Every year for LGBTQ Pride month, those of us who have chosen LGBTQ advocacy as our work are inundated with requests for presentations, panels, keynotes, workshops – you name it. My team at the Center for LGBTQ Health Equity is no different. We will be many places in June and then again in October, when many additional LGBTQ-centered awareness days occur. It is strange though: no one has asked us to talk about the public policy assault our community is experiencing. And I want to talk about it. I think no one has asked us to talk about this issue […]
Announcing the All-New Center for LGBTQ Health Equity
The first day of February marked a big moment for The LGBT Health Resource Center team as we began a new era of mission focus with a new name and brand identity, becoming The Center for LGBTQ Health Equity, a Chase Brexton Center of Excellence. We have conducted extensive market research and done some organizational soul searching with support from our marketing and communications team and a very talented local branding firm, Devaney & Associates. With our new name and brand comes a clear mission: to create health equity for LGBTQ patients in our communities and around the world through […]
On National Coming Out Day, Come Out For What is Right and Just
October is an important month for LGBTQ people. National LGBT History Month gives us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the evolution of our equality movement. It’s also National Bullying Prevention Month — in fact, we celebrate Spirit Day on October 15th to increase awareness of the damage done to LGBTQ youth through bullying. One of our most beloved LGBTQ holidays across the year is celebrated on October 11th: National Coming Out Day. When National Coming Out Day (NCOD) was established back in 1988, there were very few well-known LGBTQ Americans. Secrecy was considered an essential protection for many, and yet there was a strong political push to bring LGBTQ […]
On National Health Center Week, Remembering Chase Brexton’s Roots
This week marked National Health Center Week 2020, an annual celebration to raise awareness about the missions and accomplishments of America’s health centers over the past fifty years, including Chase Brexton Health Care. The theme for this year’s event was, “Lighting the Way for Healthier Communities Today and in The Future,” which I find very inspiring. Community Health Centers serve as a beacon of strength, service, and care in their communities. Personally, I am very proud to work in a community health center and to lead the LGBT Health Resource Center of Chase Brexton. In fact, this amazing institution’s history […]
Riding the News Roller Coaster, and Finding Our Place in the Fight
Once again, the news cycle has us on a roller coaster ride of extreme emotions. Late last week, the Trump administration dismantled the LGBT nondiscrimination provisions rule of the Affordable Care Act. The announcement of this action was callously made on the anniversary of the PULSE massacre and during a pandemic. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that discrimination against LGBT people is covered under the sex discrimination provisions of Title VII. This is a landmark ruling, a sea change. These two announcements contradict each other in every way. The pendulum swing is extreme and confusing. All of this comes […]
Celebrating LGBT Health Awareness Week March 23rd to 29th
LGBT Health Resource Center of Chase Brexton Health Care Our center is among those preparing to celebrate LGBT Health Awareness Week, happening from March 23rd to 29th. In addition to thinking broadly about health equity for our community, we also encourage you to consider your own individual health and well-being. Health and well-being are different for every person but here’s a good place to start: do you have a primary care provider? Having a primary care provider is important even if one is generally in good health. Your primary care provider will be your go-to when you’re not feeling well […]
Ringing in the New Year
Here at the LGBT Health Resource Center of Chase Brexton Health Care, we are grateful for another very productive and full year living our mission in 2019. At the heart of our work is providing welcoming and affirming health care for our LGBT patients. I’m very proud to say that our LGBT Health Equity Training Team provided more training and education to medical and behavioral health providers this past year than ever before. We know that medical education and training rarely includes the critical information that providers need in order to deliver affirming health care to LGBT patients, and we […]
Celebrating LGBT Health Awareness Week
Our center is among those preparing to celebrate LGBT Health Awareness Week from March 27th to 31st. In addition to thinking broadly about health equity for our community, we should also be thinking about our own individual health and well-being. Health and well-being are different to every person. For me, a big realization lately has been that “self-care” is less an indulgence as it is a discipline. It requires routines, checklists, time, and attention. It also changes depending on one’s circumstances and will change over and over as we move through different stages of our lives. We each approach it […]
Trans Care Across the Lifespan
With an ongoing and critical need for trained and welcoming health care providers to serve the transgender community, the LGBT Health Resource Center’s health equity training team will present an accredited one-day continuing education symposium on March 9th entitled “Trans Care Across the Lifespan.” Scheduled sessions will address issues of stigma, the local landscape of the transgender population in Baltimore and Maryland, and best practices for medical and behavioral health care for gender diverse children, adolescents, adults, and elders. Attendees will also hear from a panel of transgender community members about their experiences. Clinicians will learn the essentials of providing […]
2019: To Your Health!
LGBT Health Resource Center of Chase Brexton Health Care WITH 2019 ALMOST upon us, the staff of the LGBT Health Resource Center took a moment to share their New Year’s resolutions and hopes for our community. Sam McClure, director – As I look into 2019, I want to see our patients in a safe and affirming environment for all their health care needs. I also hope to see our community taking positive pro-active steps towards health and wellness. When we have detractors and political factions working against us, elemental power comes from our commitments to taking good care of ourselves […]