Page 8
News
Street Roots • Jan. 12-18, 2018
Brandon is a p a tie n ta tP rism Health in Portland. He never felt safe a t a doctor’s office until he discovered the clinic, which fo c u se so n " ™ '*
prim ary care fo r LGBTQ+ patients. Prism operates under the umbrella o f Cascade A ID S Project.
BY ELLENA ROSENTHAL
S T A F F W R IT E R
i randon wore his favorite
; blue nail polish the first
time he visited Prism
Health, and as he walked into
the brightly colored building on
Portland’s Southeast Belmont
Street, a staff member
complimented him on the color.
For some, this exchange may
seem unremarkable. But for
Brandon, the throwaway line
welcomed him in - he let out a
sigh of relief. Brandon felt
accepted, seen and not judged,
a rare occurrence for him at a
doctor’s office.
“My kind, they’re not
respected where I’m from,” said Brandon,
whose long blond locks of hair hang below
his shoulders.
He was not fully out as gay in his
hometown and did not see the importance
of going to a doctor. Brandon, who is using a
psuedonym for this story, never felt safe or
at ease in doctors’ offices, and the thought
of bringing up safe sex or testing for
sexually transmitted infections made him
shudder.
“No one wants to talk or think about gay
sex - even the thought of it,” he said. “I just
wouldn’t bring it up.”
Brandon made every excuse not to go to
the doctor’s before moving to Portland from
Hillsboro. And then he found Prism.
Prism Health is Oregon’s first allopathic
health clinic focused on primary care for the
LGBTQ+ communities. Prism offers
referrals, prescriptions and diagnoses.
Patients come to Prism for affirming
primary care and LGBTQ+-specific care all
in one place.
B
No stigma. No judgment
nscribed on her silver bangle
bracelet are four words that
could be Deven Ferte’s motto:
“Until There’s a Cure.” Ferte,
the operations manager at
Prism, has been wearing this
bracelet since the mid-’90s,
when her mother bought it for
her at The Body Shop during
the AIDS epidemic.
For Ferte, opening and managing Prism
is important work. Ferte identifies as queer
and understands the need for
comprehensive, culturally appropriate and
trauma-informed health care.
“We hear all the time about the awful
health care for the LGBTQ+ community, the
lack of understanding, the stigma and the
judgment,” Ferte said.
One patient found himself at Prism
because when he asked a previous care
provider for a PrEP perscription, his doctor
gave him a referral to see a counselor
instead.
Would a heterosexual person be given a
mental health referral if they asked for birth
control pills?” Ferte asked. “No, that would
never happen. Yet when people in our
community want to be proactive about their
sexual health, they are labeled as mentally
unwell.”
Another patient drives more than two
hours to come to Prism because of the
Prism Health specializes in the medical needs
o f people in Oregon's LGBTQ+ communities
“At Prism, I can say ‘gay sex,’ and it’s OK.
It s like asking if you want cream in your
coffee,” Brandon said.
Now, Brandon has a prescription for
PrEP, a pill taken once a day - regardless of
sexual activity - that drastically lowers the
risk of HIV infection, and continuous
contact with a primary care provider,
something he has not had since a routine
sports physical at 15, where a doctor quickly
evaluated him before sending him off to the
field.
Opened in May, Prism operates under
the umbrella and leadership of Cascade
AIDS Project, a Portland nonprofit that
offers services to test, treat and assist those
living with HIV. Part of Prism’s services
include Pivot, a walk-in center that provides
free screenings for HIV and sexually
transmitted infections for the LGBTQ+
community.
Not all traditional health care practices
acknowledge the specialized health care
needs of people in the LGBTQ+ community.
A transmasculine person, who wished to
remain anonymous, said they receive health
care in Portland, and their ideal situation is
going to a doctor who has basic levels of
understanding of trans people and trans
issues. They want the care they need
without having to educate. Finding
appropriate care can take weeks, if not
months, and usually falls to those seeking it
out, not those who are supposed to provide
it.
“It’s not just specialty doctors, like
surgeons or OBGYNs that are needed for
LGBTQ+-specific health,” they said. “The
struggle we have with primary care is those
doctors barely have a basic understanding of
the community, so many assumptions are
made and care that could be provided is
missed.”
For instance, a patient who is a
transgender man and has top surgery might
still need mammograms since breast tissue
can be left behind in the chest wall. Or a
transgender woman might need prostate
exams. Some patients feel safe
at Prism because providers ask
questions that are pertinent to
the queer community, like
“what parts of your body do you
use for sex?”, and it is
commonplace for providers to
first ask and then use correct
pronouns and names.
I