In many rural communities throughout the United States, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people face unique barriers to health care services. 

Based on this information, the NYS Department of Health, Aids Institute in May of 2008 developed a grant to fund the improvement of these disparities.

The purpose of the grant is to improve access to all services in the county by LGBT individuals, their families and support systems, with health care services being a priority area of focus.

The Cortland LGBT Resource Center was established from this grant.  In September of 2009, Seven Valleys Health Coalition initiated a Health Needs Assessment survey to the LGBT community.  Both the LGBT community and health care providers were surveyed to determine the availability of LGBT inclusive services and policies.

Results of the survey indicated there are several barriers to LGBT health care and that providers in Cortland County generally lacked LGBT-specific options when collecting patient information.

The barriers included: the LGB T population has confidentiality concerns (fears of being “outed”); not receiving quality care if identifying as LGBT; judgmental attitudes from providers and office staff; fear of verbal abuse; and that providers, overall, did not allow members of the LGBT population to adequately identify their sexual orientation, document their partners, or allocate specific responsibilities of decision-making to same-sex partners or spouses.

The Center’s aim is to try and collapse these barriers through education and training of health care providers, service providers and employees of workplaces throughout the county.

The mission of The Center is to create a visible and empowered community through education, advocacy, resource enhancement, and linkages to essential services for all LGBT people as well as their families and other supportive community members.