This medical initiative will provide gynecological care for lesbians, bisexual women and trans men

Lesbian, bisexual women and trans men often experience disparities when it comes to gynecological and reproductive healthcare. A new initiative aims to change that.

Mark Moeremans is the CEO of Spectrum Medical Care in Phoenix.

He says Spectrum recently launched its Queer Gyno Care Initiative because this population is often neglected when it comes to gynecological health care — and therefore less likely to seek it out.

"We see that play out in the data as well. And so a larger share of queer women either delay care or don't even have a primary care physician. They don't have a gynecologist," he said.

Queer people may be misgendered, face stigma or be misunderstood by their doctor.

"And so it really is a push for health equity in gynecological care by providing things like pap smear, cervical screens, hormone treatment, perimenopause and menopause treatment," Moeremans said.

Moeremans says Spectrum will open a new clinic later this fall; they also acquired a pharmacy to support trans patients in need of gender-affirming care. He says the Queer Gyno Care program will be open to anyone.

"We're less interested in labels and how individuals identify and more interested in making sure that we're providing culturally competent, accepting and affirming care to groups who historically haven't had access to it and who have disproportionate health disparities," he said.