I heard today that an friend of mine was opening his own medical practice. Keep in mind this is the middle of Iowa, so it could be location that is making this odd.

He is going to be the "gay" doctor.

I realize discrimination in our country is everywhere and it doesn't discriminate (pun intended). Color, nationality, age, sexual preference, just about anyone can find someone to hate them and someone to hate.

The thing that surprised me is that Doctors are supposed to be the educated ones, they if anyone should understand we are all made up of the same stuff. I was surprised to hear the reason for the gay doctor is because other doctors discriminate against their gay patients.

I lothe the questions that ask the one minority present to speak for their entire culture, so I am asking on a personal level, have you experienced discrimination from a medical professional?

This is open to anyone of course, the topic references gay because of my specific situation. Please feel free to share any stories of discrimination from the medical world.

personally i think doctors just think of all people as useless pieces of meat. Were just a means for them to make a living. They dont care what you do in your life, just as long as you are buying thier needed or un-needed services.

Mars23 said:

Absolutely, but it wasn't due to my orientation and it wasn't personal. If you have an HMO, you're fucked period. They discriminate against patients in general.

INSATIABLE said:

I think I can understand the need, particularly in areas of the country where are lives are propaganized for the culture to hate on us. I had a primary physician that was religious and when I told him I was gay his attitude towards me changed. I started going to gay friendly clinics for check ups and tests for sexual care. I think the issue is that some doctors, especially in areas where people are conditioned to hate us, that the doctors will carry their own biases into their care for our health. When you are going to someone who specifically is dealing with our community, you don't need to fear stigma and you can be more open and honest about your activities and your life and therefore receive more open and honest treatment both on a personal and medical level.

horatio said:

I'm not a fan of most western medicine practice in general. It's hard to trust when you're diagnosed inaccurately for blatant, obvious illnesses over the span of a lifetime while being forcefed pharmaceuticals that only heighten other illnesses. People should never rely even on well-meaning physicians. The best doctor you'll ever have is yourself.

Kaiser Permanente, my former HMO (I was born there and treated there until age 20, and had a spattering of treatments there until last year), is the HMO I'm referring to, by the way. Whenever I've requested an HIV test (twice a year for a few years), it wasn't easy to obtain, due to their intentions on spending as little money as possible on each patient. You have to demand everything, with brute force. My best friend, a gay male, has been hassled many times due to his orientation. He experienced worse treatment for the same request, but I won't go into it here. I know it's the reason for your thread, and I'm sorry. He claims their treatment diminished significantly when he first revealed his orientation. It was bad. I also have two family members who are suing Kaiser for two different issues, one of them leading in the death of my second cousin.

Mars23 said:

This sounds like a series spin-off from "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice."

Handsome and eligible, a gay doctor (played by Michael T. Weiss, formerly of "The Pretender") decides to open a practice in the middle of Iowa. His ideal patients are gay farm boys, but instead he gets a patient-base of horny women, bored housewives, and aged grandmothers turned-on by the doctors good looks and gentle bedside manner. Does he divulge his secret to them?

He confides in his head nurse, Georgenne, played by Niecy Nash (formerly of "Reno 911") who only offers jokes to comfort. Meanwhile, the doctor's clinic colleague is an uptight, effeminate heterosexual doctor (played by comedian Andy Dick) whom everyone else erroneously assumes IS gay. Will the doctor be able to cope with the stresses of opening his own practice in constraints of HMO's? Will he ever find love amongst the small Iowa community? Tune in Mondays to ABC... make an appointment and find out!
[Edited 10/8/07 17:09pm]

i don't think it's absolutely necessary for the sake of appropriate healthcare, but i do think there is a potential advantage for a patient from the LGBT world to have a doctor from the same community, not just for the sake of being able to discuss certain matters more comfortably, but because that doctor would have a closer awareness of what's going on in that community. this isn't to say that a straight doctor couldn't be every bit as educated, aware, or at least RECEPTIVE to what's going on in that community, but there's *less* of a chance that a gay doctor is going to be a completely judgmental, homophobic schmuck.

pathetic

absoultly pathetic-sorry!

im a charge nurse in an emergency dept and its often used as a medical centre due to the spiralling cost of out of hours medical care.

I hve never ever seen any nurse or doctor discriminate or marginilise ANY patients whether thru gender,sexuality or social situation

and believe me i have SEEN IT ALL.

from sex offenders,rapists,forensics etc etc we are NOT here to judge we are here to treat/fix you up and give you the most approiate care

right sided abdo pain? whether your straight or gay could well be appendicitis!-you will all get the same investigations regardless of sexuality!!

chest pain? gay or staright could well be cardiac!! you all will get the same investigations regardless of sexuality

# clavicle? gay or staright you need analgesia and an xray!!

etc etc etc etc etc etc

QUICK-FETCH THE GAY DOCTOR!!!-this man is having a MI-but he's gay!!-i mean c'mon

ANY health proffesional whom is seen to favour certain demographics is realy not doing their job
and that my friend is the truth!

jonylawson said:

where is your emergency dept. located?

do you think your location is globally representative?

i understand your points but i think your indignation might be a bit displaced.

Anxiety said:

currently in nz but ive worked in sydney,melbourne,newcastle upon tyne and london plus done cross credit study in new york.

