October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So why is this a gay issue?
Many studies of breast cancer have shown that lesbian women have a higher chance of getting it than non-gay women. There are numerous theories, but more research is needed. It’s an issue of great interest to our community and should remind us that LGBT health issues are important and, at times, different than non-gay health issues.
Elaine Grobman, executive director of the Philadelphia affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, first heard about this disparity 20 years ago, and helped fund programs for lesbian and bisexual women through the Philadelphia Community Health Alternatives, now Mazzoni Center. How many charities cared about the LGBT community 20 years ago? Elaine has been in our corner for 20 years and her work deserves our support in return.
It’s also why you might want to consider an LGBT doctor for your personal care, or make sure that your current doctor is aware of your orientation, comfortable with it and up to date on LGBT health issues.
This weekend also brings us OutFest, a celebration for and about our community. If you ever wondered whether we were a community, take a walk around OutFest. You’ll find everything from politics, dating, youth services, counseling, religion and a host of gay businesses just there to show their support. And then there’s the food, beer, you name it — it’s our street festival.
And coming up mid-October for Gay History Month, the William Way LGBT Community Center, in coordination with the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., will host an exhibit examining how the Nazi government persecuted German homosexual men. Believing them to be carriers of a “degeneracy,” the Nazi state incarcerated tens of thousands of men in prisons and concentration camps as a means of terrorizing German homosexuals. It’s a part of our history the world is just beginning to acknowledge. This groundbreaking exhibit includes many items from the camps and gay men who suffered.
On a positive and personal note, thanks to all of you who have reached out to me with advice, help or just to ask how the heel surgery recovery was coming along. The good news is that I’m now walking without the use of crutches or a cane. I am in physical therapy and have been told that my walking will return to normal if I obey my therapy. (Now, we all know how good I am at obeying.) Have a great weekend and take pride in our community.
Mark Segal is PGN publisher. He can be reached at [email protected] .