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ACP declares support of same-sex marriage rights, comprehensive LGBT health care

In a recently released policy paper, the ACP stated its support for same-sex civil marriage rights, its commitment to eliminating discrimination in health care and offered recommendations for achieving health care equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients. 

“Policies that are discriminatory toward the LGBT community, or are no longer supported by empirical research, continue to reinforce the environmental and social factors that can affect the mental and physical wellbeing of LGBT persons. The ACP had a longstanding commitment to improving the health of all Americans and opposes any form of discrimination in the delivery of health care services,” the Health and Public Policy Committee of the ACP wrote in the paper.  

According to the policy paper, laws, state or federal, that impact LGBT individual’s quality of life, can affect both physical and mental health, and are therefore opposed by the ACP. Furthermore, any laws, including the ban of same-sex marriage, which promote marginalization, discrimination, social stigma or rejection of LGBT persons, have been shown to increase the risk for substance abuse, anxiety and suicide.    

The paper urges integration of gender identity, which the paper states as “fundamentally different and independent of sexual orientation,” into nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policies of medical schools, hospitals, physician practices and other medical facilities.

The term family should embrace those who maintain continued emotional relationships with one another, regardless of whether there is a biological or legal relationship. Additionally, patients should be able to govern who visits them in the hospital and other medical facilities, along with who may act on their behalf, without regard to sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status.

Any form of conversion, reorientation or reparative therapy, which according to the paper is strongly rooted in religious or moral beliefs, is not supported by the ACP, and studies have shown that such therapies could cause harm to LGBT patients.

The ACP also encourages all medical schools, residency programs and continuing medical education programs to integrate LGBT health care into their programs. This statement was highlighted at the recent ACP Internal Medicine Meeting, where the second edition of The Fenway Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health, was released.

Lastly, the paper stated the ACP’s support of continuing research that evaluates the safety of blood donation from men who have sex with men, in addition to their support of deferral policies for the same population. 

“The ACP recognizes that reducing health disparities in the LGBT population will take concerted efforts not only by those in the medical community but also from society as a whole. Training future physicians to be culturally and clinically competent in LGBT health care, working with practicing physicians to increase their understanding of the LGBT population and their health needs, advocating for practical health policies supported by empirical research, and working to eliminate laws that are discriminatory toward the LGBT community and their families are all important steps to reducing and ultimately eliminating the health disparities experienced by the LGBT community,” the Committee concluded. – by Casey Hower