Anxiety said:

currently in nz but ive worked in sydney,melbourne,newcastle upon tyne and london plus done cross credit study in new york.

come on-it is utterly ridiclous

so you have to prove that your gay before your seen by this doctor!

i was going to say"only in america' but at the minute i work alongside four brilliant american physicians and find that a wee bit patronising.

i honestly do not believe this could happen-please feel free to prove me wrong!

im back at work tomorrow-ill show my american colleagues this thread as well-be intrested what they make of it.

imagine if i opened up a "hetero only" clinic

or a "ginger haired only " clinic

jonylawson said:

Well you don't live in the USofA where such actions are fucking celebrated, condoned and ENDORSED as religious freedom.

I wouldn't necessarily trust a "gay" doctor either... I've chatted with too many people who were gay and worked in healthcare, and became very loose-lipped once they had a few drinks in them.

horatio said:

Sweeping generalizations!

There are much easier ways to make a good living. The US healthcare system is FUCKED and gets in the way of people trying to do their jobs, but most doctors are in it because they want to take care of people.


That said, they're human, and homophobic doctors are a reality of life. I live in one of the gayest places on Earth (), so no, I've never experienced even the slightest hint of discrimination. Often the intake forms are even queer-friendly (allowing for non-legal family relationships, ambiguous gender identity, etc). But I've certainly heard stories of people not getting appropriate care because their problems were blamed on their deviant lifestyle.


I'm pre-med, and one of my goals when I'm practicing is to put the word out that I'm a generally freak-friendly person. Wondering if your boyfriend hit ya in the kidneys a little too hard with that flogger? Come talk to me.

Interesting.

I keep reading about blacks having less access than whites to critical healthcare (and that doesn't change when the care is dispensed by black medical professionals).

I wonder how much effect gay physicians have on gays' access to critical healthcare vis-a-vis heterosexual access to critical healthcare.

jonylawson said:

would you say that these settings are an apt reflection of what a medical facility would be like in, say, tennessee or mexico or india or japan? can your experiences speak for the experiences of everybody doing what you do?

I'm not gay or lesbian but I live/work in the Bay Area of the U.S. (San Francisco) where a high percent of the population is gay. The work I do involves protecting the Civil Rights of all individuals. Discrimination in any form is just plain wrong. I'm sorry that you/your friend is experiencing this. Keep in mind that laws do protect him/her. If it gets too rough, he/she should contact www.eeoc.gov

BTW the doctor is straight. He is simply catering to the gay community as the niche has been identified.

I would also submit that supa's point about religion seeping into medical practice has been proven over and over in national news stories. It does happen. Look no further than issues invloving birth control.

ThreadBare said:

I would guess that is more of an insurance issue. The color of the doctor doesn't matter if you don't have enough green.

to be honest- i do not believe a word of this.

medical law covers all country

show me a web link etc and then i'll beleive you.

what do gay people suffer from that staright people dont get???

are you talking about unesecary blood tests.

if i walked into any doctors surgery and I-AKA the patient demanded a test without diagnosis i would be refused

or at the very least be charged

could you please put into context how if your gay how you suffer?

i want direct examples

e.g-"im gay and they wouldnt put my arm in a cast when i broke it-COZ IM GAY grrrrr"

jonylawson said:

The relevent health issues are those concerning sexuality and, to a lesser extent, mental health. How is one's sexuality going to come up over a broken arm? It won't. But obviously it will if you're getting an STI check or psychological evaluation. And some doctors, being just as prone to flaws as anybody else, are prejudiced or bigoted against queer and queer identified folk. Like Mars23 said, look no farther than the birth control debates if you don't believe people's religious ideas and prejudices can and do get in the way of their providing services to patients, especially where sexual matters are concerned.

jonylawson said:

I don't think the context is clear for you here. It is not like there are billboards and web advertising encouraging gays to frequent this doctor. It is a word of mouth thing. Do I think there are doctors that will see a heart attack victim and take a sexual history before saving them? No.

Let me try another example. Have you ever expressed your love for Dr. Who and had someone think you're a nerd? They see you differently and have subtle reactions to you that are different because of it. Same thing, only with buttsex and rubber fists insted of Daleks.

And yes, you can go to the office if you're straight too. I should have said "gay friendly" doctor.

Well, in the bible belt I could probably see where this has its advantages considering the deeply ingrained anti-homosexual undercurrent there. I mean 11 out of 11 states passing marriage amendments by a landslide doesn't denote anything but that to me.

But doctors tend to be higly professional and I'm just not comfortable with the idea of assuming they lack the integrity to care for you because of sexual orientation, etc.

However, gay doctors are really hot. It would be ashame to keep them away from folks who could use a hot doctor.



spelling edit - oy
[Edited 10/9/07 7:32am]

jonylawson said:

Homophobia.

A day after a failed suicide attempt many years ago, I was marched to the family doctor by my father. My father left the room and the doctor asked if I was stressed over work, family, a girlfriend... I replied that I didn't have a girlfriend as I'm gay. The doctor replied that my homosexuality was a side-effect of my depression and that if I took his prescribed beta blockers I'd be "married with children within a couple of years".

I never took the pills and never visited that doctor again.

.
[Edited 10/9/07 10:09am]

Justin1972UK said:

out of context-i meant what ailment .

homophobia is not going to be fixed by a g,p

regarding sexual health clinics-GO to a sexual health clinic as opposed to a G.P.

or rather get your gay dr griend to set up a "gay sexual heath clinic" as opposed to a gay dr.surgery

Mars23 said:

This just reminded me of a person in my friends school. They just started medical school, gonna be doctors. This person is a very smart, sophisticated otherwise, but when they were talking about STDs, the person remarked: "HIV? Isn't that the gay-disease..?"