SPECIAL HEALTH & WELLNESS
Milwaukee’s LGBTQ
Health Care Services: FROM A SINGLE CLINIC TO NATIONAL MODEL.
It was also at a time when revealing one’s sexual orientation and gender identity to a family physician risked possible denial of service, outing or even institutionalization. The patient’s fear, coupled not only with the unfamiliarity with specific LGBTQ needs among health care providers but also their potential animus, contributed to a lack of care and treatment for this segment of the population.
The earliest community response to this dilemma was the establishment of a small VD clinic in the Third Ward, then a neighborhood of neglected warehouses and many of the city’s gay bars.
Photo by Getty Images/Lordn.
During the decades that followed, Milwaukee’s LGBTQ health care services have grown exponentially. They now span a comprehensive spectrum of medical and mental health, anti-violence and, since the intuition of marriage equality, family related services. They are provided by ma-
jor health facilities, support agencies and individual private practices. Milwaukee Pride has recently launched a comprehensive listing of LGBTQ health and wellness resources as a digital directory. A virtual version of its popular PrideFest Health & Wellness Area program, it supersedes all previous service online listings, providing an online “yellow pages” of services. The platform allows users to search through over a dozen categories that include local and statewide resources for specific health needs. Included are legal, medical and mental health care providers, senior and youth services, pregnancy and transgender specialists, and many others. The directory may be found at pridefest.com.
Photo by Getty Images/Ljupco. Background photo by Getty Images/ Sono Creative.
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ilwaukee’s history of LGBTQ health services began nearly half a century ago. In 1974, community leaders recognized the necessity to provide targeted medical and mental health care to a demographic with very specific needs. Beyond general health care, certain health concerns were integral to LGBTQ life. Rates of obesity, substance abuse and other mental health issues were always higher among people identified as LGBTQ.
BY PAUL MASTERSON
Among the medical health care providers and support agencies, the following represent the leading resources for LGBTQ needs.
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