Transgender Awareness Week is dedicated to educating people about the transgender community and raising awareness of the issues facing transgender and gender nonconforming people. Planned Parenthood of Illinois is taking this opportunity to remind everyone of the need for people of all gender identities to have access to inclusive, nonjudgmental, high-quality health care. Planned Parenthood of Illinois started offering Cross Hormonal Therapy in September 2015 at two locations, and now offers the service at 11 of its 16 health centers across the state. Transgender people face many barriers and challenges when accessing health care. A 2015 national survey of transgender and gender nonconforming people found that:

Thirty-three percent of respondents reported having at least one negative experience with a health care provider in the past year related to being transgender, including verbal harassment, being refused treatment, or having to teach the health care provider about transgender people to receive appropriate care.

Twenty-three percent of respondents did not see a doctor when they needed to in the past year because of fear of being mistreated as a transgender person. American Indian (37 percent) and Middle Eastern (34 percent) respondents were more likely to not have gone to a provider due to fear of being mistreated.

Thirty-three percent of respondents did not see a doctor when they needed to in the past year because of cost. People of color, including multiracial (42 percent), American Indian (41 percent), Black (40 percent), and Latino/a (37 percent) respondents, were more likely to not have seen a doctor or other health care provider due to cost. People with disabilities (42 percent) were also more likely to not have seen a health provider when they needed to because of cost.

Visit ppil.org to find the health center nearest you.