As the nation recognizes Pride Month this June, the Duke CFAR re-affirms our commitment to celebrating and supporting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community in our day-to-day lives, our interactions with colleagues, patients, and community, and throughout our research mission.
Pride Month serves as an important time to reflect on the history of advocacy and activism within the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly the leadership of Black transgender women like Marsha P. Johnson at the Stonewall Riots to catalyze the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. We also reflect on the intersection of these rights with the history of HIV in the United States and the role that stigma, discrimination, and systemic inequality continue to play in our fight to end the HIV epidemic.
As Dr. Demetre Daskalakis and Dr. Jonathan Mermin write, “HIV has been inextricably linked with gay men’s health since the early 1980s, when officials initially termed what would later become known as AIDS, Gay-Related Immune Deficiency (GRID). In these early days of the HIV epidemic, fear of casual transmission meant that many gay men had to fight for visibility and equality not only in the eyes of the law, but also in the eyes of their healthcare providers. Today, LGBTQ+ communities continue to face HIV-related stigma and discrimination, with LGBTQ+ people of color facing even greater challenges.”
This month – and every month – we recognize the many contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals to our world, our country, and in the fight against HIV. We affirm our commitment to promote an inclusive environment that allows everyone to thrive and our commitment to protect against discrimination – particularly at a time when the rights and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ individuals are under great threat.
We echo the words of our Duke Health Leadership: “Let us recognize, honor and celebrate our LGBTQ+ leaders, faculty, students, staff, allies, patients and families. Feeling included and respected is a right, not a privilege, and all of us have a responsibility to support one another. – At Duke Health we stand together, always celebrating our differences and taking pride in one another.”