Happy International Women’s Day from Howard Brown Health!

Amy Nicole Miller, Manager of Women’s Health Services & Aisha N. Davis, Manager of Policy & Advocacy

Today is International Women’s Day – a day where we take the time to celebrate women, their achievements, their contributions, and their unique attributions to societies and communities around the world. This day presents an opportunity to highlight women – all women.

At Howard Brown, we believe that providing holistic, supportive healthcare for women requires working with and learning from women. This means listening to women, trusting women’s self-determination, and ensuring that the health-related resources women need are available for them to access.

Historically, women’s access to competent healthcare has been limited. From denials of civil rights to restrictions on reproductive care, from gender markers on legal documents to income inequality, women have faced inequalities head on. For trans women, trans feminine folks, women of color, immigrant women, lesbians, bisexual women, gender nonconforming women, genderqueer women, and many other designations, these issues are exponentially compounded by multiple jeopardy, making access to care even more difficult. As the largest LGBTQ healthcare organization in the Midwest, we believe that every woman has the right to shape their healthiest life.

Here at Howard Brown, we work to honor women every day of the year. Our goal is to provide holistic services for all women’s healthcare needs – including full gynecological care, routine health screenings, treatment for acute and chronic illnesses, family planning services, behavioral healthcare, substance use support, hormone replacement therapy, gender-affirming surgical navigation, sexual health education, and SexuWellness drop-in nights for women and TGNC community members. These services represent our belief that women’s health is important and integral to ensuring that we are providing safe, supportive care to the LGBTQ communities across the Chicagoland area.

So today, especially, we recognize the priceless work that women have done to help us be a successful asset to our community, laud the continued support and vision that women bring to us every day, and look to a future where women are – globally – respected, valued, and admired without having to be exceptional. Regardless of status or acclaim, Howard Brown appreciates every woman we serve and will continue to fight so that every woman in our community has access to the care and services she determines that she needs.