On behalf of the LGBTQ+ at CHEST Interest Group, I am proud to introduce this first collaborative blog with our colleagues from the American Thoracic Society LGBTQIA+ Interest Group. Professional societies are more than scientific homes. They shape culture, mentorship, scholarship, and advocacy. Founded on the principles of belonging, visibility, mentorship, and action, our groups are united in a shared commitment to elevating LGBTQIA+ voices, fostering inclusive research and education, and advancing health equity.
We look forward to continued partnership and invite our members, trainees, and allies to join us in building a more inclusive and compassionate field, together.
-Mauricio Danckers, MD, FCCP
Chair, LGBTQ+ at CHEST Interest Group
Community has always been more than a gathering of individuals—it is a declaration of shared purpose. For LGBTQIA+ clinicians and researchers within respiratory medicine, community represents safety, affirmation, courage, and momentum.
But the challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ patients and professionals do not exist within organizational silos. Disparities in tobacco exposure, lung cancer screening, asthma control, access to affirming care, and ICU experiences cross institutional and geographic boundaries. So too must our response. Within professional societies, LGBTQIA+ interest groups can transform that belonging into action.
When community is nurtured within a single organization, it creates connection. When community is shared across organizations, it creates transformation. And when that community is strengthened by allies committed to equity, the impact is even greater. These are the goals of a new collaboration between the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) LGBTQIA+ interest groups—an opportunity to coordinate efforts and build a community.
For many LGBTQIA+ professionals in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine, the path to community has not always been straightforward. Authenticity has too often required courage. Mentorship has sometimes been scarce. Visibility has felt conditional. LGBTQIA+ interest groups within ATS and CHEST are changing that narrative, offering space for mentorship, advocacy, scholarship, and solidarity.
The ATS LGBTQIA+ Interest Group is excited to collaborate with their CHEST counterparts, because when LGBTQIA+ communities collaborate, their collective voices resonate. Still, lasting change requires more than resonance: It requires partnership, and allies can play an essential role in amplifying these voices and translating shared values into structural change.
The goal of this new collaboration is to elevate visibility. Our collaboration aims to strengthen education for our allies in each society. We envision cross-society mentorship networks connecting LGBTQIA+ trainees with established leaders who model authenticity and excellence. We aspire to develop joint programs cultivating diverse voices for societal engagement to ensure that LGBTQIA+ health is woven into the main fabric of pulmonary and critical care discourse.
LGBTQIA+ clinicians often move fluidly between ATS and CHEST meetings, committees, and research collaborations. By building intentional bridges between our LGBTQIA+ interest groups, our societies affirm that belonging does not depend on which conference badge one wears.
For medical students and residents considering careers in pulmonary or critical care, visible partnership between ATS and CHEST sends a message that you will be welcomed, you will be mentored, and you will lead. It also signals to our allies that their engagement matters—inclusive leadership strengthens our entire field.
The mission to improve respiratory health is inseparable from the mission to advance equity. When two major societies stand together, they amplify their individual reach. Community is often described as a refuge. But with this collaboration, community can also be a catalyst. By uniting our LGBTQIA+ communities, ATS and CHEST can help ensure that the next era of pulmonary and critical care medicine is more inclusive, more compassionate, and more just.
We have the opportunity to show what is possible when leading professional organizations move in concert—expanding opportunity, deepening discovery, and ensuring that every clinician and every patient can breathe a little easier in a field that truly sees them. None of us can build that future alone.
Community begins with belonging. Collaboration turns belonging into power. Partnership makes that power enduring.
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