Is the Topic Too Personal?

Doctors ask their patients a lot of highly personal questions. They’ll tackle serious topics such as domestic violence and depression, and have no problem asking their patients potentially embarrassing questions about bowel movements and menstrual cycles.

But when it comes to gender identity and sexual orientation, many doctors avoid the topic.

“They’re worried that asking about someone’s sexual identity is too personal and won’t be perceived as clinically relevant,” says Liz Margolies, executive director of the National LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) Cancer Network, who conducts cultural competency training sessions for doctors. “They are afraid to ask because they think it will be too intrusive.”

But here’s the thing, Margolies says. “We want to be asked.”...continue reading on Medscape

(New York, NY September 5, 2018) The National LGBT Cancer Network is the newest recipient of a $2.5 million five year award from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to expand resources for their grantees serving LGBTQ people at risk for tobacco-related cancers.

“The LGBTQ communities smoke at rates significantly higher than other populations. That alone increases our cancer risks dramatically,” said Liz Margolies, the Executive Director of the National LGBT Cancer Network.

The Cancer Network’s new award will expand their NYC presence to Providence, RI, the base for their Principal Investigator, Dr. Scout. For more than a decade, Dr. Scout has led this CDC health priority at other agencies. He emphasizes that the next five years will bring a new vision for this work: “We are really looking to expand the online knowledgebase and toolbox for LGBTQ community members at risk for cancer, living with cancer, and policymakers serving us. ...continue reading on Hornet.com