National Coming Out Day
Our most recent event was sponsoring National Coming Out Day on October 11 here at WSU-SOM. We encouraged everyone that was LGBT or an ally to wear a red shirt to class to show their support for equal rights. We provided rainbow pins for anyone that forgot to wear red and provided resources on the coming out process for those interested. Additionally, we highlighted current issues of inequality facing the LGBT community on PowerPoint slides in between lectures. The response was phenomenal—a vast majority of our peers “came out” as allies for the community. The lecture hall was a virtual sea of red!

Violence Awareness Week
Speaking on violence against the LGBT community this year is Crystal Witt, from the Triangle Foundation. She will be discussing current crime statistics as well as speaking about her own personal experiences with violence.

Issues in Gender and Sexuality Week, March 20-24, 2006
This is the first year that we have an entire week to devote to issues affecting the LGBT community.

Our tentative line-up for speakers includes:
John Corvino, PhD – “Born or Made—and What’s the Difference”
Rachel Crandall, MSW – Transgender Health Disparities
Alan Sanders, MD – “Homosexuality and Molecular Genetics”
David Dinan, MD – Health Issues in LGBT Youth

National GLMA Conference, San Francisco, CA in 2006
We are currently working to get funding for travel expenses to attend the upcoming national forum on LGBT health issues sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association.

HIV/STD Counseling
We are currently working on setting up a partnership with the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project (MAPP) to have medical student do HIV testing and counseling. Also a longer term project of ours is to initiate a free STD screening and treatment clinic for LGBT Youth in conjunction with the local health departments.

LGBT Health Screening
One of our past activities was volunteering at a health screening fair sponsored by Affirmations Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Ferndale. Several medical students participated by taking blood pressures and counseling on healthy living. We are planning on participating again this upcoming year.

Clinical Medicine Curriculum
Another one of our projects is increasing the discussion of LGBT issues in the clinical medicine curriculum. This includes representing a broader diversity of LGBT individuals in class discussion of human sexuality and incorporating more material on transgender, bisexual, and intersex issues.

American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
The LGBT People in Medicine works closely with the AMSA Advocacy Committee to help increase educational programming and visibility on campus.