ADVERTISEMENT

    Local Sexual Health Expert Addresses LGBTQ Health Disparities With Some Tips for the New Year

    It’s a straight, cisgendered world, and if anything could make that more clear, it’s the health care system. Mimi Rivard, medical provider for Equitas Health, said the absence of cultural competency within mainstream health care has normalized discriminatory treatment of LGBTQ individuals, leading to a community at disparately high risk for morbidity and mortality.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Coming into the new year, Rivard offered CU some insight and advice for the sexually active and their medical providers, hoping to bridge the harmful gap between them.

    “A woman who’s having sex with a woman is going to the doctor, [and being asked] ‘Are you on birth control?’ ‘No.’ ‘Are you sexually active?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Well you know you’re going to get pregnant,’” said Rivard. “Well no you’re not going to get pregnant, because your partner’s female.”

    Doctors would know that, though, if they asked more questions about their patients’ sexual history and partners, a concept lost in most primary care offices. Unless you’re going somewhere like Equitas, no one is going to ask you if you have sex with women or men, trans men or trans women, or if you’re in an open or closed relationship.

    “I think even asking the patient what pronoun they prefer tears down so many barriers,” Rivard said. “But I have patients come in that tell me they don’t have PrEP because they don’t talk to their doctor about their sex life.”

    For Rivard, and many in her field, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a miracle drug. With PrEP preventing the spread of HIV 99 percent of the time, it’s unbelievable how, in almost 40 years, the research and the culture surrounding HIV and AIDs has evolved.

    “It’s been great,” said Rivard, who’s spent the better portion of her 28 years of practice working with people who are HIV positive. “I never, never, in 1988, thought that we were gonna be able to be giving people medication to prevent HIV. I used to meet patients, and I would lose them within six months to a year. Now they’re living normal life expectancies.”

    Although the drug was specifically designed for men who have sex with men, Rivard recommends PrEP to anyone worried about their risk for HIV.

    When asked further about risk, for HIV and STIs in general, Rivard offered several tips for the sexually active in 2017. Surprisingly, they don’t include the word “condom,” but Rivard remains a definite advocate for the protective barrier. The tips she provides here, she said, give people more empowerment and control over their sex life than just screaming “Condoms!” at them:

    Communicate with your partner or partners, and talk frankly about risk.

    “Sex happens with organs, but most of sex is in your brain. Communicate with partners, ask questions like ‘What is your status?’ ‘What are my risks?’ ‘What are the risks of the people we have sex with?’ she said.

    Consider testing.

    “We do have a lot of sexually transmitted infections here in Columbus, specifically Syphillis,” Rivard said. “We have small sexual networks. If one person inside that network has sex with someone else, it comes into the whole network.”

    She said that’s just a theory, but there’s also not enough people testing. If you’re sexually active, you should get tested every three months. Columbus Public Health, Stonewall and Equitas offer free testing.

    Be a self-advocate.

    “Be a good consumer and think about a provider you can talk to.”

    Although Rivard’s patients come to her for sexual healthcare, she said many stay with Equitas for primary care because of the accepting environment there.

    Following that third bit of advice for the sexually active, she has some for medical providers as well. Any medical office should have an accepting environment — doctors should be aware of the needs of their patients, regardless of orientation or gender identity. That said, Rivard’s main recommendation for the culturally incompetent physician is “Know your patient.”

    Ask personal questions, and let them know you want to know.

    “Ask people what their preferred pronouns are. Ask them who they partner with. Ask them what their relationship is like in a way that isn’t judgmental,” she said. “I don’t mean to sound trite, but it’s on the interwebs. There are plenty of seminars to learn how to take care of people that are GLBTQ, how to relate to people. Become competent in taking care of people. Know your patients, and don’t assume.”

    Columbus Underground is celebrating healthy living habits to help you kick off the new year right! Check out all of our Health & Wellness 2017 articles by CLICKING HERE.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Subscribe

    More to Explore:

    Free Pregnancy Tests & Naloxone: A New Kind of Vending Machine

    Vending machines typically give us access to things that...

    Big Walnut School Board Bans Pride Flags

    After several intense hours of public comment and discussion that turned to bickering between board members, the Big Walnut School Board on December 14 passed a resolution banning the display of Pride flags and other symbols in the district.

    Over 20 LGBTQ+ Candidates Elected to Ohio Offices This Year

    More than two dozen out LGBTQ+ Ohioans ran for public office in the 2023 general election, campaigning to represent voters in major cities and small villages and townships across the state.

    Ohio Dems Introduce Marriage Equality Act

    House Democrats joined LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Equality Ohio and LGBTQ+ civil rights activist Jim Obergefell in announcing plans to introduce the Marriage Equality Act — which would update the Ohio Revised Code to protect all marriages.

    Hope v. Hate: America’s LGBTQ Community Under Attack

    After years of gaining acceptance from the wider community,...
    Lauren Sega
    Lauren Segahttps://columbusunderground.com
    Lauren Sega is the former Associate Editor for Columbus Underground and a current freelance writer for CU. She covers political issues on the local and state levels, as well as local food and restaurant news. She grew up near Cleveland, graduated from Ohio University's Scripps School of Journalism, and loves running, traveling and hiking.
    ADVERTISEMENT