Discrimination's impact on public health practice

K. Stine

Whereas Pap smear screening has reduced cervical cancer mortality, minority status imposes barriers that limit access not only to screening but also to public health messages. Lesbians are a unique minority group due to multiple factors, and dispelling myths about their health risks has been hindered by a lack of research, knowledge, and outreach, as well as by homophobia. Recent research has bolstered the hypothesis that lesbians require Pap testing just as their heterosexual counterparts do. However, providers and lesbians continue to be largely unaware of this need. Media outreach in Seattle - a project of the Seattle City Council, the Seattle-King County Health Department, and the Seattle Commission for Sexual Minorities - attempted to correct this deficiency. Radio ads urged lesbians to have yearly exams, but complaints of the use of the word "Iesbian" caused the ads to be pulled. The project illuminates the impact of discrimination on good public health strategies and the imperative to manage discrimination as a public health issue. The article describes the campaign and its outcomes.