LGBT Health Awareness Week

LGBT Health Awareness Week, often described in German as a week for awareness of queer health, takes place every year in the last week of March. The aim of the campaign week is to draw attention to health inequalities and experiences of discrimination that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and other queer people may encounter in healthcare. This includes both physical and mental health, as well as access to respectful, competent care.

The week is marked by various online and offline actions intended to spread information, raise awareness, and highlight structural problems. It is important to state this clearly: queer people do not have worse health “by nature”; rather, they are more often affected by stressors such as stigma, prejudice, discrimination, and inadequate care. Prevention, education, and discrimination-sensitive medical and psychological services can help reduce these risks.