Whitman Walker Clinic (by Emily Rasulo)


The Whitman-Walker Clinic is a full-service health clinic with multiple locations in the greater Washington, D.C. area that places emphasis on providing safe, inclusive, and stigma-free care to its clients.  Some services provided by Whitman-Walker Health include medical, dental, and behavioral health, as well as legal services.  Starting as an STD clinic that operated out of the basement of a Georgetown church in 1973, the Whitman-Walker Clinic became one of the only healthcare centers in Washington, D.C. to offer proper care for those living with HIV and AIDS (1).



    Whitman-Walker Health functions as a nonprofit and community-based health care organization that works to deliver top quality care to anyone who walks through their doors, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, including expertise in HIV and AIDS care and, the LGBTQ+ community.  The Whitman-Walker Clinic holds significance in the history of the LGBTQ+ movement in the United States due to its contribution to the community during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, as well as its influence on other HIV health organizations that would come after (2). 



Walt Whitman and Dr. Mary Walker

  
    The clinic was named for two significant individuals whose lives were dedicated to providing care to those who were overlooked and who advocated for human rights causes.  These individuals were 19th century poet, Walt Whitman, and Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the second woman to ever graduate from medical school in the United States and a women's rights activist.    

Walt Whitman is best known as a 19th century poet with influence on gay literature, and for his most notable work “Leaves of Grass.”   However, he was also a healthcare worker in Washington, D.C. during the Civil War.  While Whitman had no formal medical training, he helped the soldiers that were wounded in battle by attending to their basic physical and psychological needs.  Whitman published a collection of poems about his experiences during the war titled “Drum Taps”, and this would later inspire the founders of Walter-Whitman Clinic to honor him in their name (3).  Whitman was dedicated to preserving the dignity and individuality of his patients, and as an HIV and AIDS clinic specializing in the care of the LGBTQ+ community, this connection was instantly recognized.

    Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, was the second woman to graduate from medical school in the United States, and the only woman to have ever received the Medal of Honor.  Those at Whitman-Walker Health sought inspiration from Dr. Walker because of her commitment to inclusive care in a time with prevalent gender and sex discrimination (4).  While working as a surgeon during the Civil War, Dr. Walker transgressed  gender norms of her era by wearing a masculine army uniform and having short hair (5).  Dr. Walker dedicated herself to saving lives and women's rights activism.  For these reasons, the clinic was also named in her honor.


HIV and AIDS Epidemic 

    While the Whitman-Walker clinic began as an STD clinic where gay men could safely go to receive proper treatment and care, the clinic began to specialize in the treatment of HIV and AIDS patients once the epidemic began in the 1980s.  The first medical report of AIDS by the Center for Disease Control was made in 1981, 3 years after the Whitman-Walker Clinic opened its first official and chartered location on 1606 17th St, NW in Washington, D.C (6).  While initially called GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency Syndrome), the media portrayed the disease as something that only affected gay men, since the initial reports of the illness were all among gay men within the same circles.  Prior to the outbreak, factors such as urban gay culture, a gay male and injecting drug use community, and no concept of “safe sex” all contributed to a  “perfect storm” of conditions, and as a result, there was great stigma around the treatment of AIDS patients.



Whitman-Walker as a Safe Space During the Epidemic

    Because of how new the disease was, and how little was known about it, stigma was prevalent, and it was not unusual for physicians to deny care.  Because the epidemic was linked to sexual behavior and intravenous drug use and affected groups that were already marginalized, there were high levels of anxiety among healthcare professionals, in addition to neglect from the conservative federal government (7).  The Whitman-Walker Clinic became significant at this time for its extraordinary efforts to help the LGBTQ+ community and those affected by AIDS.  In 1983, Whitman-Walker launched an AIDS Education Fund to provide information, counseling, and direct services to people with AIDS, and the clinic began its first prevention advertising campaign.  In 1984, the clinic opened an AIDS Evaluation Unit that was the first gay, community-based medical unit in the country devoted to the evaluation and diagnosis of AIDS symptoms.  In 1985, the Whitman-Walker Clinic opened the Robert N. Schwartz, MD, House, the city’s first home for people with AIDS, which became the largest HIV-testing site in the country (6).

