What a success!

For fifteen years, the Rainbow Women’s Health Fair has offered access to health information and health care services to Seattle’s LBTQ community. Last weekend, the health fair was held at All Pilgrims Church on Broadway in the middle of Pride Weekend – and it was a smashing success!

Many thanks to All Pilgrims Church, all our volunteers and providers, and the community for their participation. We couldn’t have done it without you! And we can’t wait until next year!

Katie  Lama, LPN, providing glucose and cholesterol screenings

Doris Harris from the Breast Cancer Navigation Project

Two Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence find Rainbow Women’s Health Fair Volunteers!

Volunteers Gabi and Agnes do intakes for women getting their mammograms

Volunteers Kyle and Shan offered free hugs at the Hug Deli!

YWCA Volunteer and Rainbow Health Fair Committee Member Jen Peters and YWCA Women’s Health Outreach Program Manager Ingrid Berkhout.

"We promised them we would tell the world."

Last year, the National LGBT Cancer Network surveyed LGBT cancer survivors to learn more about their experiences in the health care system. More than 300 individuals from across the country participated in the survey and shared their stories.

After connecting with LGBT cancer survivors and conducting their research, the National LGBT Cancer Network made recommendations that fall beneath these six themes:

1. Stigma plays a prominent role in LGBT healthcare. (pg. 8)
2. The local healthcare environment determines one's experience and is highly variable. (pg. 10
3. Disclosure [to healthcare providers] is often related to perceived safety. (pg. 13)
4. Respecting LGBT patients means respecting their support teams. (pg. 17)
5. The pervasive expectation of gender conformity can be alienating. (pg. 21)
6. LGBT survivors need more culturally appropriate support and information. (pg. 24)

In the report's conclusion, they write:

Cancer doesn’t discriminate, but the healthcare system often
does, as evidenced by the many experiences reported here
by survey respondents. These experiences, while taking place
at one of the margins of the healthcare system, offer a rare
glimpse into the opportunities for change in the entire system.
A well-intentioned one-size-fits-all approach too often gives
a message of unwelcome to LGBT patients, leading those
who can avoid the system to do so, and suggesting to others
that they need to remain silent about their lives, their support
systems and their needs.

For more information and to read the recommendations, read the full report here.