Rethinking LGBTQ health

An examination of LGBTQ health enables us to: provide a critique of the HLS; better understand the healthy living needs of these populations, and to discuss the ways in which the exclusion of these populations from health research, policy and practice can contribute to negative health outcomes. [...] The dire state of trans-health and the gaping holes in knowledge of and care for transgender individuals in Canada are emblematic of the limitations of and problems with the HLS. [...] The concept of social and economic inclusion and exclusion, commonly referred to as SEI, provides a useful framework for thinking about the ways in which LGBTQ populations are rendered 4 invisible or are assumed to conform in some manner to dominant paradigms of gender and sexuality (which are often based in the assumptions about the „naturalness‟ of heterosexuality). [...] If we hope to address the health needs of LGBTQ populations, we have to work against social exclusion and gain a better appreciation of the specific and distinctive needs of each of the communities represented under the umbrella acronym. [...] The example of research and policy responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic underscores the challenge of understanding and responding to the needs and experiences of LGBTQ populations.