Compiled by Howard Israel
S/he said
"It is important for Afro American and African Diasporic gay men to understand that they have a history of loving and desiring one another that is worth acknowledging and celebrating in whatever form. They, we, have a history of just being. That is important."
– Trent Kelley, historian and poet, in his blog titled "Hidden in the Open: A Photographic Essay," about an online collection of photos he has assembled showing same gender affection among black men dating from the 1860s onward, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hidden-in-the-open, March 26.
"What's significant is that both reports don't include transgender people as an afterthought, something other LGBT reports had been guilty of in the past. With this increased national focus on LGBT health, one can be hopeful that additional tools for medical providers serving transgender patients will soon be available."
– Joanne Herman, transgender advocate, in her column titled "A New Tool for Treating Transgender People," about the release of an important new online resource for medical providers serving transsexual and gender-variant patients, titled the "Primary Care Protocol for Transgender Patient Care," in the same week as the Institute of Medicine released a report titled "The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People," that addresses the health care disparities in medical treatment for LGBT people in the U.S., http://www.huffingtonpost.com, April 17.
"Some straight people over-compensate in their effort to prove their love for the gays. I had a co-worker high-five me when I told him I was gay. While arguably silly and odd, it was also conceivably the best possible reaction to my gay declaration. High fives are a universal gesture of positive reinforcement and are really fun to give, so it was definitely a reaction I could get down with. In fact, I loved it so much that I started high-fiving him all the time. You have table 3? High-five! You have curly hair? High-five! You have to take a piss? High-five! A little positive reinforcement never hurt anyone, so the next time someone shares something about themselves, just throw up your hand, yell 'high five!' at the top of your lungs, and continue on your way."
– By Carrie, in her commentary titled "Baby's First Gay," about the experience of straight people meeting "their first gay," http://www.thenewgay.net, April 14.
"Access may be equal, but we know that quality of care for LGBs often isn't. Attitudes are changing, but we still have to continue to push to eliminate discrimination and increase understanding of the rich and diverse life experiences of these individuals to improve the quality of the care they receive."
– Susan Cochran, professor of epidemiology and a co-author of a new study titled
"The Health of Aging Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Adults in California," conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, based on a large survey of California's aging LGB population, offering insights about broader health conditions of aging LGB people, http://www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu, March 29.
