Since the Supreme Court’s recent affirmative ruling on gay marriage in July 2015. Cities across America have been celebrating with vibrant citywide parades. Colorful support speeches from prominent politicians. And arms opened wider than ever to the LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) community. Although the court decision is a monumental stride of progress.
Towards equality for the United States, many members of the LGBTQIA community gently remind the masses. That their struggle is nowhere close to being finished. The harsh reality is that members of the LGBTQIA community. frequently endure difficulties and discrimination in various aspects of their day-to-day lives. From finding equal employment opportunities to receiving adequate healthcare. Specifically in the realm of healthcare. Which is often mistakenly presumed to be a completely non-discriminatory sphere.
Members of the LGBTQIA community are often subject to “stigma, discrimination, violence. […] Inequality in health insurance sectors, provision of substandard care. [or] Outright denial of care because of an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity”. In this article, we will explore the often overlooked healthcare issues. Rhat those of the LGBTQIA community encounter and aim to reveal the discourse surrounding such issues.
Statistically, members of the LGBTQIA community exhibit specific health. Risk profiles-gay men are twice as likely to have cancer. And make up two-thirds of all new HIV infections each year”. Lesbian and bisexual women have higher rates of breast. Ovarian, endometrial. And cervical cancers than heterosexual women. And transgender individuals reported significantly greater cases of “depression. Anxiety, suicide ideation, and lifetime violence victimization” in comparison to their homosexual. And heterosexual counterparts. Such disparities in health status can be attributed not only to social factors. But also to the provision of unequal general health care or lack of specialized healthcare for the LGBTQIA community
Often times, such health disparities can be linked to members of the LGBTQIA community. Experiencing issues with accessing health insurance. Fearing discrimination or even the refusal of healthcare provision. And feeling discouraged by prior adverse experiences with healthcare personnel. For example, the 2012 National Healthcare Disparities Report stated. That “individuals in same-sex couples were [about 2.5 times) more likely than individuals in different-sex couples to report a delay in getting necessary prescriptions.” This inequity in healthcare delivery may be attributed to the fact that prior to the nationwide legalization of gay marriage, same-sex couples being unable to identify as ‘married’ prevented them from acquiring access to health insurance through their spouse’s employer and thus impeded access to timely medications.”
Although the entire LGBTQIA community often faces. Such difficulties in the realm of healthcare. A study conducted by the Massachusetts state government in 2012 discovered. That in the LGBTQIA community. Transgender persons “reported the highest level of health disparities,” have had. Historically lower rates of being insured for health care. And tend to not engage in healthcare as frequently due to a fear and history of discrimination. Ted Canterbury, the Assistant Chief of Clinical Social Work. And active member of the LGBT Workgroup.
At the Veterans Affair Hospital in San Diego, CA. Voices agreement with and contributes to the contention. That transgender individuals experience the largest amount of healthcare disparities: “specifically for transgender folks, there are insurance issues and legal issues that inhibit their ability to get comprehensive health care. Not just [in relation to gaining coverage for] gender assigned surgeries, but primarily with care associated with transgender process.”
The primary pitfall of currently existing transgender healthcare is not the deprivation of or unequal provision of general health care-it’s the lack of specialized healthcare for LGBTQIA folks. A transgender male, for example, may still need screening for breast or cervical cancer-if a healthcare provider treated him strictly as a biological male, significant aspects of his health could be overlooked and cause serious health problems down the road.
Another case can be made in the situation of increased rates of HIV in gay males; healthcare providers tend to not know or act upon the higher specific risk profiles that gay males have, which can lead to the negligence of routine HIV screening tests which would help detect and earlier treat HIV. Specialized LGBTQIA healthcare training would increase health care providers” awareness to specific risk profiles and significantly aid them in providing comprehensive health care to LGBTQIA patients.
For the remainder of the LGBTQIA community, the issue lies within a lack of action towards debunking social stigmas against LGBTQIA peoples in healthcare. Canterbury notes that he has observed the need for increased undergraduate, nursing, and medical education and training on not only the LGBTQIA community, but all stigmatized populations such as minority ethnic and racial groups. “No matter what, most people are behaving the way they are behaving due to lack of knowledge of experience […] the solution lies in education.”
Canterbury does just that in his role in the LGBT work group at the Veterans Affair hospital in San Diego. He provides sensitivity training and specialized LGBTQIA healthcare training to all staff and healthcare providers. The Veterans Affair Hospital is unique in its possession of a LGBT workgroup; most hospitals in the nation do not have such a group or task force specifically aimed to increase LGBTQIA sensitivity and specialized health care training. Perhaps other hospitals could follow suit and create such committees in order to better address the situations of their LGBTQIA patients.
Although there is remaining work to be done towards alleviating the gap in healthcare access and delivery for the LGBTQIA community, recent changes, such as the increase of national attention to LGBTQIA rights through the recent passage of marriage equality, may be helping to reduce healthcare disparities for lesbians and gay men by providing greater access to health insurance.
Furthermore, making changes such as actively striving to deliver equally routine screening tests to the LGBTQIA community, creating LGBTQIA work groups or committees at hospitals, providing information to LGBTQIA patients about existing specialized LGBTQIA health clinics, and consciously striving to integrate LGBTQIA education into undergraduate, nursing, and medical school can be utilized to aid in providing equal healthcare access to all. By piquing the U.S’s social conscious to the health care disparities experienced by the LGBTQIA community and taking the actions delineated above, healthcare personnel, health insurance policy makers, and the general public can work together to provide equal, accessible, and beneficial healthcare to all.
