Synopsis and Updates

The National Lesbian Health Summit: Expanding Our Movement was hosted on March 6-8, 2009 at the University of California, San Francisco. The Lesbian Health & Research Center @ UCSF served as the Administrative Convener of this historic, precedent-setting event. The Summit was organized over the course of a year by a National Coordinating Collective, which included representatives from an array of organizations across the US.

The National Lesbian Health Summit was attended by over 275 participants, representing a broad diversity of age, physical ability, race/ethnicity, gender expression and sexual orientation. The Summit program included plenary panels, workshops, films and exhibits. This wildly successful conference motivated the audience and received overwhelmingly positive evaluations.

The Summit was part of larger movement to incorporate LGBT health into the national healthcare dialogue. A series of autonomous yet interconnected national L,G,B, and T summits were planned over an 18 month period, and this work will culminate with the National LGBTI Health Summit to be held in August 2009 in Chicago.

The creation of a National Lesbian Health Agenda is an exciting outcome of the Summit. This Agenda will be used at the federal and state levels, and will dovetail with efforts to generate a National Women’s Health Agenda and a National LGBT Health Agenda. Input for the NLHA will be sought through community surveys, focus groups and interviews with researchers, community leaders, academics and healthcare providers. LHRC will work with the National Coordinating Collective and be responsible for organizing this effort.

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