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A variety of organizations offer transgender health programs or transgender health services. Some are stand-alone clinics, while others are part of LGBT or HIV/AIDS organizations; some offer medical services, while others focus on peer-based counseling, advocacy, and education. The following is not yet fully comprehensive, but will give you some idea of the diversity of organizations offering transgender health care.
Note: Inclusion of a program in this list does not necessarily indicate an approach or structure similar to that of the Transgender Health Program.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
QMUNITY, BC's Queer Resource Centre
www.qmunity.ca
Services for LGBT people in BC (primarily Vancouver). QMUNITY sponsors two trans drop-in group (one mixed ages, one for youth) and offers education and resources about trans health issues to service users and service providers. Although other programs are not trans-specific, transgender people are involved as volunteers and service users in a range of QMUNITY programs, including Prideline (peer support/information/referral line) and Rainbow Connections (mentoring program for youth, elders, and people with disabilities).
MANITOBA
Rainbow Resource Centre
www.rainbowresourcecentre.org/
Provides peer support, referral, information, and educational services to LGBT people. Sponsors the Winnipeg Transgender Group, which offers a bi-weekly peer support group and advocacy on equitable access to health services, a legal clinic, a twelve-step group, and a resource list of trans-competent practitioners.
Village Clinic/Nine Circles Community Health Centre
www.ninecircles.ca
Community health centre focused on LGBT primary health care and HIV/AIDS care. Trans-specific services include primary care, counseling, education for trans people and service providers, advocacy, and a volunteer program. The centre is in the process of developing programming specifically for Aboriginal Two-Spirit/transgender people.
ONTARIO
Gender Identity Clinic - Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
Adult services: Gender Clinic
Formerly known as "The Clarke". Assessment and treatment recommendations for youth age 2 to 18 when there is concern about a child's gender identity development, or an adolescent's crossdressing associated with sexual arousal. CAMH also provides support and time-limited counseling for adults to explore issues relating to gender identity or cross-gender expression, including assessment of readiness for hormones/surgery is offered.
Oasis - Sandy Hill Community Health Centre
www.sandyhillchc.on.ca/programs.html#5
Nursing care and health promotion to people in Ottawa who are HIV+ or at risk for HIV, with an emphasis on people who are living in poverty, homeless, and/or struggling with addictions. Oasis explicitly welcomes trans women in their promotional materials.
Sherbourne Health Centre
www.sherbourne.on.ca
The LGBT Primary Health Care Clinic opened at the Sherbourne Health Centre in December 2002 and is still under development. Planned services include a range of primary care services, counseling and support, parenting and family services, addiction services, short-term residential health services for people who are ill and don't have housing, mobile outreach, complementary therapies, and health education workshops. Trans-specific programs include counseling; hormone assessment, prescription, and maintenance; and a group for trans youth.
The 519
www.the519.org/public_html/programs/trans
LGBT centre in Toronto. Offers six trans-specific programs, including bi-weekly peer support groups for MTFs and FTMs (run separately), a drop-in meal program for poor and street-involved trans people, a monthly support group for partners of FTMs, a trans self-defense class, and a drop-in for trans youth (under 26). The 519 also publishes trans-specific peer education resources and training materials for health professionals.
Brisbane Gender Clinic
Staffed by a physician and two transgender peer counselors who assist clients in coordinating the various aspects of their care, including hormonal care (referrals and regular visits to a psychiatrist and endocrinologist are required).
Gender Centre, Inc.
www.gendercentre.org.au
Peer-driven program providing housing, peer support, counseling, advocacy, referrals, social support, and outreach to transgender people and family members, and workshops and educational resources for employers, health practitioners, and social workers. A residential and outreach component exist to offer refuge and protection to transgender people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Monash Gender Clinic
www.tgfolk.net/sites/gtg/monash_intro.html
Multidisciplinary medical clinic co-managed by Monash Hospital and the Monash University of Psychological medicine. The clinic is a mixture of salaried staff and professionals in private practice (psychiatrists, psychologists, plastic surgeons, gynecologists, endocrinologists, and speech pathologists) who operate out of the clinic. Services are primarily for transsexuals who want to track towards surgery.
Portman Clinic - Gender Identity Development Service
www.tavi-port.org
Multi-disciplinary clinic providing services to children and adolescents who are experiencing difficulty in the development of gender identity, as well as children of transsexual parents or parents with other gender identity concerns. Staff include experts in child and adolescent psychiatry, psychology, social work, psychotherapy, and pediatrics.
Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Centre
www.apiwellness.org
In addition to a primary care clinic offering medical and psychiatric services to all Asian and Pacific Islander people affected or infected by HIV, APIWC offers two social/support programs for Asian/Pacific Islander transgender people, transgender-specific educational materials, and research on HIV prevention in transgender communities.
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center (CLCHC)
www.callen-lorde.org
Medical centre that specifically serves the LGBT community. Offers a wide range of health services to trans people, including general primary health care, prescription and monitoring of hormones, counseling, education, assistance with legal forms (e.g., name change), and referrals to gender-transition surgeons. They also offer gynecological care and mammography services that are described as "trans-affirmative".
Dimensions - Castro-Mission Health Center
www.dph.sf.ca.us/chn/HlthCtrs/castro-mission.htm
Comprehensive health care clinic for LGBT and questioning youth aged 12 to 25, open four hours per week at the Castro-Mission Health Center. Trans-specific services include hormone assessment, prescription, and maintenance.
