<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/29/australia-lgbtq-healthcare-providers-policy>
"Zavier Wileman has been going to the same general practice since they were a
child. But when they began their transition as a teenager, they were made to
feel “like an oddity”.
“It didn’t feel like a safe place because [the doctors] just really didn’t
understand gender at all,” they say.
The practice did not know how to meet Wileman’s healthcare needs as a trans
person and acted “weird” when they asked about hormone therapy, used by some
trans people for medical affirmation of their gender.
Wileman has since found more inclusive gender-affirming health services but
says finding empathetic care is a common challenge for the queer community, who
do a lot of informal peer support for each other.
“When somebody wants to go to a new doctor, or they need like a psychologist …
the first thing that people will do is ask friends in the community: ‘Do you
know somewhere that’s safe? Do you know somewhere that’s affirming and knows
their stuff?’” Wileman, the queer officer at Curtin University in Western
Australia, says.
“Lots of people I know will defer getting help because they’re worried about
discrimination.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
