Gay and Lesbian Medical Association
The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) is an international organization of approximately 1,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health care professionals (such as physicians, nurses, physician assistants, dentists, etc.) and their supporters in all 50 U.S. states, as well as twelve countries. Founded in 1981 as the American Association of Physicians for Human Rights, the GLMA "came out of the closet" and changed its name in 1994. The GLMA "works to combat homophobia within the medical profession and in society at large; to promote quality health care for LGBT and HIV-positive people; to foster a professional climate in which our diverse members can achieve their full potential; and to support members challenged by discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation."[1]
The GLMA works to ensure equality in health care for LGBT individuals and health care professionals. The GLMA achieves its goals by using medical expertise in professional education, public policy work, patient education and referrals, and the promotion of research.
The GLMA worked with the American Medical Association (AMA) to adopt measures requiring "the physician's nonjudgmental recognition of sexual orientation and behavior," and to reverse a 13-year-old AMA policy of encouraging programs to acquaint gay patients with "the possibility of sex preference reversal in selected cases." [2]
Several lesbian physicians who were GLMA members founded the Lesbian Health Fund in 1992; its mission is "to improve the health of lesbians and other sexual minority women (SMW) and their families through research."[3][4] It is the only U.S. research fund dedicated solely to the unique health needs of lesbians and other SMW.[4]
In 1993, GLMA began the Health Care Referrals Program, which helps LGBT people find doctors.[3]
In 1997, GLMA launched the Journal of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, the world's first peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary journal dedicated to LGBT health.[3]
Research activities
In the summer of 2006, the GLMA undertook a project to investigate the causes and extent of methamphetamine use among gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), options for treating methamphetamine dependence, and how best to get methamphetamine-dependent gay men into appropriate treatment, as well as to explore other issues and controversies associated with these issues.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ "Gay and Lesbian Medical Association". TheBody.com. 2010-11-20. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
- ↑ Dunlap, David (December 25, 1994). A.M.A. States New Policy On Sexuality. New York Times
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Foundation Center. "Gay and Lesbian Medical Association". Philanthropy News Digest (PND).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "GLMA - Lesbian Health Fund".
- ↑ http://www.glma.org/_data/n_0001/resources/live/BreakingtheGrip.pdf