GLMA Condemns Health Care Providers Who Harassed Lesbian Patient

News Release: GLMA Condemns Health Care Providers Who Harassed Lesbian Patient 02/04/2006 (07:57 AM) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 3, 2006 CONTACT: Joel Ginsberg - 415- 255-4547 GLMA CONDEMNS HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS WHO HARASSED LESBIAN PATIENT Florida Patient Given Literature Calling Homosexuality "Sinful" at Doctor's Office San Francisco, CA - The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association today strongly condemned the actions of a Florida medical office which gave to a lesbian patient there for a routine appointment materials describing homosexuality as "sinful and sexually impure" and advising lesbians and gay men to change their sexual orientation. The patient, Jamie Beiler, was leaving the office of Dr. John R. Hartman and Dawn Pope-Wright, a physician's assistant, in Kissimmee, Florida, on March 11, 2005 after a follow-up visit for bronchitis when Pope-Wright gave Beiler the packet of anti-gay literature. The case came to light when Ms. Beiler contacted the Mautner Project. Southern Legal Counsel (SLC) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) filed complaints on behalf of Ms. Beiler earlier this week with the Florida Department of Health and CIGNA Healthcare of Florida against Dr. Hartman and Ms. Pope-Wright. GLMA Executive Director, Joel Ginsberg, JD, MBA, stated, "Ms. Beiler's experience represents a violation of the doctor-patient relationship. Studies show that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered persons (LGBT) frequently find it difficult to be honest with their doctors because they fear discrimination, and they often receive substandard care as a result. People shouldn't have to fear being harassed by their doctors. Providers who act in these ways do terrible harm to the health of their LGBT patients." GLMA President, Rob Garofalo, MD, stated, "Regarding the suggestion that Ms. Beiler seek to change her orientation, the preponderance of evidence-based medicine indicates that anti-gay conversion therapy is at least worthless and wasteful and is more likely harmful to patients. Professional organizations including the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the National Association of Social Workers, reject its use. The American Psychiatric Association Position Statement on Reparative or Conversion Therapies states that '. efforts to repathologize homosexuality by claiming that it can be cured are often guided not by rigorous scientific or psychiatric research, but sometimes by religious and political forces opposed to full civil rights for gay men and lesbians.' That certainly seems to be the case here." Ginsberg concluded, "GLMA urges Florida Department of Health and CIGNA Healthcare of Florida to investigate this matter thoroughly and to affirm the right of LGBT persons to receive health care free of harassment." - 30 - For 25 years, the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association has worked to ensure equality in health care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients and health professionals. For more information, call 415-255-4547 or visit www.glma.org . read full story with links at http://gaylinknews.com/prdetail.cfm?id=8037