Health committee  Thank you for inviting me. The Gilbert Centre is the largest 2SLGBT centre north of Toronto and south of Ungava Bay. “The homophobia we experience as children spreads throughout our lives like ripples on a pond. I remember everything, and so will your children,” and my children

Health committee  I'd like to add to that.

Health committee  Remember, I mentioned that those who were in their teens, as I was, when homosexuality was decriminalized in 1969 have a different life experience with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity. We grew up in a time when homosexuality was criminalized. That life experience

Health committee  Yes.

Health committee  Well, seniors don't tend to go that route. They've just been so accustomed.... In a lot of cases, too, that senior care within long-term care is difficult to come by, at least in our area. When you can get a long-term care home, you try to keep your mouth shut if it means keeping

Health committee  Across the country, no. In Simcoe County, the largest county in Ontario, in Barry, which is one of the larger cities in the county, we have one gay doctor. And I say “gay doctor” because there are men who are married to women and have sex with men, so they do not go to a gay doct

Health committee  I can send you a survey that we did in Simcoe County, which was funded for five years by the Public Health Agency of Canada, of men who had sex with men and who had female partners. For example, you mentioned the blood supply of gay men in 2016, but what about the men who are bi

Health committee  One of the things that is helping to lessen the stigma about getting tested is U=U. Undetectability, with the use of either an internal or external condom, where you don't have to disclose...to a possible partner, has helped to eliminate some of that stigma, although stigma is st

Health committee  Could you repeat that question, please?

Health committee  At the Gilbert Centre.... First of all, I want to say one thing about the Gilbert Centre. We do get PHAC funding over five years for an HCV positive self-management program, which is being funded by the Canadian government. We are working in partnership with the University of Sa

Health committee  For example, if a trans person goes to a hospital in our area and their health card, from birth, indicates “Michael Smith”, but their preferred name, which is not a nickname, is “Michelle”, many health care providers will not use the preferred name of “Michelle”, even though the

Health committee  Excuse me. I might add that there are PrEP clinics. For example, in Simcoe County now you don't have to have a referral from your GP. You can go directly to, in our case, Dr. Colin Lee, who is an associate medical officer of health for Simcoe County, and he will prescribe PrEP wi

Health committee  There's still a cost involved, of course.

Health committee  Yes.

Health committee  There's a cost associated with the change. Sometimes it's prohibitive for some who are, for example, on ODSP, the Ontario disability support program. At this time in Barrie, it's $1,200 a month. A one-bedroom apartment is $1,000 a month, so it's a question of where you want to pu