When thinking about cancer, many people react with fear, confusion, sadness, and anger. Anal cancer can provoke all of these thoughts, along with additional feelings of embarrassment, uneasiness, and a sense of stigma. As a result, the conversation about anal cancer is hidden in a place where the sun doesn’t shine.
Now, it’s time to shed our anxieties (and our pants) to face anal cancer head on.
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The National LGBT Cancer Network in partnership with Tusk and Dagger is launching a campaign to raise awareness about anal cancer and create a directory of free/low cost LGBT-friendly anal cancer screening facilities across the country. We invite you to show your support by donating at bit.ly/BehindClosedDrawers or texting “UNDIES” to 41444. We then ask you to help spread the word about uncovering the truth about anal cancer by posting a photo of your underwear on social media and tagging it with#BehindClosedDrawers. We hope to use these photos to add a touch of levity to a subject that is difficult to talk about. Tackling anal cancer is a natural fit for The National LGBT Cancer Network: while the incidence is relatively rare in the general population (about 1 in 500) it is up to 34x more prevalent in men who have sex with men, and increasingly annually.
A growing number of physicians and health activists recommend that all men who have sex with men, especially those who are HIV+, be tested every 1-3 years depending on their immunological well-being and CD4 count. They suggest that HIV negative individuals be screened every 3 years. This work is important, because most people know little about anal cancer, have never been screened for it, and don’t know that screening tests exist. You can help us change that! |
To donate, text “UNDIES” to 41444 or visit: bit.ly/BehindClosedDrawers
Interested in helping out “Behind Closed Drawers”? Head here and then spread the word with a photo of your underwear and the hashtag #BehindClosedDrawers.
LGBT HealthLink, The Network for Health Equity 