“…It’s about damn time that somebody took care of us and focused on us.”
by Jennifer Hussein
The healthcare industry has been rife with homophobia and transphobia since its inception, and unfortunately, little has changed. According to a survey by the Center for American Progress, 14 percent of LGBTQ+ people have had a doctor or medical professional show visible discomfort due to their identity, while 8 percent have experienced harsh or abusive language, and 7 percent have experienced unwanted physical contact during a medical exam or consultation. Due to this treatment, CAP notes that 25 percent of LGBTQ people who faced discrimination in healthcare postponed or avoided treatment afterward, creating a blatantly hostile and unwelcoming environment that seemed to show little to no effort to change.
Then the coronavirus pandemic kicked into full gear, causing all of us to lock away in our homes for the sake of our health, regardless of our gender or sexual identities. The results were less time spent in an actual medical office, and more occurrences of meeting with our healthcare providers via Zoom or Skype, leading to the boom of what we now know as telemedical healthcare.
That’s when A.G. Breitenstein decided to take matters into her own hands and create Folx, one of the budding telemedical centers founded by the LGBTQ+ community for the LGBTQ+ community.
