Washington Blade - September 24, 2004
Bryan Anderton, banderton@washblade.com

"We wanted to do more than just provide health services to lesbians - we wanted to provide outreach," said Jatrice Martel Gaiter, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.

"We wanted to make sure that lesbians were getting breast exams and pelvic exams on a regular basis," she added. "So what we're doing is ratcheting up our outreach to lesbian and bisexual women in Northern Virginia, and also all over the community."

The new initiative, known as "The L Clinic," was named after Showtime's popular lesbian-themed drama, "The L Word." It was scheduled to begin operating, in Falls Church, Va., on Thursday, Sept. 23, and will be open on the first and third Thursdays of every month, from 4:30 to 7 p.m.

Officials there said they are prepared to handle visits from 12-15 women each day the L Clinic is open. Services there will include pelvic and breast exams, pap smears, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, blood pressure and diabetes screening, counseling and follow-up treatment referrals.

Gaiter said that because women who partner with women do not necessarily use contraceptives they might not feel the need to visit a gynecologist as often as heterosexual women do. Lesbian health advocates said another reason for this reluctance is that health care providers are not always sensitive to the unique needs of their lesbian patients.

"Lesbians and bisexual women do not have breast cancer and cervical cancer more often than other women, but they do tend to test for the diseases less often," Gaiter said.

Because of outside donations, Planned Parenthood is positioned financially to provide most of the new services on a sliding-fee scale, Gaiter said, so women who do not have the means to pay for treatment will not be turned away.

Planned Parenthood decided to start the L Clinic at its Falls Church location because other organizations in Washington are already in place to meet the healthcare needs of lesbians and bisexual women, Gaiter said. Those organizations include the Mautner Project, a D.C.-based entity that focus on lesbian health issues nationwide, and Whitman-Walker Clinic's Lesbian Services Program in Washington.

"We don't want to duplicate the fine services of Whitman-Walker here in the District, but we do know that way out in our area - in Manassas, Falls Church, Prince William, Fauquier, and Dale City - lesbians are underserved and medically isolated," Gaiter said. "We want to make sure that those women who don't have transportation into Washington, or who don't want to come at night, have a way into Northern Virginia so they can get the healthcare they need to survive."

This is not the first time a health organization has attempted to reach out to lesbians in Northern Virginia. Ellen Kahn, director of Whitman-Walker's Lesbian Services Program, said for a short time in the late 1990s Whitman-Walker Clinic operated a women's health clinic at its satellite office in Arlington, Va., which is closer to Washington than the suburban area Planned Parenthood is targeting. The LSP effort fizzled out after about a year, Kahn said, due to a lack of clients.

Nonetheless, Kahn said there is a definite need to provide services to lesbians who live outside Washington.

"I think it's a great resource, particularly for women who are in the farther reaches of the D.C. metro area, for whom getting access to good healthcare is somewhat challenging," she said. "I'm delighted that an organization with a long history like Planned Parenthood is recognizing that the lesbian community has some unique and specific needs that are not always traditionally addressed in a traditional healthcare setting."

Planned Parenthood sought help in developing services that are culturally sensitive to the needs of lesbians and bisexual women from several local gay healthcare organizations, most notably Whitman-Walker and the Mautner Project.

Evita Grigsby, Planned Parenthood's vice-president of development and education, said those two organizations are leading efforts to educate staff members.

"Having the Mautner Project work with us on some of this language and some of these issues will really help us heighten our level of customer service even more," she said.

One way the Mautner Project has helped Planned Parenthood officials is by teaching them how to be more culturally sensitive so they can fully meet the needs of lesbian and bisexual patients. This includes paying attention to the language the organization uses on its intake forms and during initial consultations with lesbian and bisexual patients, especially related to sexual activity and "marital status."

The Mautner Project has also trained Planned Parenthood staff members on some of the risk factors lesbians can face, including the myth that they are not at risk for contracting HIV or cervical cancer because of the misconception that none are sexually active with men.

"You can't make assumptions," says Kathleen DeBold, the Mautner Project's executive director. "You have to ask about behavior, not just identity."

Gaiter said Planned Parenthood plans to operate the bi-weekly L Clinic at its Falls Church site for about a year, and then fold the services into the general services the organization provides.

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