Gay and lesbian health agendas

Abstract

The aim of this study was to validate gay and lesbian health agendas pushed by organizations representing these groups. To this end, we created a health agenda matrix based on 25 narratives of representatives from 16 different gay and lesbian groups in ten state capitals in Brazil collected in another study. Each agenda was considered to have reached consensus when the mean score was equal to or greater than seven and SD was equal to or less than two. The validated agendas addressed the following themes: physical and psychological violence; the care needs of lesbians related to uterine and breast cancer; mental health; training of health care professionals; AIDS prevention and care; assisted reproduction for lesbians; the urological and proctological care needs of gays; development of informative material on general health; and information and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. It is concluded that gay and lesbian movements are potentially important actors in the public health arena, not only proposing important issues that need to be considered in public policies and actions to improve health care for LGBT people, but also mediating between health professionals and homosexuals seeking health services.