D.C. Gay Health Center Embraces Change

Washington, D.C.'s 33-year-old LGBT-focused health center is changing its name, logo, and website.

Formerly known as the Whitman-Walker Clinic, the LGBT health and HIV center is now known as Whitman-Walker Health. Unlike other LGBT health centers in cities like San Francisco and Chicago, Whitman-Walker Health is actually operating in the black. Executive director Don Blanchon says their success can be traced to their services being expanded from HIV and STD testing and treatment to diabetes screenings, dental care, and women's services that include cancer testing.

"Whitman-Walker is staying true to our roots but is also expanding," Blanchon said in a statement. "While we remain committed to serving the LGBT community and to people living with HIV/AIDS, we know that our historic mission can best be fulfilled by serving as the wider community's medical home."

The health center is named for Walt Whitman -- the gay writer was a health worker during the Civil War -- and Mary Edwards Walker, a feminist doctor who lived in the 19th-century. Click here to view the center's new website.