You may or may not know that I heartily support a national lesbian health organization called the Mautner Project.  I donate coaching scholarships to their silent auctions at Mautner events like Big Love, their annual Valentine’s Day dance.  And, I speak often of lesbian health issues, particularly the disparities that come about when we aren’t able to be ourselves with our healthcare providers (sometimes with good reason) and when the healthcare system is ignorant (or even, sometimes hostile) to our concerns.

When a client shares with me that they don’t think it’s safe to be ‘out’ to their provider(s), I encourage them to seek affirmative providers, but, often, there is a lack of affirmative providers in an area OR there is at least, a lack of underground wisdom in a community about which physicians, nurse practitioners, etc. to seek out.

So, organizations like Mautner Project are vital for our community.  They are on ‘the front lines’ educating providers and changing the system to be more welcoming as well as providing direct care support to lesbians in the Washington, D.C. area who are currently dealing with the real life challenges of living with cancer.

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Today saw the release of a major study showing the way to living long and strong for women.  The study, done at Harvard University, followed almost 80,000 women, started in 1980 and lasted 24 years.  As far as quality, longitudinal, representative studies go, this one is right up there with the best ever done as far as I know on women.

Therefore, fellow lesbian – the secrets to living longer, so you can love longer – are no longer a secret!  But of course you already knew these secrets – the challenge for all of us living in today’s busy times, is taking the findings from the study and applying them to our own lives.

What were the secrets revealed by the study?  Here’s a juicy tidbit…

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