In honor of Lesbian Visibility Day, the organization known as Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality (formerly the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association) has opened their annual Lesbian Health Fund (LHF) to public proposals. Applicants will have until July 16 at 11:59 p.m. to submit ideas to the LHF Grant Committee. These grants will range from $1,000 to $10,000 for each of the three to eight accepted proposals. The announcement states that the recipients of these grants should be able to “identify or address health disparities among sexual and/or gender minority women or gender diverse people AFAB [assigned female at birth].”
Since the first call for proposals in 1993, the program and content has changed tremendously. The first three LHF grant recipients conducted their studies on the stigmatization of children with lesbian mothers, methods of insemination used by lesbians and sexual orientation data. These topics were ahead of their time in terms of taboo subjects and, as the range of Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality has increased, so has the subject matter.
In 2016, a study was conducted to determine the status of shared management of chronic pain in lesbian couples. Eligible applicants include graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, scholars, nonprofit groups and faculty.
Intersectionality (multi-faceted discrimination) is one of the key factors for framing research for potential grants. Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality specified the following: “Our calling is to illuminate the health needs of our community that too often go invisible and underfunded.”
As further ode to Lesbian Visibility Day, LHF launched new social media platforms available on Twitter at bit.ly/3xrFjSA and Instagram at bit.ly/3sXE3TE.
Along with several Charlotte-based groups, LHF will be posting resources throughout the week to continue spotlighting Lesbian Visibility Day. Charlotte Pride will present social media content to commemorate the day as well, for Charlotte Pride TV, which will post Wednesday, April 28, with brief interviews and spotlights with lesbian and queer women business owners in Charlotte.
Join us: This story is made possible with the help of qnotes’ contributors. If you’d like to show your support so qnotes can provide more news, features and opinion pieces like this, give a regular or one-time donation today.