Within the scope of Ankara Pride Week, LGBTIQA+ Medical Students Network, Kapsama Alanı, Inter Solidarity and ATO LGBTI+ Working Group organized a panel on LGBTI+ access to the right to health on Wednesday, June 26.

Ankara Pride Week did not skip LGBTI+ access to the right to health. Medical students made the first presentation at the panel where violence and rights violations experienced by less visible groups of the community such as trans men, nonbinary and intersex people in the field of health were discussed.

From the LGBTIQA+ Medical Students Network, Stj. Dr. Arda Barış Alçiçek and Int. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Robin Kara, in their presentation titled “Medical Violence on the Queer Plane”, first discussed the sources of medical violence. Societal prejudices, identity-based stigmatization and discrimination, seeing sexuality only as reproduction, and the link between public morality and sexuality were defined as sources of violence. Alçiçek and Kara stated that in order to end discrimination, the disease-oriented Biomedical model should be replaced by a human-oriented Biopsychosocial model.

Ecmel Deniz, Baran Alaz and Utku Kutbay from the Inclusion Area shared their report titled “Where are Trans Men, Masculinities and Nonbinary People in Sexual Health and Gynecology Checkups?” with the participants. Deniz, Alaz and Kutbay gave examples from their own experiences while describing discrimination. The speakers drew special attention to the fact that postponing gynecology check-ups due to fear of discrimination puts the health of these groups at serious risk.

In the last session of the panel, Belgin Günay, speaking on behalf of Inter Solidarity, emphasized that intersex people are subjected to rights violations in the medical field, especially with regard to informed consent. Günay underlined that intersex people are subjected to surgical interventions to fit into the binary gender system, without health grounds and without informed consent, and that the fact that these interventions are performed on people under the age of 18 exacerbates the problem. Günay also shared with the participants the problem of medicalized sexual violence with a special focus on intersex and suggested solutions based on various sources.

Physicians from the ATO LGBTI+ working group also participated in the panel and contributed to the question and answer sessions.