5 Reasons Health Care for Lesbians in Lebanon is at Stake
Sep 6th, 2009 | By Doctor.H.A | Category: Health
(5 votes, average: 4.20 out of 5)
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And 6 Easy Steps to Counteract Them
Lesbians and bisexual women are alienated from the health care system in Lebanon. Barriers to medical care that lesbians face can cause poorer mental and physical health. Here’s why:
- Heterosexism and homophobia are endemic in Lebanon. “Coming Out” to your physician, even though essential, might be challenging. Lesbians worry about negative reactions from health care providers if they disclose their sexual orientation. They also worry that their care might be compromised.
- Lack of a much-needed comprehensive and publicly available database that enlists all LGBT-aware or LGBT-tolerant physicians practicing in Lebanon.
- Homosexuality is looked at as a sin in Lebanon by the two major religious groups, Christianity and Islam. The Druze religion has no clear or publicly known position on the topic. Atheism is a growing group but still a minority; being an atheist can sometimes need a “coming out” process by itself in Lebanon as atheism might not be easily accepted by many religious people.
- Lack of any adequate training of health care providers about lesbian health issues. The absence of formal education about homosexuality in medical school and residency training leads to an alarming lack of understanding of health issues relevant to homosexuals. Misconceptions and dogmas about homosexuality are prevalent in Lebanon. Few examples:
- Some physicians still believe homosexuality is a mental disorder even 15 years after the World Health Organization has removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.
- Some physicians might consider “reparative therapy” for homosexuals; years after all those therapies were proven to be ineffective and sometimes harmful.
- Many physicians have the wrong perception that lesbians have a low risk for certain sexually transmitted diseases and some types of cancer when they are not sexually active with men.
- Lack of financial independence would prevent lesbian women (and similarly unmarried women) from seeking medical care as many will have to justify the reason to their financial supporter (parents, siblings, relatives, husband, or other). Health insurance in Lebanon cannot be extended to domestic partners.
The 6 DOs and DON’Ts;
- DO find an LGBT-friendly physician. Helem and Meem can help you find one.
- DO Consider “coming out” to your LGBT-tolerant/LGBT-aware physician.
- DO educate yourself about lesbian health issues. Feel free to contact the author for resources.
- DO NOT avoid routine health exams when healthy.
- DO NOT delay seeking medical care when sick.
- DO NOT forget to follow up as instructed after your first visit.
Article contributed by Dr. Hasan Abdessamad, OBGYN. You can email him on hasan.abdessamad[at]gmail.com
Baloney! Finding a problem where there is none.
In most cases you do not need to discuss sexual orientation with your doctor.
But if you do, find one you are comfortable with and who is trustworthy. They exist.
If you’re gay, you don’t need, special food and special health care and special movies… enough with this stupidity, you have bigger problems in mideast to deal with.
A little less aggressively, what are “lesbian health issues” and how do they differ from women’s health issues generally? Obviously there’s coming out to your gyno (which still doesn’t seem to be a complete necessity, it just makes your life easier – but I may just not know enough about this), but coming out as sexually active in itself is a huge deal for many women. Maybe the doctor could write an article for the next issue on what he means by lesbian health and what its specificities are?
Thank you for the feedback.
There is no doubt that homosexual women share the same intrinsic (biological) causes of disease as heterosexual women. However, homosexual women have an extra burden caused by social stigma, homophobia, coming out, and many other unique experiences that put them at an increased risk for many health problems. (I Would be happy to dwell on this further if you wish to contact me at hasan.abdessamad@gmail.com)
I do understand that to some women discussing sexuality with ones doctor might appear as an insignificant detail of their medical history, to many, however, it is the reason they avoid going to a Gynecologist in the first place. Avoiding routine care compromises ones health. Research have proven a strong association between coming out to your physician and a better health profile. (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists)
Here is one example: A colleague of mine spent a 30 minutes discussing different kinds of birth control and trying to convince his lesbian patient to be compliant with using them. The time could have been spent wisely on different issues had the patient felt comfortable disclosing her sexual orientation and had my colleague been less heterocentrist.
I will take the suggestion of dwelling more on what is meant by “Lesbian Health Issues”. My next contribution might make this point clearer.
[...] recent Bekhsoos article was called “5 Reasons Health Care for Lesbians in Lebanon is at Stake”: Lesbians and bisexual women are alienated from the health care system in Lebanon. Barriers to [...]
[...] recent Bekhsoos article was called “5 Reasons Health Care for Lesbians in Lebanon is at Stake”: Lesbians and bisexual women are alienated from the health care system in Lebanon. Barriers to [...]
Dear “really” (as in the person who wrote the first comment) if you are “really” educated about this subject you would have known that lesbians too have health issues…and yes diseases are transmitted amongst lesbians due to sexual relations…we should all be aware of that…
I would also like to add that “really” and “hummusqueen” ( i don’t feel like eating hummus ever again in my whole life lol ) shouldn’t be so sensitive about the subject,Dr.Hasan never said that lesbian health is different from straight women health,he was just pointing out that Lesbians just like straight women catch deadly diseases from sexual relations.Being gay doesn’t prevent anyone from catching diseases…therefore a regular check-up is recommended ( and it has nothing to do with food and how Lesbians should eat and behave or these things you blamed Hasan for,though it’s the complete opposite of what he believes in and what he fights for with all of us LGBT women and men,knowing Dr.Hasan personally)
At last i would like to thank Dr.Hasan for putting the spotlight on this big issue which not everyone is aware of,not talking about the subject doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist…we should have more to come on this kind awareness….
[...] article récent sur Bekhsoos était titré : “5 raisons pour lesquelles la santé des homosexuel(le)s est compromise au Liban”[en anglais] : Les femmes lesbiennes ou bisexuelles sont privées du système de santé au Liban. [...]
lesbians should get health care no matter what!
Excellent work buddy, keep writing.
i hate to heard that lesbian don’t make sex with men
i dream to have them in my bedroom