WGLT
Proponents of a health care clinic in central Illinois designed to meet the needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex population say such a facility could help limit discrimination against those individuals.
Speaking during Sound Ideas, Len Meyer, director of the Central Illinois Pride Health Center, said it's often difficult for those not out to maintain a degree of privacy.
"It could be explaining they have a same sex partner or they identify masculine, but they still haven't changed their birth, legal name to reflect their identity," said Meyer.
Meyer says physicians often discriminate seemingly without realizing it.
"An example is a lesbian going in to see her doctor and say 'what form of birth control are you on?' You have a same-sex partner," said Meyer. Meyer said it makes one wonder if the doctor is just checking off the boxes and not really listening to the patient.
Organizers, including Central Illinois Pride Health Center Board President Jan Lancaster, are in the process of raising funds to establish non-profit status for the clinic, which could open within a year. They're also reaching out to the medical community and currently offering some services.
"Len's reached out to everyone you can think of as a board. I think we're all reaching out to our community. We already offer a youth group which is growing every week and we offer a parents group. These things are in the initial stages," said Lancaster.
"The goal is to have our medical director in place and then bring in advance practice nurses and nurse practitioners and they can see the patients," said Meyer. "Those doctors who want to get involved, we'll add them as they come. Our goal is to try to make sure the clinic is able function and not cost a lot of money to do it. Using advance practice nurses and nurse practitioners the cost is a little less than having a doctor."
Len estimates a full service clinic would cost $3-4 million. A recent fundraiser brought $3,000 in the door. Lancaster says she hopes she sees the clinic established in her lifetime.