Mickey Eliason speaks about LGBT Healthcare 

On October 4, 2011, Mickey Eliason was the guest speaker for the second Center of Research & Education on  Gender and Sexuality (CREGS) Seminar of the fall semester. Dr. Eliason is a strong feminist activist. As a nurse and an educator, she explored the gap in LGBT education and care for medical professionals. She spoke to a packed room full of nurses in training, educators, center staff, and many others. In her presentation, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell: Not Just for the Military” she explored the notions and attitudes of LGBT in health care education.

Dr. Eliason guided the audience through several different studies focusing on the lack of LGBT education that healthcare professionals receive in schools, journals, textbooks, or in the work place. She argued that most doctors, nurses, and elderly care workers have a lack of knowledge about LGBT patients. Dr. Eliason anecdotally compared the health care experiences and needs of heterosexual patients with those of LGBT patients, and also discussed the possible “silence” barrier between LGBT patients and their doctors, even apparent with some LGBT doctors. Still today, some LGBT students are still being rejected from medical schools based on their sexual identity or they feel pushed to keep their identity a secret, and Dr. Eliason argues that the rate of discrimination towards LGBT is still high today.

With clear enthusiasm and knowledge of her topic, Dr. Eliason really asked her audience to think critically about the conditions of LGBT nurses and patients. She spoke with great concern about LGBT recognition in the medical field, for both healthcare workers and their patients. Towards the very end of her presentation, she discussed some recommendations towards health care education such as embedding education about LGBT related issues throughout the medical curriculum instead of introducing it in one class.

After her talk, Dr. Eliason received many questions from an intrigued, yet supportive audience. At the culmination of the evening, discussions of LGBT healthcare continued over some light refreshments. The National Center on Sexuality were very pleased to have Dr. Mickey Eliason share her research on sexuality in health care at the Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality Seminar Series.

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Mickey Eliason is currently an associate professor in the Department of Health Education at San Francisco State University. Formerly, she spent 20 years on faculty of the College of Nursing at the University of Iowa, and was the director of the Sexuality Studies Program there. She has written extensively about LGBT health issues. She is the primary author of the recent co-authored book, LGBTQ Cultures published by Lippincott.

SAVE THE DATE! Upcoming CRGS Seminars:

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011, 6-7:30pm: Emily S. Mann
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011, 6-7:30pm: Sonya Arreola

*All seminars are held at the CRGS at San Francisco State's Downtown Campus, 5th Floor, Suite 517.