Ethan Goodman, MPA, NACHC’s Manager for State Policy, sat down with Dr. Dorian Rhea Debussy for a PRIDE Month conversation on how health centers can engage with their state lawmakers on LGBTQ+ issues.
June is Pride month, a time to celebrate and bring attention to issues facing the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ+) community. We’re spotlighting a Community Health Center that has responded to this call by sharing with us ways that they engage with their state lawmakers on policy issues related to LGBTQ+ health. We talked with Rhea Debussy, Ph.D. (She/Her), Director of External Affairs, of Equitas Health.
Q: Will you tell us about Equitas Health and the community you serve?
Rhea Debussy, PhD (RD): Equitas Health is a nonprofit community healthcare system founded in 1984. We’re one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS-serving organizations, and we serve tens of thousands of patients in Ohio, Texas, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Our services include general primary care, pharmacy, gender affirming care, mental health and counseling, HIV-focused case management, HIV/STI prevention and treatment, and much more.
Q: Building relationships with state lawmakers is a meaningful way for them to learn about the work that Community Health Centers do. Can you share with me some of the ways you engage with your state lawmakers and what you’ve found to be some of the more useful tips and tricks for building those relationships?
RD: Building governmental and community-based relationships is definitely an important part of an effective legislative advocacy strategy. While coordinating with our partner organizations, we engage our state lawmakers by providing public comment during committee meetings, holding policy-focused meetings with key officials, sharing stories from our community, and so much more. For folks working to build an effective strategy and new relationships, I’d definitely recommend being both genuine and communicative. But also, staying even-tempered is also very helpful in today’s political environment.
View NACHC’s LGTBQ+ resources
Q: Why is it important for health centers to share the stories of the community they serve?
RD: Sharing stories from the community is such an effective advocacy tool, and it’s important because it shows that the government – for better or worse – has real effects on real people. Even if your social values or political ideas don’t align with an individual elected official, that person is likely just trying to do the same thing as you – help. By sharing stories from our communities, we can make sure that elected officials have a clearer picture of who a policy affects, why, and how.
Q: Can you share with me any stories of success you’ve had?
RD: Absolutely, and I’ll share a recent one. Like many states, Ohio has outdated laws that criminalize HIV. For the past several years, we’ve worked with partner organizations and state lawmakers alike in an effort to repeal these outdated and discriminatory laws, which disproportionately impact women and Black Ohioans living with HIV. And just last month, a state lawmaker, Rep. Sara Carruthers (R-47), introduced two bills that would modernize some of these laws. While there’s still plenty of work to be done, moments like this are definitely successes.
Policies enacted by state legislatures often have a greater impact on our lives than we realize. According to Bloomberg Government, in 2023, state legislatures introduced more than 107,000 bills and enacted 19,003, compared to Congress which simply passed 27 bills.
State legislatures deal with issues ranging from high school graduation requirements, business times of operation, all the way to laws governing the access and availability of health center care through state level funding and mandates. State legislatures do more because they tend to have more frequent legislative sessions, there is greater flexibility to be innovative with their approach to policy, and the main advantage is that they generally represent a smaller number of constituents which allows them to address issues more localized to their communities. The biggest takeaway from this interview is that state-level advocacy is critical to sustaining the Community Health Center movement.
Visit NACHC’s advocacy website, Health Center Advocacy Network, for advocacy tools, templates, resources and information.