This weekend, many healthcare professionals took part in Dublin’s Pride Parade (and I had a great day joining my hospital group!)
Let’s be honest: it’s a great party! But that’s not why we were there (though I do love a good parade).
As Pride celebrations wrap up this week as June comes to an end, let’s highlight just some of the dozens of reasons to advocate for better healthcare for Ireland’s LGBT+ community.
Multiple studies in Ireland in past decade have found that #LGBT+ community experience:
◆ higher levels of substance use
◆higher incidence of obesity and eating disorders.
◆ higher incidence of #depression, #anxiety, #selfharm #suicide.
◆ Lesbian/Bisexual Women: higher incidence of #heartdisease,
#PCOS #ovariancancer. Lower use of gynaecological services, awareness of #STIs spread by woman-to-woman sex. Barriers to accessing #assistedreproduction services.
◆ Gay, Bisexual Men, #MSM: homophobic abuse,violence, stress, sexual health risks (#HIV and syphilis)
◆ #Transsexual people: Lack of essential health services.
◆ Older LGBT people: invisibility, isolation and loneliness. Lack of recognition of partners. Difficulties expressing bereavement.
◆ Ethnic and cultural minorities: health problems resulting from discrimination/
◆Disability: mental and physical health consequences of #doublediscrimination
◆ Parenting, fostering and adoption: difficulties accessing health services for LGBT people and their children resulting from a lack of social and legal recognition of their family unit. Psychological distress associated with systemic stigmatisation of their families, and related risk of isolation and bullying of children with LGBT parents in schools.
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