A free information evening on sexual health will take place in the Teach Solais LGBT+ Resource Centre, on Merchants Road, this week, and is open to all members of the LGBT+ community, family, and friends.
The Galway branch of the National LGBT Helpline is hosting the event on Thursday February 16 at 7.45pm, with speakers Dr Patricia Cremin and Clare Coleman from the UCHG Sexual Health Clinic. The helpline, which launched in Galway in May 2015, recently took up residence in the newly opened resource centre. The event is also open to helpline volunteers as well.
“Sometimes people have questions they’re too frightened to ask their friends due to the stigma and embarrassment surrounding the subject of sexual health,” said lead volunteer Michael O’Malley. “Hopefully this night will answer some of those questions.”
Last year saw a sharp increase in a number of sexually transmitted infections. This can sometimes be attributed to a lack of awareness of the different types of STIs, as well as people not knowing their own status, especially as the most common symptom is no symptom at all. “Our volunteers take calls from people looking for information on this very subject,” said Rob Partridge, coordinator of the Galway helpline office, “so it’s obvious it’s an essential event to run to keep people, including our volunteers, informed.”
For more information about the helpline, from volunteering to peer support groups, see www.lgbt.ie The helpline can be contacted on 1890 - 929 539.
