BOSTON -- The United States Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded The Fenway Institute a grant to create a national LGBT health technical assistance and training center for community health centers.  The multi-year, almost $900,000 grant will allow Fenway to train health center providers, administrators and staff in how to better serve and care for LGBT patients.

Harvey Makadon, MD, The Fenway Institute’s Director of Professional Education and Development, will oversee the program which will work with Fenway-affiliated faculty from across the country to:

The topic of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) health disparities isn’t an intuitive one. We’re not biologically different than others. But it turns out most of health isn’t governed by biology, but social factors.

Over the years, my fellow LGBT health researchers have been steadily documenting a myriad of ways the discrimination we face takes its toll on our health. As just a few examples: our youth are at higher risk for suicide, too many of us avoid doctors or hide being LGBT to avoid discrimination, and we smoke at much higher rates than others.