patients
A new study of heath care providers found that straight providers pretty much prefer straight patients -- the opposite was true for lesbian and gay providers. So in case you haven’t found a queer provider yet, visit Gay and Lesbian Medical Association’s website to get hooked up.
Discrimination to Blame for Bad Trans Health Care
It’s official: discrimination is still horrible. The World Health Organization just published a report saying that discrimination is to blame for the super high HIV rates among trans people and bad health care they receive. They recommend passing and enforcing laws protecting the civil rights of trans people to improve medical care. Sounds brilliant to us.
Cancer Higher for LGBTQ People in Seven Body Areas
A recent study found that cancer was likelier for LGBTQ people in seven areas: prostate, lung, anus, breast, cervix, womb and colon/rectum. The suggested fixes? Expand trans-friendly care, give better health insurance overall, and improve government policies. Agreed.
Four Things to Know About LGBT Health Care
Healio has put together a list of four things you should know about LGBT health care: young lesbians are less likely to receive HPV vaccination; teens disclosing sexual or gender minority status are better off; LGBT people are at higher risk for eating disorders and LGBT elders are twice as likely to use mental health services. We might add a few more points, but great starter.
Getting Syphilis Makes You Less Worried About Getting Syphilis
A new study found that gay and bi men who had gotten syphilis in the past knew more about the disease than most people, but having had it didn’t change safe-sex behavior long-term. And they became less worried about it the more times they got it. Noooooooo!
Suicide Attempts Way Higher for LGBTQ Veterans
A new study by our friend John Blosnich found that LGBTQ veterans were at higher risk for HIV, discrimination, and suicide than other veterans. Among queer folks, suicide attempts were four times higher for LGBTQ veterans than LGBTQ people who weren’t veterans.
LGBTQ People Have Less Health Insurance
Researchers found that LGBTQ couples are less likely to have health insurance than straight couples. Worse, LGBTQ folks of color had even less health insurance than white LGBTQ folks. Guess we’ll have to redouble our #Out2Enroll efforts next year.
Tobacco Companies Don’t Target Gay Neighborhoods
A new study of neighborhoods compared how many same-sex couples there were, the number of tobacco stores and cigarette ads there. Their findings? Tobacco stores didn’t cluster in gay neighborhoods. That's great news. But more work is needed to explain why we smoke at rates 50 percent higher than others.