Healthcare challenges facing women-who-partner-with women…
Well, hello again! So glad to be able to check in and say hi! How have you been? Here in north central Florida we are glad to say fall has arrived and, with it, cloudless sunny days with warm, caressing breezes and a dollop of briskness in the evenings.
I’ve recently returned from the road. Fantastic trip I might add. I started off attending the first annual Out and Healthy Conference as well as the NGLCC’s (National Gay and Lesbian’s Chamber of Commerce) Annual Dinner and Award Show in Washington, D.C., and finished up spending a few days in Baltimore catching up with family and friends.
While visiting the Mid-Atlantic, I had the fortune of enjoying some great weather, including getting blown out of Baltimore by a cold wind, just in time to return to the ‘Kingdom of the Sun’ (Ocala, Florida). And, just in time to catch some chilly nights back here in Florida too! 
Where do I begin to share with you my experiences attending the Out and Healthy Conference? I think I’ll start by telling you what Out and Healthy is and why I thought it so important to attend. Out and Healthy is a brand new, national conference, started just this year through a collaboration that includes the NGLCC, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and several healthcare organizations such as Aetna and The Mautner Project, which, if you don’t know, is a healthcare organization that focuses solely on the healthcare concerns of lesbian women.
Out and Healthy was created out of a growing recognition of the ‘disparities in care’ that exist in our current healthcare system, in this case towards sexual and gender minorities. Hallelujiah you say, isn’t it about time someone noticed doctors and other healthcare professionals treat us differently, if we even feel safe enough to be ourselves with him or her!?!
There is also a growing understanding of the unique health needs of ‘woman-who-partner-with-women’ in our society. Suffice it to say (because information and words are powerful), we face some unique risks and challenges when it comes to staying well, preventing illness, etc. The takeaway for me was this…
I definitely need to focus more on taking care of my body, so that it continues to take care of me!
And, this attitude is true for everyone, whether you are sick or perfectly healthy right now. Don’t take that ‘absence of obvious disease’ for granted. For example, breast self exams are important, but they don’t catch certain cancers that only mammograms can and you may feel great but have diabetes or high blood pressure, both ‘silent killers’, at least in their early stages.
The good news for all of us is that there are some very dedicated researchers, policymakers, clinicians, etc., committed to identifying our concerns, helping us address our concerns and advocating for needed changes in the system. However, there is still alot of work to do! In fact, this effort is in it’s infancy! While this is the first truly national collaboration to address GLBT health in such an empowered way, conference leaders shared with me their struggles getting more of those who need to attend such an event involved.
So, why did I attend Out and Healthy? Because I too am curious about what leaders in the field are focusing on when it comes to healthcare for ‘women-who-love-women’ (that includes lesbians, bisexual women and trans-women). I am interested in learning which healthcare organizations are on the ‘cutting edge’ in reaching out to our community.
In addition, as a lesbian relationship coach, I wanted to learn more about how I fit in relationship to this issue and to these individuals and organizations. I learned that coaching is increasingly being seen as a very valuable service for everyone, and, in particular, for health-related concerns. For example, in today’s world, most of us are too busy to maintain a close enough relationship to our bodies. As a result, many of us aren’t aware how what 
we do impacts our bodies in positive and negative ways. In the same way, I am very interested in how health issues interact with relationship issues, particularly as it impacts single and coupled ‘women-who-partner-with-women’.
It was quite refreshing being surrounded by other healthcare, business and activist professionals with a similar passion and interest in this very important subject. And, to top it all off, I met some fascinating individuals, not the least of which was Martina Navratilova! Speaking of a fit body (and mind) that is maximizing it’s potential!
So, all in all, the conference and national dinner were both amazing experiences! Justin Nelson, Chance Mitchell and Kate Karasmeighan, thank you, you’ve wowed me again!
Please visit the Out and Healthy site and keep tabs on this effort. I know this effort will continue to grow in size and influence in the years to come!