An Arlington LGBTQ+ group is calling for better county outreach related to sexual health.
Equality Arlington, which advocated for greater county spending on LGBTQ+ issues this budget cycle, applauded a new $25,000 marketing budget set aside for Arlington Public Health. The group hopes this funding can increase awareness about sexual health testing, prevention and treatment services including a county STI clinic.
A year of surveying residents drove home the need for this kind of outreach, Equality Arlington President Kellen MacBeth said in a press release.
“Not a single queer person we spoke with was aware that the county offered STI testing and HIV/AIDS services and when we met with the county’s Public Health Division, we learned why: they have had zero dollars in their budget for marketing,” he said.
The county has not yet determined how the new Public Health funds will be distributed.
“We will be working together with our community partners and stakeholders in the coming months to determine the best ways to utilize the funding,” Arlington County spokesman Kurt Larrick told ARLnow.
In the meantime, MacBeth said many LGBTQ+ Arlington residents seek services where they’re aware they exist — places like NovaSalud in Falls Church or the Whitman-Walker Clinic in D.C.
“It’s great that many people have access to these, but not everyone is able to take the extra time to travel outside of the county,” MacBeth said. “It creates additional barriers for Arlington residents to have to leave the county to find sexual healthcare that may lead some to forgo prevention or treatment.”
The number of new Arlington HIV cases rose from 19 in 2022 to 30 in 2023, according to preliminary data from Public Health. That number has varied substantially over the past several years, from a high of 38 in 2018 to a low of 16 in 2020.
Other STIs are more prevalent. In 2023, authorities recorded 1,002 new chlamydia cases in Arlington, 360 new gonorrhea cases and 65 new cases of syphilis.
In addition to marketing current services, MacBeth believes the county should further subsidize its STI clinic to make it free for everyone. State funding currently makes the clinic free for people without medical insurance and patients referred by a private provider, a disease intervention specialist, a sexual partner or a community-based organization.
The clinic received 338 clients in fiscal year 2023.
“We plan to continue working with Arlington County to ensure that LGBTQ+ residents have access to and information about health services within their own community,” MacBeth said.
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
