Commentary
Page 12
Street Roots • June 16-22, 2017
This Pride, we affirm the right of equal health care for all
BY JIMMY RADOSTA
experience greater obstacles to obtaining
and benefiting from sexual and reproductive
health services than non-LGBTQ people.
Those with layering identities — whether as
a person of color, a person who may be low
income or someone who is undocumented —
can face even more barriers to care. At
PPCW, we take pride in providing high-
quality, compassionate health care for
LG B T Q people in our community, including
vital healthcare services like routine cancer
screenings, STI testing and treatment and
birth control — regardless of sexual
orientation, gender expression or gender
identity.
In Oregon, we’re proud to be one of 17
states where Planned Parenthood offers
hormone replacement therapy, either
estrogen or testosterone, for transgender
patients. We see this critical service as one
that goes to the heart of our mission: care,
no matter what. In fact, from 2013 to 2015,
there was an 80 percent increase in Planned
Parenthood affiliates that reported offering
hormone replacement therapy for
transgender patients.
Gay and bisexual men, and transgender
women — particularly those of color —
continue to be disproportionately affected
by HIV. At PPCW, we provide H IV testing
and links to care, and we now offer pre
exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a daily drug
regimen that helps prevent H IV when taken
correctly.
We also know that LG B T Q youth lack
accurate and queer-inclusive sex education.
PPCW strives to offer such programs, as
well as provide safe and supportive
environments that allow youth to get the
information and support they need to make
healthy decisions and feel comfortable in
their identities.
We have seen truly appalling bills and
rhetoric targeting transgender and gender-
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
very June, LG B TQ communities
around the world come together to
celebrate their resilience, strength
and activism. The annual parades and
events commemorate the Stonewall Riots of
1969, when LG B TQ
people stood up to
police brutality and
pushed back against
systematic
discrimination,
affirming their right to
be themselves, safely
and proudly. Today,
C O L U M B IA W IL L A M E T T E
that fight for full civil
rights continues.
Jimmy Radosta is the
Many young people have found the
Media Relations
courage and support to be their most
Director for Planned
authentic selves because of the brave
Parenthood Columbia
pioneers who came before them. Yet
Willamette, the
despite the recent gains made in marriage
largest nonprofit
equality and the increasing visibility of
provider o f sexual
and reproductive
LG B T Q people in the media, athletics and
health care and youth
the military, LG B T Q rights are in a
education programs
precarious state. We face a conservative
in Oregon and
backlash and a government stacked with
Southwest
people determined to strip away our rights
Washington.
and push them back into the darkness of
the closet.
As a healthcare provider and educator,
Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette
(PPCW) understands that LG B T Q people
often come through our doors with the
weight of the world on their shoulders. It’s
why we are proud to reaffirm our
commitment to their rights and health -
providing compassionate health care and
sexual health information, no matter who
they are or where they live.
Members of the LG B T Q communities
have unique health care needs. They
E
P la n n e d
P a re n th o o d
nonconforming people in the past two years.
Planned Parenthood believes that these
senseless bathroom laws popping up around
the country invent a nonexistent issue and
lead only to discrimination and harassment
— and that everyone should be able to use
the public restroom that corresponds with
their gender identity.
Planned Parenthood is proud to be part
of the Pro-Choice Coalition of Oregon,
which has proposed landmark legislation to
remove procedural barriers to reproductive
health coverage that disproportionately
impact transgender and gender-
nonconforming Oregonians. The
Reproductive Health Equity Act (House Bill
3393) will prohibit discrimination on the
basis of gender identity to improve access to
necessary and lifesaving preventive
services.
LG B T Q people, young and old, have
found the courage to stand up to oppression
year after year, and to push this country
forward. Pride Month is the perfect time for
their parents, relatives, neighbors,
colleagues and friends to also stand firm
against those who would seek to deny rights
or services to LG B T Q people, simply
because of who they are or who they love.
Everyone deserves access to expert,
affordable health care and protection from
discrimination, no matter where you live or
how you love. Planned Parenthood Columbia
Willamette understands that the struggle for
LG B T Q liberation is deeply connected to
justice for all. Today, we reaffirm our
commitment to building a world where no
one experiences discrimination or violence
because of their gender identity, gender
expression or sexual orientation.
For more information about S T I testing, or
to find a health center near you, visit
PPCW.org.
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