LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Statistics show members of the LGBTQ+ community are less likely to have a regular healthcare provider and that can be damaging to their overall well-being.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, this community is at an increased risk HIV, cervical cancer, depression and substance use.
Healthcare providers at UofL Health said they are committed to serving LGBTQ+ folks, and making them comfortable and safe while receiving healthcare.
“We need for you to feel comfortable from the time you come into the door seeing the receptionist, the medical assistant, and then the third person you see is myself. We're the third person, we need each person in the office to be just as much comfortable with any patient that walks into this door and needs our help,” Dr. Erica Gettis said.
UofL Health said inclusive language is an important part of their training for staff.
The LGBTQ+ community has a long history of fighting for inclusive care.
In 1917, Alan Hart became one of the first trans men to undergo a hysterectomy and gonadectomy as a treatment to what is now known as gender dysphoria.
In 1948, biologist and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey published "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" which concluded homosexual behavior is not restricted to people who identify as being gay.
Four years later, the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disturbance in its list of mental disorders. This was criticized due to the lack of empirical and scientific data. It would take the APA more than 20 years to change this distinction.
In June 1981, the CDC reported the first cases of what would later be known as AIDS. The first cases in the nation decimated the gay community.
Four years later, actor Rock Hudson died of AIDS-related causes; he was one of many in the arts the community lost.
Although the disease was first reported in 1981, it was not until the end of his presidency that Ronald Reagan spoke publicly about the epidemic.
On Dec. 1, 1988, the World Health Organization organized the first World AIDS Day to raise awareness for the disease.
In August 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Ryan White Care Act, a federally funded program for people living with AIDS. White was an Indiana teenager who contracted AIDS in 1983 through a tainted hemophilia treatment.
The AIDS cocktail was introduced in 1995, which dramatically improved the lives of people living with HIV.
In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Truvada as a daily preventative for those at risk of acquiring HIV.
That same year, the APA removed gender identity disorder from its list of mental disorders. It replaced it with the diagnosis of gender dysphoria.
This led to a 2014 ruling that Medicare must cover surgery for gender transition.
In May 2023, the FDA officially eliminated most restrictions that had prohibited gay and bisexual men from making blood donations. The restrictions dated back to the early days of the AIDS epidemic.
In the 21st century, LGBTQ+ healthcare has become more widely normalized, however, a lot of protections for transgender students have been rolled back.
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