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Medical center opens lesbian-centered health clinic

Columbus-The Ohio State University Medical Center has created a women's health clinic specializing in lesbian-centered care set in an environment to ensure comfort and confidentiality.

Located in the Women's Wellness Center on the OSU Medical Center campus, the clinic offers a variety of services, including primary care, general screenings, gynecology, breast health and osteoporosis screenings. The services are also covered by most insurance providers.

"We know that homophobia has been one of the reasons that keeps lesbians away from seeing a doctor," said Linda Bernhard, an associate professor in nursing and women's studies at OSU who has been involved in the development of the

clinic. "We're emphasizing that the clinic is a safe place where lesbians can go for good, respectful care that they need and deserve."

Bernhard said OSU saw a population whose needs were not being met and decided to create the clinic from that principle.

"In general, lesbians do not receive or search out the care they need. OSU saw this as an opportunity to continue to reach out and better serve different populations in Columbus. This is the first clinic of its kind at the university and the city," Bernhard said.

Pinky Davis, director of the medical center's division of lifestyle enhancement said the OSU Medical Center is a leader in

Eleventh Ohio Lesbian Fest set for September 11

Columbus The Lesbian Business Association will hold its eleventh annual Ohio Lesbian Festival on Saturday, September 11, at Frontier Ranch near Kirkersville, Ohio. The festival is open from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. Frontier Ranch is located 35 miles east of Columbus, just off U.S. route 40.

The Night Stage will feature Kate Clinton, Melanie DeMore, and the Butchies, so get ready to roll in the aisles and rock in front of the stage. This year's featured Ohio performer will be Cincinnati's Just the Band.

The Day Stage will feature Alix Dobkin, Jazzmyn, Voices of Africa, Two Girls Alone, and Quartetto di Lesbos.

More than sixty artisans, merchants, and activists from around the region offer finely crafted gifts, clothing, music, books, art, and political information. Bring cash, checks, or credit cards, do some early shopping, and support these talented women from our community.

A variety of workshops will be offered throughout the day. These will include body and face painting; real estate buying, selling and financing; lesbians on the Web; yoga basics; introduction to wiccan and other earth religious philosophy; discussion of women's music in Columbus with the Columbus Women's Chorus; interactive games;

and much, much more. The volleyball net will be up, and we have a brand new volleyball!

The OSU mammography unit from the BEST program will be on site. Mammograms are free to qualifying women, but you must call in advance to make an appointment at 800-625-2378.

In-car registration, shuttle service, mobility and emergency equipment is available, and wheelchair access is provided. The stage performances are sign language interpreted, and interpreters for the workshops are available upon request at the Lesbian University tent.

Advance tickets are available at 5¢ Decision and Harmony Bar and Grill in Cleveland; Lydia's in Akron; People Called Women in Toledo; Lady Hawks in Dayton; Rita Caz in Yellow Springs; Crazy Ladies in Cincinnati; WEB Center in Athens; Ricky Maracek in Newark; and An Open Book, Far Side, Grapevine Café, Slammers, Summit Station and Wall Street in Columbus.

Tickets are $24 in advance, and $30 at the gate a bargain at twice the price! Tickets are non-refundable.

Event will be held rain or shine. For more information call 614-267-3953, or stop by one of the outlets listed above.

Center to begin oral HIV antibody testing

by Dan Hlad

Cleveland-The Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center of Greater Cleveland, in collaboration with Project Safe, will provide clients with

and painlessness of this type of test will encourage more people to get tested.

"We want our community to be tested in an atmosphere that is both supportive and comfortable", said Bucklew. Counseling before and after the test will be administered by trained counselors from Project Safe, a community-based multi-service HIV/AIDS program of the Cleveland Treatment Center.

free and anonymous HIV testing beginning August 24 at the Center, located at 1418 West 29th Street. Testing will feature the new OraSure test that draws antibodies from the mucus linings between the cheek and gum. The test does not test saliva (which contains negligible levels of antibodies) and it avoids the dangers and discomfort associated with needles and blood draws.

