In “How Universal Health Care Fails Queer Communities,” Brianna Sharpe argues that the universal healthcare system does not live up to LGBTQ+ individuals’ needs because it has not alleviated the health outcomes gap between LGBTQ+ people and non-LGBTQ+ citizens yet, continues to discriminate against this population and give them no due recognition, and fails to determine this group’s central issues and make funding decisions properly. As per the mentioned sources, the researcher enquired with minority patients that had experienced discrimination, public health professionals, and experts in provincial LGBTQ+ services and mental health research to gather that information. Firstly, the author highlights the system’s flawed nature by pointing to research that links being an LGBTQ+ person with increased risks of adverse health outcomes and the system’s inability to align data collection practices to address this gap. Secondly, using the stories of N. North and B. Saccucci, Sharpe reviews real-life examples of discrimination against queer patients, including misgendering, deadnaming, insufficient understanding of gender dysphoria, and stereotype-driven assumptions about homosexuals’ sex life. Thirdly, based on the opinions of Canadian experts in LGBTQ+ health, Sharpe reports a substantial gap between issues that receive funding and trans/queer citizens’ actual issues and barriers to full-fledged life and refers to inter-province differences in access to HIV preventative drugs to further illustrate this point. Finally, having explained the problematic areas, including the existence of unaddressed needs that result in the discussed community’s health disparities, ongoing discrimination by healthcare professionals, and insufficient practices to determine LGBTQ+ citizens’ issues and allocate funds accordingly, the author concludes on the presence of holes in Canada’s healthcare to be eliminated in the future
Reference
Sharpe, B. (2020). How universal health care fails queer communities. The Walrus. Web.