Each week HuffPost Gay Voices, in a partnership with bloggers Liz Margolies and Scout, brings you a round up of some of the biggest LGBT wellness stories from the past seven days. For more LGBT Wellness, visit our page dedicated to the topic here.
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Saving Youth From Being Ex Ex Ex Gay
Courtesy of #BornPerfect
The National Center for Lesbian Rights launched “#BornPerfect: The Campaign to End Conversion Therapy” to end the refuted conversion therapy and protect LGBT youth from the damaging practice. This comes on the heels of a new study of ex-ex-gays, or people who are gay again, which highlights the shame and negative impacts of conversion therapy on mental health.
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Washington & Massachusetts Prohibit Trans Insurance Exclusions
Burazin via Getty Images
Two more states added to the ranks of the six existing ones who prohibit insurers from denying trans related care. So if you’re trans and moving, now you can think about moving to Washington or Massachusetts too. In related news, the Associated Press did a nice story about the New York lawsuit demanding trans coverage from Medicaid.
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How Anti-Gay Laws Worsen Diseases Like AIDS and TB
DHuss
Doctors, leaders, advocates, government officials had a lot to say this week at the first ever, global LGBT rights forum at the White House, about the issue of anti-gay laws, and rightfully so. Dr. Chris Beyrer, epidemiologist at John Hopkins, is calling this a pushback against rapid LGBT advancements worldwide. Some are calling these anti-gay laws a global hazard, that will have an affect on everyone.
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It’s Tough To Be Bi*
BarA Muratolu
Whoever said that bisexuals have the “best of both worlds” has not looked at the status of their health. According to the new CDC report, men who have sex with both men and women are at greater risk for contracting HIV than heterosexual men and less likely than gay men to get tested. Condom use is lower in bisexual men and they are also more vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections.
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LGBTI Health Is a Human Right
Getty Images
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission released a new resource guide that is a human-rights approach to ensuring health for LGBTI people. In related news a group is campaigning the World Health Organization, currently revising the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), to remove sexual-orientation related disorders from the ICD, to improve health of LGBT peoples around the world.
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Navigating Same-Sex Behavior in Many Religious & Ethnic Communities is Still a Challenge
Shutterstock / somchai rakin
A study released this week looking at sexual safety and security among young African American bisexual women, found three recurring themes: community and institutional expectations limited their safety, emotional connectedness affected security, and participants changed sexual behaviors to manage risk. The study suggested ways nurses can use this information to provide better care. Bisexual people may feel unwelcome and misunderstood by peers and society, which generally results in the lack of positive health outcomes.