The Center

This is of the first programs under the center's new health outreach coordinator, Bob Bucklew. The center hopes the ease

Testing is free to anyone on a walk-in basis. Testing will be conducted on the first and third Fridays of each month from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. For more information please call 216-522-1999.

Dan Hlad is public relations director of the Cleveland Lesbian-Gay Center.

providing women's health care in Ohio.

"As part of our designation as a National Center of Excellence in Women's

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"A lot of lesbians don't receive health care

because they don't feel comfortable in traditional health care systems."

Health, the OSU Medical Center is dedicated to reaching out to under served populations, like the lesbian community, and providing them with quality health care," Davis said.

According to current research by the Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer, lesbians are less likely to seek health

care because of stereotypes and a lack of sensitivity they face. They are also at a higher risk of breast, cervical and ovarian cancers because they are less likely to have children by age 30, if at all.

"A lot of lesbians don't receive health care because they don't feel comfortable in traditional health care systems. When filling out paperwork, questions referring to a husband and birth control don't apply to a lesbian," said Leslie Fine, associate professor of marketing at OSU. “This is a really positive step. The Women's Health Clinic is giving the lesbian community a safe place to receive primary care."

Lynne Ann Burke Torello, M.D., boardcertified in family medicine, serves as the primary physician of the clinic. To learn more about the programs and services at the Women's Health Clinic or to schedule an appointment, please call 614-293-9333.

Accessible from any part of the city, the Women's Health Clinic is located at 125 Doan Hall, 410 W. 10th Ave. on the OSU Medical Center main campus. Free valet parking is available.

Gay-straight alliance works against homophobia

by Tim Yanock

North Olmsted, Ohio-Three straight kids at the high school in this Cleveland suburb had a problem with the way their gay friends were being treated, so they decided to do something about it.

The result was Spectrum, a gay-straight

"One of the biggest problems is that people don't even realize saying something like 'That's so gay' can be offensive to someone."

alliance whose mission is "to promote respect and equality for all students, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or disability."

Founded last August, the group has grown to about forty student members and has gained support from parents, teachers, administrators, clergy, and other professionals in the community. This support has been one key to their success. Another has been the involvement of non-gay students.

"We're not 'that gay group'," says one of the founders. "We're all human. Some are gay, some are straight, some aren't telling, and none of it is the issue here. All people should be treated with respect."

While respect for all is the message, the group does focus on sexual orientation and homophobia issues to bring attention to an otherwise largely invisible problem.

"One of the biggest problems is that people don't even realize saying something like 'That's so gay' can be offensive to someone," says one of the members.

Simply asking people to stop using words like "faggot, queer, and dyke," because they are offensive has already made a difference at the high school.

"But there's still almost a feeling of disbelief that gay students even exist," says another member.

Spectrum gives students who are fed up with such discrimination a safe place away from the name-calling where they feel wel-

come. Group members also help dispel many of the myths about homosexuality by speaking up in class, talking to teacher and parent groups, and participating in workshops.

The group has participated in such events as the National Day of Silence and the annual Pride Festival, and recently made a presentation to the North Olmsted Board of Education, asking that "sexual orientation" be added to the district's non-discrimination policy for students and employees, and that school staff be educated in problems and challenges gay youths are facing and how they can help make their struggle easier.

Spectrum would like to help other schools and communities form gay-straight alliances, and will be a part of a Gay-Straight Alliance workshop on August 22 at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Rocky River.

Interested students and advisors should contact Judy Maruszan at the Cleveland Lesbian-Gay Center, 216-522-1999 for more information, or e-mail Spectrum at no_spectrum@hotmail.com. You can also visit their web site at www.geocities.com/ westhollywood/park/3568/spectrum.htm.

"There is a problem out there in the world that people have been ignoring for too long, and it's time people started realizing that it isn't going to go away that easily," a Spectrum member sums up. "We think we're part of the solution."

Tim Yanock is a member of the Spectrum student executive board. He graduated from North Olmsted High School and is now a student at Baldwin-Wallace College.

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