Jatrice Martel Gaiter, president and chief executive officer
of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., said some lesbians could
miss early detection of breast and cervical cancers because they might not visit
a gynecologist as frequently as heterosexual women do.
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BRYAN ANDERTON
Friday, September 24, 2004
The local branch of Planned Parenthood began this week offering health care geared
toward lesbian and bisexual women, regardless of whether they need family planning
services.
“We wanted to do more than just provide health services to lesbians —
we wanted to provide outreach,” said Jatrice Martel Gaiter, president
and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington,
D.C.
“We wanted to make sure that lesbians were getting breast exams and pelvic
exams on a regular basis,” she added. “So what we’re doing
is ratcheting up our outreach to lesbian and bisexual women in Northern Virginia,
and also all over the community.”
The new initiative, known as “The L Clinic,” was named after Showtime’s
popular lesbian-themed drama, “The L Word.” It was scheduled to
begin operating, in Falls Church, Va., on Thursday, Sept. 23, and will be open
on the first and third Thursdays of every month, from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
Officials there said they are prepared to handle visits from 12-15 women each
day the L Clinic is open. Services there will include pelvic and breast exams,
pap smears, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, blood pressure and diabetes
screening, counseling and follow-up treatment referrals.
Gaiter said that because women who partner with women do not necessarily use
contraceptives they might not feel the need to visit a gynecologist as often
as heterosexual women do. Lesbian health advocates said another reason for this
reluctance is that health care providers are not always sensitive to the unique
needs of their lesbian patients.
“Lesbians and bisexual women do not have breast cancer and cervical cancer
more often than other women, but they do tend to test for the diseases less
often,” Gaiter said.
Because of outside donations, Planned Parenthood is positioned financially
to provide most of the new services on a sliding-fee scale, Gaiter said, so
women who do not have the means to pay for treatment will not be turned away.
Planned Parenthood decided to start the L Clinic at its Falls Church location
because other organizations in Washington are already in place to meet the healthcare
needs of lesbians and bisexual women, Gaiter said. Those organizations include
the Mautner Project, a D.C.-based entity that focus on lesbian health issues
nationwide, and Whitman-Walker Clinic’s Lesbian Services Program in Washington.
“We don’t want to duplicate the fine services of Whitman-Walker
here in the District, but we do know that way out in our area — in Manassas,
Falls Church, Prince William, Fauquier, and Dale City — lesbians are underserved
and medically isolated,” Gaiter said. “We want to make sure that
those women who don’t have transportation into Washington, or who don’t
want to come at night, have a way into Northern Virginia so they can get the
healthcare they need to survive.”
This is not the first time a health organization has attempted to reach out
to lesbians in Northern Virginia. Ellen Kahn, director of Whitman-Walker’s
Lesbian Services Program, said for a short time in the late 1990s Whitman-Walker
Clinic operated a women’s health clinic at its satellite office in Arlington,
Va., which is closer to Washington than the suburban area Planned Parenthood
is targeting. The LSP effort fizzled out after about a year, Kahn said, due
to a lack of clients.
Nonetheless, Kahn said there is a definite need to provide services to lesbians
who live outside Washington.
“I think it’s a great resource, particularly for women who are
in the farther reaches of the D.C. metro area, for whom getting access to good
healthcare is somewhat challenging,” she said. “I’m delighted
that an organization with a long history like Planned Parenthood is recognizing
that the lesbian community has some unique and specific needs that are not always
traditionally addressed in a traditional healthcare setting.”
Planned Parenthood sought help in developing services that are culturally sensitive
to the needs of lesbians and bisexual women from several local gay healthcare
organizations, most notably Whitman-Walker and the Mautner Project.
Evita Grigsby, Planned Parenthood’s vice-president of development and
education, said those two organizations are leading efforts to educate staff
members.
“Having the Mautner Project work with us on some of this language and
some of these issues will really help us heighten our level of customer service
even more,” she said.
One way the Mautner Project has helped Planned Parenthood officials is by teaching
them how to be more culturally sensitive so they can fully meet the needs of
lesbian and bisexual patients. This includes paying attention to the language
the organization uses on its intake forms and during initial consultations with
lesbian and bisexual patients, especially related to sexual activity and “marital
status.”
The Mautner Project has also trained Planned Parenthood staff members on some
of the risk factors lesbians can face, including the myth that they are not
at risk for contracting HIV or cervical cancer because of the misconception
that none are sexually active with men.
“You can’t make assumptions,” says Kathleen DeBold, the Mautner
Project’s executive director. “You have to ask about behavior, not
just identity.”
Gaiter said Planned Parenthood plans to operate the bi-weekly L Clinic at its
Falls Church site for about a year, and then fold the services into the general
services the organization provides.
Bryan Anderton can be reached at banderton@washblade.com
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