About LGBTQ Health Matters Week

The 2008 LGBTQ Health Matters Week is designed to promote the health and well-being of LGBTQ people in Toronto through a variety of events to be held across the city.

The goal is to inform our communities of the local health care resources available to them, while at the same time educating and engaging LGBTQ people around important health issues.

We encourage LGBTQ people to think about health in its social context, to examine the impact of different types of discrimination on our well-being, and to imagine healthier communities for us all.

The First Annual LGBTQ Health Matters Week kicked off on World Health Day, April 7, 2008, and was celebrated until April 13, 2008.

History of LGBTQ Health Matters Week

This new initiative is coordinated by Sherbourne Health Centre and is based on the annual community health fair, Queer Health Matters, which was held in partnership with the Rainbow Health Network from 2004-2007. This one-day event featured workshops on new and emerging health issues in the LGBTQ communities, research presentations as well as various community organizations sharing information about their programs and services.

The format has been expanded to a week for 2008 in order to increase access for participants by having a range of events held in different locations, as well as to highlight the increasing diversity of LGBTQ health and social service programming available in the city of Toronto.

Why Celebrate LGBTQ Health Matters Week?

We all deserve to be healthy, regardless of our age, race, income, ability, sexual orientation or gender identity. Being healthy means taking care of our physical, emotional, sexual, psychological and spiritual needs. For LGBTQ people, this can be a challenge given the stress of dealing with prejudice and discrimination. Getting good health care can also be hard as health care providers may be homophobic, biphobic or transphobic and many providers may not know much about LGBTQ health issues.

It is important to celebrate LGBTQ Health Matters Week to provide opportunities for LGBTQ people to learn about steps we can take to improve our health and the health of our communities. During LGBTQ Health Matters Week it is important to remind queer and trans people that taking care of ourselves is essential to living longer, healthier and happier lives.