I ended this conference on a great note. A powerful note. I listened to some stories from queer people about their experiences accessing health care. It was a panel of local folks from Bloomington, a variety of ages and experiences. I was not necessarily blown away by any of their personal tales, but it reminded me of the importance of story telling in our community. Sharing our experiences with health care, whether good or bad, is vital to reshaping our access and vital to our community health.
As a public health person I am constantly being barraged with epidemiology, and i love a good frequency like the next queer, but the stories are so important to finding the heart of the matter. The stories help researchers understand why people feel uncomfortable in the waiting room and then how to train clinic staff on understanding gender identity. The stories inform us about what is behind the statistics…after all statistics represent trends, but stories represent the people.
jeez, i am such a bleeding heart queer.
hearts to you,
e.shor
LGBT HealthLink, The Network for Health Equity 
e-shore… we could not agree with you more! Please check out our health care story matters project at http://www.RAI-Health.org. We are in the process of collecting the type of qualitative story telling that you talk about above. Once you get to our blog, click on the “My (LGBTQ) Health Care Story Matters” tab to watch and hear the stories we have posted.
Thank you for your work.
Chad Putman, LMSW
Rainbow Access Initiative, Inc. – Board President