An issue affecting many is finally getting the attention it deserves.

Last week, the Center for Excellence in Sexual Health at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta hosted a conference titled “Wounded Troops and Partners: Supporting Intimate Relationships.” With former Surgeon Generals Dr. David Satcher and Dr. Richard Carmona among the speakers, as well as former Senator Bob Dole, this effort is a glimmer of hope that America is finally ready to deal with the issue of sex and disability.

When most people think “sexy,” they don’t think disabled. Yet people with disabilities can be very sexual — much more than we give them credit for. Consider, for example, that some women with complete spinal cord injury experience orgasm.

Research by Barry Komisaruk, Beverly Whipple (The Science of Orgasm) and colleagues has shown that these women respond to vaginal or cervical self-stimulation because they could perceive it, with some reporting an orgasmic response.

Increasing numbers of U.S. troops have left the military with damaged bodies and minds, an ever-larger pool of disabled veterans that will cost the nation billions for decades to come — even as the total population of America’s vets shrinks.

Despite the decline in total vets — as soldiers from World War II and Korea die — the government expects to be spending $59 billion a year to compensate injured warriors in 25 years, up from today’s $29 billion, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. And the Veterans Affairs Department concedes the bill could be much higher.