Health and wellbeing for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Birmingham
Birmingham LGBT Community trust and the health & Wellbeing Partnership held a consultation on LGBT Health Issues.
Notes from the meeting at the Nightingale Club 2nd December 2009:
Key issues identified
- Assumption that you are heterosexual
- Having to come out
- Need for generic monitoring
- Need for diversity training for health and care professionals
- More research, particularly in trans health
- The Birmingham LGBT community needs a resource centre
- A LGBT-friendly sign in primary care settings would support LGBT people, challenge assumptions and raise awareness.
- Homophobic / transphobic hate crimes – link to mental health and community safety issues
- BME and Faith Communities: need to establish better relationship and support BME LGBT people
- Need to work with young people and schools to promote change
- Older and disabled people are particularly vulnerable and invisible in services
Trans health
· More research required
· Recognition – being seen as real people
· Stereotyping/prescripting behaviour
· Access to services is a post code lottery
· In Birmingham there is a problem with people not being referred properly to gender specialist clinics
· Cancer: cervical (trans guys) , prostate (trans women)
· Sexual health – zero – all sexual orientations - intersex community
· Self medication – internet/others trans people
· Waiting list duration
· Puberty blockers
· Post care packages
· Unemployment – no flexibility
· Identify parallels, not differences, between communities and diversity strands
Mental well being
· Coming out –ripple effect to family /friends
· Schools
· Distrust of services
· Homophobic and transphobic (wrongly identified) hate crimes
· Support for ever-changing identity
· Post Traumatic stress
· Need for better inter-community communication
· Need for correctly advertising support services, especially to paranoiod members of our community.
· Better awareness of hidden communities, eg BME people
· GPs’ lack of knowledge and understanding eg “take these pills, you’ll be alright”
· Dedicated professionals – hire from communities
· Continuosly addressing underlying issues
· Better balance between sexual awareness and mental health awareness
Housing
· Reduce isolation – place individuals in communities of like-minded people.
· Addressing prejudice at the recruitment /selection stage for health professionals
· Monitoring:
o Identity v preference
o Male/female/trans/intersex v hetero/gay/lesbian/bisexual
GPs and access to primary care
· Recognition/Registration(?) when you access services to prevent assumptions.
· LGBT on all forms to be included
· Positive imagery of LGBT in all organisations, creating a safe environment.
· Appropriate service leaflets, eg domestic violence, drugs and alcohol, which address LGBT issues that lead to Health problems.
· Having LGBT issues in professional on going training.
· One-to-one training for professionals, so that they can deal better with the individuals presenting.
· Organisations should empower LGBT people with information on how to complain about bad services. Also, be able to follow up complaints, so people feel they have been heard, and services improve.
Prevention
· Anti homophobia campaigns that influence people
· Monitoring across the board sexuality
· More in depth research
· Capacity building in the gay communitiy
· Strategic voice is needed
· Faith communities and BME communities
Older people
· Older men and women have a history of living with illegality and a state of denial.
· Trauma of aversion therapy, possibly elective - a “bedrock assumption” that the word is heterosexual”
· Medics have to lead change in assumption that patient is heterosexual
· A sign in GP/primary care settings that it’s ‘okay to be out’ would be helpful.
· Emphasis on sexuality, rather than sexual orientation
· Compound prejudice: older people don’t /shouldn’t have sex
· Assumption /prejudice that gay and lesbian people are predatory / paedophiles.
· Anecdotal reports of very good accepting in-patient care
· Sexual orientation monitoring should be standard. Will help:
o Understanding of health care needs of LGBT community
o LGBT people feel more comfortable about confirming their sexual orientation
o Acceptance and awareness by wider community
· Older /more vulnerable people have to expose more of their private lives
· Heterosexism is a greater problem than homophobia
· While there is a long way to go to eliminate discrimination it’s Important to recognise the progress made over the last decades, the achievements of LGBT community.
· Invisibility of gay and lesbian people in care homes / care services
· Any remarks disclosing sexual orientation are perceived as “pushing it in your face”
Young people
· Parental response – anxiety
· Sexual orientation – another pressure for young people
· Where does help / support come from? Peers not sufficiently mature to help
· “Gay” and “lesbian” derogatory terms at school
· Homophobic bullying – Council should lead on addressing this
· How do young gay people get medical advice, about sexual health for example?
· Mental wellbeing issues: Self-harming, suicide, eating disorders – pressure on young gay men to be thin – possibly perpetuated by older community?
· Excessive drinking/drug-taking – a response to repression, very visible in young Asian LGBT people
· Pride – resourcing the event is an important way to support the LGBT community, but not all that’s needed!
· Referrals from school nurses, PSHE teachers etc to Healthy Gay Life asking for advice on supporting young people (12 year olds)
· Media images unhelpful – stereotypes/sensational stories
· Role of music/culture in presenting a positive image to young people
· BME-LGBT tension - Enforced marriage, religious inspired homophobic crime – Council could lead here.
