The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has issued a report on LGBT health:
While some research about the health of LGBT populations has been conducted, researchers still have a great deal to learn. To help assess the state of the science, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to assess current knowledge of the health status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations; to identify research gaps and opportunities; and to outline a research agenda to help NIH focus its research in this area.
In order to address this, the committee recommends collecting data on sexual orientation and gender identity in health surveys administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other relevant federally funded surveys.
Yes, I whole-heartedly agree. In the year two-thousand-and-fucking-eleven, we should consider federal policies that 1) acknowledge the existence of LGBT people, and 2) do not treat us as if we're the scourge of the Earth. That'd be super.
After all,
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals have unique health experiences and needs, but as a nation, we do not know exactly what these experiences and needs are.
Yeah, you as a nation have some work to do.
I suppose it will be another many decades until the data is collected and we, as a nation, can contemplate not acting on any of the trends therein. After all, that's what we, as a nation, do with pretty much all instances where there are massive inequalities in access to health care or other universal human rights.
Sorry, I'm just a bit pissy because I live in a country where even the most privileged trans people (hi Mom!) have trouble obtaining essential medical care. While I suspect that the authors of the IOM study are aware of this, the U.S. is a nation where gaining access to birth control is a tricky matter. Given that fact, I don't see the scenario where those of us whose existence really flies in the face of God'sPlan(TM) have access to appropriate health care.
It's not that we as a nation don't know how to care for queer people, it's that we choose not to.
Via NCTE.
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