Live Out Loud
dallasvoice.comLGBTQ Health Awareness Week set for March 21-25 From Staff Reports The theme for the 20th annual National LGBTQ Health Awareness Week, March 21-25, is “Live Out Loud for LGBTQ Health,” the National Coalition for LGBTQ Health has announced.
The point of the theme is to encourage everyone to speak openly about all aspects of LGBTQ health, according to a press release from the coalition, “providing an umbrella under which to discuss and raise awareness of mental health, transgender health and stigma reduction through accessible, affirming, inclusive and culturally-competent healthcare services for LGBTQ individuals.” The theme was developed in part from responses to the coalition’s first State of LGBTQ Health National Survey, which included input from nearly 2,500 LGBTQ health providers and “highlights the most pressing healthcare issues faced by the LGBTQ community,” the press released noted.
Findings from the survey are set to be released Tuesday, March during a webinar. “Respondents indicated that the three most common problems LGBTQ patients contend with are mental health concerns, accessing gender-affirming care and stigma from healthcare professionals and society at large,” the press release continued.
The theme also “represents resistance to fear and shame by raising our collective voice against those telling us “don’t say gay,” the press release said, referring to recent anti-LGBTQ legislation passed in Florida: “Anti-LGBTQ ideology and stigma still remain embedded in our political, social, and economic structures.