Fenway Community Health
www.fenwayhealth.org
Large LGBT health center affiliated with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. Offers wide range of health research programs and health care, including primary care, HIV/AIDS services, OB/GYN care, podiatry, nutritional counseling, mental health and addiction services, complementary therapies (chiropractic, massage, acupuncture), violence prevention and services for survivors, health promotion, and parenting/family services.
Gender Dysphoria Program of Central Ohio (GDPCO)
www.genderprogram.com/contact.html
Private fee-for-service program for people who wish to undergo gender transition (with or without hormones and/or surgery). Individual counseling, group support, and assessment/referrals for hormones and surgery are offered.
Gender Identity Clinic of New England (GICNE)
www.gicne.org
Private, fee-for service counseling for people with gender concerns, and assessments of transsexuals to determine readiness for hormones and surgery.
Gender Identity Project - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
www.gaycenter.org/programs/mhss/gip.html
Free and confidential addiction counseling, HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention services, one-on-one peer support and support groups, information and referrals to transgender specialist services, community health education, and education/sensitivity training for health professionals. Transgender legal clinic one night a month to help transgender people with legal change of name and identification.
Green Mountain Gender Clinic
hometown.aol.com/grnmtclin
Formed by specialists in transgender medicine to coordinate services for transsexuals undergoing gender transition. Offers all the services listed in the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Standards of Care (assessment/diagnosis, counseling, endocrinology, surgery, and post-transition followup).
Ingersoll Gender Centre
www.ingersollcenter.org
Runs peer support groups, organizes social events, and maintains a clearinghouse of information for transgender people, family members, and other service providers. Contracted therapists offer fee-for-service assessment, counseling, and exploration of options relating to transition and crossdressing.
LA Gay & Lesbian Centre (LAGLC)
www.laglc.org
Wide range of educational, social, and health programs for LGBT people. LAGLA's Lambda Medical Group offers crisis intervention, intake/assessment, and counseling for individuals, couples, and families; addictions counseling; services for survivors of same-sex relationship abuse and for same-sex abusers; sexual health and prevention, testing, and treatment of STDs; and HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, and care services. Residential services offer homeless lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender youth safe emergency and short-term housing, meals, employment training, and intensive support, and a legal clinic provides assistance at no charge.
LA Gender Center (LAGC)
www.lagendercenter.com
Group practice of six mental health professionals offering individual/group/couples psychotherapy on issues relating to gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexual dysfunction, as well as psychopharmacology and assessment of co-existing mental illness.
Lyon-Martin Women's Health Services
www.sfccc.org/clinics/lmwhs.htm
Women's health center in San Francisco with strong lesbian focus, providing primary care, gynecology, HIV/AIDS care, cancer screening, support groups, community forums, addictions programs, and outreach to homeless women. Explicitly includes trans women and offers hormone assessment/prescription for those undergoing gender transition.
Prevention Point Philadelphia
www.critpath.org/ppp
Through education, outreach and advocacy, PPP addresses the health and social service needs of drug users and sex workers by providing culturally-sensitive, non-judgmental prevention and care services. A new transgender component provides outreach, referrals, health information, and support to trans people who are at risk for HIV and/or Hepatitis C.
Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center
www.tarcsf.org
Emergency and long-term housing, medical care, counseling and peer support, and nutrition supplements to people living in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. Many transgender people live and/or work on the streets in the Tenderloin; as part of its mandate to provide services to all members of the Tenderloin, transgender people are explicitly welcomed as service users, staff, and volunteers, and a transgender support group meets daily.
Transgender Clinic - Tom Waddell Health Center
www.dph.sf.ca.us/chn/HlthCtrs/transgender.htm
Comprehensive range of primary care services, including hormone assessment, prescription, and maintenance; urgent care; nutrition assistance; acupuncture; smoking cessation; and a peer support group supervised by a staff social worker.
Transgender Counseling Program - San Diego LGBT Community Center
www.thecentersd.org
Counseling specifically for transgender people, including assessments for gender transition.
Transgender Health Services - University of Minnesota Program in Human Sexuality
www.med.umn.edu/fp/phs/tgs.htm
One of the first American transgender HIV/AIDS research, prevention, and education programs (running for 11 years), the centre also offers individual and group therapy for transgender people of all ages, education seminars for transgender people and service providers, and hormone assessment/management.
Us Helping Us
www.ushelpingus.com
HIV/AIDS prevention and support services for Black gay and bisexual men, and Black transgender people of all sexual orientations. In addition to general services for gay and bisexual men and transgender people who are HIV+ (e.g., health education, discussion groups, case management, psychotherapy, and massage), UHU offers a bi-weekly peer support group for Black transgender people and a drop-in centre for Black and Latino transgender people. UHU will be assisting the Whitman-Walker Clinic with their new transgender health program.
Verbena Health Clinic (formerly Sappho's Health Services)
www.verbenahealth.org
Runs three hours per week at the Country Doctor Community Clinic in Seattle. Offers a full range of naturopathic and allopathic medicine to lesbians, bisexual women, and trans people (both MTF and FTM). Services include primary health care, OB/GYN care, STD exams, breast exams, mental health care, peer support, advocacy, and education. All staff openly self-identify as LGBT.
Whitman-Walker Clinic & Lambda Health Centre
www.wwc.org
Range of health programs for LGBT people, including mental health and addiction treatment services and HIV/AIDS prevention, outreach, and education. WWC facilitates a support/therapy group for partners of transgender people and is planning to expand programs at two of its health care sites to include trans hormone assessment and maintenance.
VCH resources
British Columbia Resources