Creating new realities: Lesbian and bisexual health in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In commemoration of June 28--the date of the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York that marked the beginning of the gay rights movement--the Latin American and Caribbean office of the International Lesbian, Trans, Gay, Bisexual and Intersex Association, ILGA-LAC, launched the report Salud Lesbica y Bisexual en LAC. Construyendo nuevas realidades (Lesbian and Bisexual Health in LAC: Creating New Realities).

The report is a collection of the responses from 33 activists from different relevant groups in 11 countries throughout the region, who share their knowledge on various aspects related to the health of lesbian and bisexual women. The report seeks to build information on a topic rarely discussed yet widely mentioned as a need for these political

communities.

Salud Lesbica y Bisexual en LAC. Construyendo nuevas realidades describes the legislative realities in each country and shares the activists' perceptions on issues such as quality of care for lesbian and bisexual women, diseases that most affect lesbians and bisexuals, discriminatory practices against lesbian and bisexual women in the healthcare system, STIs of most concern to lesbian and bisexual women and health centers that provide specialized care for lesbian and bisexual women. It also establishes the existence of lesbian and bisexual women living with HIV in several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, warning of these women's vulnerability to the virus and the relationship to stigma and discrimination, a structural variable of the epidemic.

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The information for the report was collected through a survey taken by various Latin American activists, including activists who are not lesbian or bisexual but have worked on this issue. The survey was piloted in Chile, then disseminated via Internet with the support of the Regional Lesbian Secretariat of ILGA-LAC, which was responsible for validating the procedures, tracking the surveys and validating the contents of the report, based on a comprehensive health perspective that questions institutional heterosexuality and explores the possibilities offered by an intersectional approach to analyze the discrimination endured by lesbian and bisexual women. The report was prepared by Ideas sin Genero, Ideas de Toda Indole (ISIG).

Given the size of the document, an Executive Report will soon be drafted and shared to facilitate the accessibility of the important information that it contains. Likewise, the information supplied by the Brazilian activists, which was not incorporated in this edition, will also be released sometime soon.

Clearly, this document fills a tremendous need and opens new discussions. Its launch on June 28 is emblematic, for in a symbolic way this report is part of the struggles of lesbian and bisexual women against violence, like those first voices at Stonewall.

For the Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network, this report is of particular importance, because it addresses the need to approach women's health and sexual and reproductive rights from a comprehensive perspective, in keeping with LACWHN's Ongoing Campaign for Comprehensive Health and Sexual and Reproductive Rights. The health needs of lesbian and bisexual women imply specific challenges that must be met.

For more information, visit the regional ILGA website--http://america_latina_caribe.ilga.org/--or contact Iris Hernandez, e-mail: anatolia7@ yahoo.com

The document can also be downloaded from the LACWHN website.