skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Bill Clinton is hospitalized for observation and testing after developing a fever; Biden commutes most federal death sentences before Trump takes office; Proposed post office 'slowdown' threatens rural Americans; Report: Tax credits shrink poverty for NM kids, families; Tiny plastic pieces enter the body in ways you'd never think of.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Biden commutes the sentences of most federal death row inmates, the House Ethics Committee says former Rep. Gaetz may have committed statutory rape, and the national archivist won't certify the ERA without congressional approval.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural folks could soon be shut out of loans for natural disasters if Project 2025 has its way, Taos, New Mexico weighs options for its housing shortage, and the top states providing America's Christmas trees revealed.

Report Spotlights Challenges Facing LGBT Coloradans

play audio
Play

Monday, June 24, 2019   

DENVER – Colorado's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents face unfair and avoidable challenges when it comes to financial stability, housing, mental health and substance use issues, according to a new issue brief from the Colorado Health Foundation.

Rita Lee, an associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, says the report's findings spotlight significant disparities in health outcomes.

"They are at increased risk for mental health issues like depression, anxiety, increased risk for suicide,” she states. “They are more likely to report overall poorer health compared to the general population."

Even in Colorado's strong economy, 42% of LGBT residents say they're worse off financially than a year ago, and nearly 6-in-10 worry they'll lose their homes because they can't pay their rent or mortgage, compared with just 25% of their peers.

Nearly half of LGBT Coloradans said they or a family member couldn't access mental health services when they needed it.

Clinical psychologist Sarah Burgamy says when LGBT people are rejected by family or feel unsupported at work, they can develop a negative view of themselves and the future, which can lead to a sense of hopelessness.

She says LGBT people also experience increased rates of stress compared with the general population.

"They experience marginalization and prejudice and bias that non-LGBT people don't experience,” she explains. “So we're already walking around with the stressors that everyone else experiences in day-to-day life, but now we've upped the ante."

Lee says stigma remains a barrier for accessing medical and mental health care. She maintains additional education starting in medical school would help mitigate bias, and get health professionals up to speed on the LGBT population's specific medical needs.

"They need to be trained on how to communicate effectively with LGBT patients in a way that is inclusive and doesn't assume that somebody is straight or heterosexual or assumes that they have a particular gender identity," she states.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Juana Valle's well is one of 20 sites tested in California's San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast regions in the first round of preliminary sampling by University of California-Berkeley researchers and the Community Water Center. The results showed 96 parts per trillion of total PFAS in her water, including 32 parts per trillion of PFOS - both considered potentially hazardous amounts. (Hannah Norman/KFF Health News)

Environment

play sound

By Hannah Norman for KFF Health News.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the KFF Health News-Public News Ser…


Environment

play sound

Animal rights organizers are regrouping after mixed results at the ballot box in November. A measure targeting factory farms passed in Berkeley but …

Environment

play sound

Farmers in Nebraska and across the nation might not be in panic mode anymore thanks to another extension of the Farm Bill but they still want Congress…


Immigration law experts say applying for asylum status can be very lengthy, and that programs such as Temporary Protected Status can fill the void for people fleeing violence elsewhere in the world. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

With 2025 almost here, organizations assisting Minnesota's Latino populations say they're laser focused on a couple of areas - mental health-care …

Social Issues

play sound

A new report found Connecticut's fiscal controls on the state budget restrict long-term growth. The controls were introduced during the 2018 budget …

As of August, enrollment in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System had reached 66,114 students, representing an increase of 8.4%, according to state data. (Adobe Stock/AI generated image)

Social Issues

play sound

Nearly a dozen changes could be made to the Kentucky Community and Technical College system, under Senate Joint Resolution 179, passed by lawmakers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jessica Scott-Reid for Sentient.Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Arkansas News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collab…

play sound

By Julieta Cardenas for Sentient.Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Texas News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021