Significance of the Whitman-Walker Clinic

    Knowing about the Whitman-Walker Clinic is important in the context of LGBTQ+ history in the United States because of its significance during the HIV and AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.  Because the first cases of HIV and AIDS were among those in the LGBTQ+ community, there was great fear and stigma, both inside and outside of the community.  Doctors learned about the disease while it was actively killing people, and many patients were in need of a safe space where they did not feel like they were being judged for having AIDS.  Even before the epidemic, people in the gay community needed a place where they would feel respected when it came to healthcare, and that is why Whitman-Walker was created in the first place.  Whitman-Walker served as this safe space for many within the LGBTQ+ community in the Washington, D.C. area, and it led the way for many other healthcare organizations.  Whitman-Walker also made significant contributions to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic, offering support and programs specifically for those living with and dying of AIDS.  The Whitman-Walker organization still operates today, and continues to help all people, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.





Footnotes:

  1. History, Oral. 2018. "40 Stories For 40 Years Of Whitman-Walker Health". Oral History Review. Accessed November 23 2020. https://oralhistoryreview.org/current-events/40-stories-for-40-years-of-whitman-walker-health/.

  2. Pates, Michael. 2004. “Whitman-Walker Clinic and Whitman-Walker Clinic Legal Services.” Human Rights 31 (4): N.PAG-2. http://search.ebscohost.com.dbsearch.fredonia.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=15093834&site=ehost-live.

  3. "Meet Walt Whitman". 2020. Whitman-Walker Health. Accessed November 23 2020. https://www.whitman-walker.org/blogs-and-stories/meet-walt-whitman?A=SearchResult&SearchID=12443125&

  4. "Meet Dr. Mary Edwards “Walker”". 2020. Whitman-Walker Health. Accessed November 23 2020. https://www.whitman-walker.org/blogs-and-stories/meet-dr-mary-edwards-walker?

  5. Brown, Juanita. 1958. “Dr. Mary Walker Walked Alone.” ONE 6 (11): 20. http://search.ebscohost.com.dbsearch.fredonia.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=qth&AN=8936826&site=ehost-live.

  6. "Our History". 2020. Whitman-Walker.Org. Accessed November 23 2020. https://www.whitman-walker.org/our-history.

  7. Bailey, Evelyn. 2016. “AIDS Research and Treatment.” Empty Closet, no. 505 (October): 21. http://search.ebscohost.com.dbsearch.fredonia.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=qth&AN=118642629&site=ehost-live.




Bibliography


Bailey, Evelyn. 2016. “AIDS Research and Treatment.” Empty Closet, no. 505 (October): 21. http://search.ebscohost.com.dbsearch.fredonia.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=qth&AN=118642629&site=ehost-live.


Brown, Juanita. 1958. “Dr. Mary Walker Walked Alone.” ONE 6 (11): 20. http://search.ebscohost.com.dbsearch.fredonia.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=qth&AN=8936826&site=ehost-live.


 History, Oral. 2018. "40 Stories For 40 Years Of Whitman-Walker Health". Oral History Review. Accessed November 23 2020. https://oralhistoryreview.org/current-events/40-stories-for-40-years-of-whitman-walker-health/.


 "Meet Dr. Mary Edwards “Walker”". 2020. Whitman-Walker Health. Accessed November 23 2020. https://www.whitman-walker.org/blogs-and-stories/meet-dr-mary-edwards-walker?


"Meet Walt Whitman". 2020. Whitman-Walker Health. Accessed November 23 2020. https://www.whitman-walker.org/blogs-and-stories/meet-walt-whitman?A=SearchResult&SearchID=12443125&


"Our History". 2020. Whitman-Walker.Org. Accessed November 23 2020. https://www.whitman-walker.org/our-history.


Pates, Michael. 2004. “Whitman-Walker Clinic and Whitman-Walker Clinic Legal Services.” Human Rights 31 (4): N.PAG-2. http://search.ebscohost.com.dbsearch.fredonia.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=15093834&site=ehost-live.


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