LGBTQ+

PHOENIX (June 30, 2022)  -- All of Us UArizona-Banner is pleased to announce “Pride365,” a year-long series of community events focusing on the LGBTQ+ community. Events will include community-building activities, celebrations of art and history, health education sessions and political debates.

“We enthusiastically affirm All of Us UArizona-Banner’s commitment to the LGBTQ+ community not just during Pride Month, but year-round,” said Francisco Moreno, MD, contact principal investigator for All of Us UArizona-Banner and associate vice president of equity, diversity and inclusion for the University of Arizona Health Sciences. “We launched this community outreach campaign to embrace our partners, create opportunities for them to engage, provide educational and health services and have some fun celebrating together.”

The All of Us Research Program, an initiative of the National Institutes of Health, aims to engage one million or more people who reflect the diversity of our country. The program is building one of the largest, most diverse health databases of its kind to help researchers find answers to some of our most difficult health questions. All of Us UArizona-Banner has enrolled more than 54,000 participants across the state in this important health initiative.

People from the LGBTQ+ community, like many other underrepresented populations, have often been left out of research. As a result, scientists know less about their health and ways to provide them with the best care. The All of Us Research Program wants to change this.

“One of the goals of the program is to ensure equitable representation in health research to communities that have traditionally been underrepresented, including the LGBTQ+ community,” Moreno said. "By working closely with community partners in the LGBTQ+ community, our aim is to increase awareness, provide information and education, and build trust to further the representation of the community in All of Us. Through diverse engagement, the program is building a data resource for scientists seeking to benefit the community by learning how factors such as genetics, lifestyle, and environment affect each individual’s health.”

More than 80% of All of Us participants are from communities historically underrepresented in biomedical research, and more than half represent a race or ethnicity that has been underrepresented. 

“To celebrate Pride Month, we are restating our long-term commitment to ensuring this community, and all communities, are represented in health research,” said Jennifer Craig-Muller, director of All of Us UArizona-Banner. “Alongside our community partners, we have compiled a fantastic array of engagement opportunities throughout the year ranging from movie nights to cooking classes to health education seminars.”

Upcoming events include:

• July 27: Rent Sing-A-Long and HIV Education Night
• August 20: Mobile Health Unit Mini-Event: World Immunization Month: Talking COVID-19 and the LGBTQ+ Community
• August 25: Mamma Mia Sing-A-Long and Safe Sex Education Night
• September 10: Mobile Health Unit Mini-Event: Taco Talks: Hispanic Heritage Month Kick-Off Celebration
• October 6: Politicians Field Questions from LGBTQ+ Leaders followed by showing of Milk movie about activist and politician Harvey Milk

Visit our website for a complete list of events and registration information.

By joining All of Us, LGBTQ+ people can help ensure their community is included in health studies. These studies could help researchers understand health conditions that are more common among LGBTQ+ people. What they learn could lead to more tailored approaches for preventing and treating those conditions.

To learn more, or to enroll, visit AllofUsAZ,org/lgbtq or call 877-268-2684.

The University of Arizona-Banner Health Program is supported under the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program funding award OT2OD026549 with previous awards UG3OD023171-01 and UG3OD023171-01S1 and the CEAL funding award OT2-HL156812.

“All of Us” and the All of Us logo are registered service marks of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).