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As a lesbian, bisexual, or queer (LBQ) woman, you may know all too well the barriers that our community faces to accessing affirming, competent, and quality healthcare. Perhaps you have been discriminated against by your primary care provider because of your sexual orientation or gender identity, and you no longer feel safe accessing care. Maybe you don’t have access to health insurance because your partner’s insurance plan doesn’t recognize your relationship. Or maybe you don’t know what health conditions you may be at risk for because, unfortunately, there isn’t a regular dialogue around queer health issues.

Whatever the case may be, there are health and wellness concerns that are specific to our community; it is important that all of us are informed about the resources that are available to us and how we can better take care our bodies and our minds. These, among others, are some of the reasons why Queering Her Health was born. This blog is meant to be a space where health issues that are specific to LBQ women are discussed, data is shared about health disparities in our community, and resources for competent and affirming care are provided.

To properly introduce myself as the Queering Her Health blogger, my name is Betsy Rubinstein. It’s nice to virtually “meet” you, and thank you for getting this far into my first entry! To provide some context as to why I’m writing this blog, I recently joined the Howard Brown Health Center (HBHC) team as the new Manager of the Lesbian Community Care Project (LCCP). For those of you who don’t know about HBHC, it is one of the nation’s largest LGBT organizations that “exists to eliminate the disparities in health care experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people through research, education, and the provision of services that promote health and wellness.” LCCP is the women’s health program of HBHC, which provides alternative insemination services, primary/gynecological medical care, free pap tests and breast/chest exams for uninsured women, STD/HIV testing, behavioral health services, support groups, and a monthly drop-in night for acupuncture.

As the newest LCCP team member, I thought: what better way to bring health information to queer women than to blog about it on The L Stop? Thankfully, the lovely folks here at The L Stop agreed that there is a need for a queer women’s health voice on this site, and this, my friends, is how the happy LCCP and L Stop partnership came to be. *Cue the clapping*

To my future readers: I want to provide a disclaimer that, although I am very passionate about queer women’s health issues and do my best to stay abreast of the latest research pertaining to our community, I am not a doctor. I will not be able to provide personal medical recommendations for you. However, if my blog entries raise questions or concerns about your personal health, I highly recommend calling Howard Brown Health Center at (773) 388-1600 to schedule an appointment with one of our medical providers. We accept many different types of insurance, and provide a variety of health and wellness services that may be a good fit for your needs.

Finally, I would like to dedicate the Queering Her Health blog to Christina Santiago, the brilliant and fierce queer women’s health activist that held the Manager of LCCP position before me. Among many other admirable qualities, Christina dedicated her life to educating queer women about the health concerns specific to our community and encouraged them to get their health care needs met. In my new role, I recognize that I have tremendous shoes to fill, and I am humbled every day by the groundbreaking work that Christina did during the short time that she was with us. I hope this blog can provide a small testament to the powerful impact that she made on our community, and in her absence, continue to be a source of health and wellness information and support.

Thanks again for checking out my blog, and I look forward to crafting the upcoming entries for Queering Her Health! Cheers.

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