National Coalition for LGBT Health- Speech by DHHS Secretary Kathleen SelebiusOctober 17, 2011
Washington, DC
http://www.hhs.gov/secretary/about/speeches/sp20111017.htmlRemarks as prepared for delivery
Thank you Verónica for that kind introduction.
I want to thank Daniel Gould and Hutson Inniss for their leadership as well.
And I want to thank every one of the coalition members here today for your tireless work on behalf of the health and well-being of LGBT communities.
I am delighted to be here today. But I know that recently for some, there has been sadness as well with the recent loss of two of the LGBT community's strongest voices for justice.
Frank Kameny was a true pioneer whose courage and leadership shaped the gay rights movement for half a century.
And Paula Ettelbrick transformed how our nation -- and our laws -- define what it truly means to be a family.
Their contributions were enormous. And their passing is a terrible loss. It is a reminder to all of us that we build on the work of those who came before of us -- and that we have a lot more work still to do.
It has been a decade since the National Coalition for LGBT Health was founded.
Ten years ago, a group of health leaders came together to advocate for LGBT health to be included in the federal government's 10-year blueprint for a healthier nation known as Healthy People 2010.
What came out of those initial efforts was the LGBT Companion Document to Healthy People 2010 -- a report that brought together, in one place, a wide range of resources for anyone seeking to apply the Healthy People principles to their work with LGBT communities.
