Recent federal actions undermine public health across the globe, including dismantling agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). However, our commitment to advancing health through science remains steadfast.

Equity and inclusion programs have faced particularly severe setbacks. At the Center, we are deeply committed to promoting LGBTQ health equity. This month, we proudly announce a series of public events, innovative research, and influential publications with LGBTQ perspectives as a central strategy for health equity. 

Fireside Chat with LGBTQ Health Pioneer Stewart Landers

Join us February 26th for lunch and conversation with Stewart Landers, JD, Associate Editor Emeritus for LGBTQ Health and AJPH. Learn about how early efforts to grow LGBTQ research inform the current moment.

This in-person event is free and open to any Harvard affiliates. Registration is required.

Join us March 7th to learn the radical history of International Women's Day and share your own story. The Center is co-sponsoring this event led by the School's Women, Gender, and Health concentration; Dr. Nancy Krieger and Nicaraguan historian Dr. Dora María Téllez will both speak. 

This in-person event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Join us April 9th for a discussion with Alejandra Caraballo, JD, Harvard Law School Clinical Instructor, about the upcoming Supreme Court decision on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender people.

This in-person event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

A recent alum of the Center's LGBTQ Health Voices Fellowship, Jack MacDonald, published two articles.

Based on his experience in the fellowship he wrote Show and tell: Op-eds as a tool for LGBTQ+ health advocacy and an op-ed in Out Magazine titled "Want to save LGBTQ+ Lives? Take a 5-minute Narcan training.” 

New grant on the health impacts of anti-LGBTQ laws

Founding Director Dr. Brittany Charlton received a new five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study policies such as those banning access to healthcare for transgender people and those criminalizing teachers for discussing the existence of LGBTQ people.

"Working alongside colleagues at Boston University and in public health departments, we will create robust and time-sensitive new evidence of how discriminatory and supportive LGBTQ policies affect mental health," Dr. Charlton said.  

Congratulations to our latest student and postdoctoral awardees

After another competitive cycle, the Center has selected student and postdoctoral awardees to conduct—and disseminate—innovative LGBTQ health research.

Doctoral student Dougie Zubizarreta will apply novel statistical methods to create longitudinal measures of  LGBTQ-related policy climates and their impact on LGBTQ health.

Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Michelle Tam will discuss trauma as a driver of adverse birth outcomes among LGBTQ people at the Society for Epidemiologic Research Annual Meeting.

Graduate student Wyatt Koma will speak about Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming surgery. And lastly, graduate student Mai-Han Trinh plans to discuss drivers of mental health inequities among trans people at the National Transgender Health Summit.

Dr. Ariel Beccia spoke to the Boston Globe about preserving LGBTQ health data, including through efforts led by Center faculty Dr. Jarvis Chan and colleagues.

Data preservation includes federal surveys at the CDC with sexual orientation and gender identity data. The CDC "appeared to be racing to meet a deadline to remove 'gender ideology' from their websites," to which Dr. Beccia remarked, "I spent all morning frantically downloading [these] data. I can’t believe this is all happening."  

Upcoming LGBTQ course for Harvard students: WGH207 Advanced Topics in Women, Gender, and Health with Dr. Sabra Katz-Wise. Learn how gender-related constructs—such as identity, expression, behavior—influence public health research and practice.