Wales’ largest LGBT+ charity is teaming up with Welsh GP and trans ally Dr Sophie Quinney to raise awareness of health services dedicated to transgender people and to break down the stigma.
‘A Trans healthcare Q&A with Dr Sophie Quinney’ is part of Pride Cymru’s Big Online Week (24 – 30 August) and will be streamed on the Pride Cymru Facebook page on 28 August 2020 at 12.00pm.
Kate Hutchinson, Pride Cymru’s Trans Officer and trans ally Dr Sophie Quinney will be discussing the health services dedicated to the support of trans people. People also have the opportunity to raise questions ahead of the event to discuss during the dedicated Q&A.
Dr Sophie Quinney is a GP that works with the Welsh Gender Service, which was first announced by the Health Minister, Vaughan Gething AM, at Pride Cymru 2017. The organisation accepts referrals from all over Wales to provide medical and emotional support to those experiencing gender dysphoria and have questions surrounding their gender identity.
Kate Hutchinson, Pride Cymru’s Trans Officer, said: “For many trans people, going to the GP for advice can be very scary. For many GPs they still struggle with a limited knowledge of the subject. Despite GP’s better intentions, this can sometimes be very discouraging and has caused trans people to shy away from doctor’s surgeries.”
Despite decades of EU, UK and Wales inspired legislation and policy, systemic gender intersectional inequalities persist. The Welsh Government is determined to address these inequalities and commissioned the gender equality review to set out how to achieve the ambition for greater equality.
In March 2019 Welsh Government signed up to a vision and principles for gender equality in Wales. The aim is a gender equal Wales, which means an equal sharing of power, resources and influence for all women, men and non-binary people. This is a vision where the government aims to create the conditions for equality of outcome for all.
Kate said: “The aim of this event is to ask people from the community about their healthcare worries and alongside Sophie, aim to provide some advice and support.
“These worries can be around confidentiality, access to hormones and health care or concerns about psychological support. We know that not all trans people want a medical route, they just want the access to support and so alongside Sophie, I hope we can cover these worries.
“We want to break the stigma and talk about positive effects of this service, rather than hearing stories that will discourage people from accessing health care. Up until recently, the support has been severely lacking in Wales over the last few years, and so now is the perfect time to be showing that this support is now in Wales and people from all walks of life and backgrounds can access it.”
Anyone who would like to discuss their questions about the topic can email their questions anonymously to hello@pridecymru.com by the 24th of August.
