Health

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Trump admin eliminates health care programs for LGBTQ+ veterans

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The Department of Veterans Affairs has ordered health facilities nationwide to eliminate gender identity-based initiatives and strip the LGBTQ+ designation from a network of medical coordinators created to help LGBTQ+ veterans navigate care, according to an internal memorandum obtained by The Advocate. The June 12 directive, signed by Veterans Health Administration Under Secretary for Health John J. Bartrum, the VA official who oversees the nation’s largest integrated health care system, is the latest move by the Trump administration to remove references to LGBTQ+ and transgender identities from federal programs. It also raises new questions about the future of a specialized support network the VA […]

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CDC Axes Page On How To Avoid Contracting Mpox

STAT News reports: HHS is again ordering changes to the CDC website that are at odds with the recommendations of the public health agency’s scientists. The CDC was told to take down a webpage that explained how people who have multiple sexual partners can reduce their risk of contracting mpox. Asked why, an HHS spokesperson said it “was not medically accurate” and didn’t “align with Administration priorities.” Demetre Daskalakis, a former top CDC scientist who served as deputy coordinator of the Biden administration’s mpox response, disputed the assertion that the information on the webpage was inaccurate. “Providing advice to people that […]

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A new strain of Shigella is disproportionately impacting queer men

Dr. Carlton Thomas, a gastroenterologist and host of the Butt Honestly podcast, knew something was wrong after having oral sex in the dark room play space of a Fort Lauderdale gay bar last year. Just a few days after returning home from the trip, he had developed diarrhea, dehydration, extreme fatigue, and a 104-degree fever.  As a gay GI doctor, Doctor Carlton, as his social media followers regard him, knew his symptoms could only be one thing: Shigella, an increasingly common bacterial infection that can spread through feces, usually via water contamination, unwashed hands, and, yes, certain types of sexual contact, especially […]

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For the Parents of Intersex Kids, Deciding how to Proceed Isn’t Easy

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In the fall of 2023, Cindy Howard was in a hospital bed recovering from a cesarean section. While the birth had gone smoothly, the pregnancy itself carried intense uncertainty. In the months leading up to the delivery, a technician had indicated she was expecting a girl. But during an ultrasound at around 30 weeks pregnant, she was told that while her baby had no visible penis, there were testicles. “We figured it was just a bad angle,” Howard told Uncloseted Media and GAY TIMES. “We went to a 3D ultrasound just for fun. And then we spent about 10 minutes […]

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The Unspoken LGBTQ Youth Mental Health Crisis in Canada

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Last year, at 17 years old, Jack Wonnacott remembers taking a work break in his car, tears streaming down his face as he clutched the steering wheel. He had been keeping his gay identity a secret, and the weight of staying closeted was destroying his mental health. As he sat in a Vancouver parking lot, he contemplated suicide. “My mindset that day was, ‘I’m probably not going to go back to my home after this. I’m probably not going to see my family again,’” Wonnacott, now 18, told Uncloseted Media. After making a phone call to the 988 crisis hotline—a mental […]

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San Francisco Department of Public Health Confirms First Clade I Mpox Case in San Francisco

On April 14, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) confirmed the first case of clade I mpox in a San Francisco resident. The case occurred in an unvaccinated adult who was hospitalized and is improving. The individual reported close contact with someone who traveled internationally.  SFDPH strongly encourages people at risk for mpox to receive both doses of the mpox vaccine. The vaccine provides the best protection against the mpox virus and protects against both clade I and clade II. At this time, mpox exposure risk is low for individuals who are not in higher‑risk groups.   The mpox vaccine is available through healthcare providers and local pharmacies. Those who do not have insurance or are having difficulty accessing care may visit the locations listed […]

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Former Biden HHS leaders hail syphilis breakthrough as Trump dismantles the system behind it

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A cheap antibiotic that has been sitting in medicine cabinets for decades is suddenly doing something remarkable: helping reverse one of America’s fastest-growing sexually transmitted infections, and offering one of the clearest measurable successes of a Joe Biden-era LGBTQ+ public health initiative just as President Donald Trump’s administration dismantles many of the federal systems that made it possible. A new University of Washington study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and highlighted recently by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy found that doxyPEP, short for doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis, is sharply reducing syphilis infections after federal health officials issued prescribing guidelines in 2023. Stay up to date with the latest […]

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Conversion Therapy Since 1886: A Dark History of the Discredited Practice

Throughout history, the belief that homosexuality is a disease that needs treatment has been pervasive. During the Cold War, the moral panic from the “lavender scare” caused many folks to view homosexuals as national security risks. And many still believe that homosexuality is a threat to the nuclear family. Since at least the 1800s, doctors and religious organizations have createdvarious types of conversion therapy in an effort to cure LGBTQ people. But over time, the practice has become widely condemned by major medical organizations, 24 states have banned it for minors and a United Nations expert has said it “may amount to torture.” Despite this, the Supreme Court appears set to […]

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New York jury finds psychologist and surgeon didn’t follow best practices in gender-affirming care case

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For the first time, a jury has ruled that a medical professionals who approved and performed gender-affirming surgery on a minor committed medical malpractice. The verdict came in a suit filed by Fox Varian, now 22, of Yorktown Heights, New York. At age 16, while identifying as a transgender male, Varian underwent a double mastectomy. Varian now regrets the surgery and identifies as female. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. She filed suit in 2023, saying her health care providers, psychologist Kenneth Einhorn and surgeon Simon […]

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Health insurance costs are up. Women and LGBTQ+ people are paying the price

Their health care premiums have skyrocketed. And now, women and LGBTQ+ people across the country are scrambling.  Some are pushing off paying for retirement, or dipping into their savings. Some are looking for extra work to afford plans that they aren’t sure will actually cover their health care bills. And some are planning to go without insurance, hoping they won’t get too sick to manage medical expenses on their own. The chaos and uncertainty are the result of a monthslong impasse, after Congress let subsidies lapse that would keep down the price of health insurance on the Affordable Care Act’s […]

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