I’m Here, I’m Queer, and I’m Ready to Help: Why I Lead With My Identity as a Pelvic Health Provider

You may notice that I’m very upfront about being a queer woman, and that’s intentional.

I hold several privileged identities (white, cisgender, able-bodied, among others) that afford me safety and access in systems that were never designed to protect or affirm everyone. Because of that, I choose to use the privilege I do have to lead with my queer identity.

Do you have to work with a provider who shares your identities? Absolutely not. Many of my clients have lived experiences and identities completely different from mine. Identity match is never a requirement for good care.

And still…there’s something powerful about seeing someone who reflects a piece of you. There’s an ease, a drop in vigilance, an unspoken knowing. For many queer, trans, and gender-expansive folks, that sense of safety is rare in healthcare. I want to help change that.

But my identity alone doesn’t make me a safe or competent provider. Only experience, education, and, let’s be real, a vibe check can do that. Clients get to decide what feels right for them, not the other way around.

Part of the reason I lead with queerness professionally is because I didn’t see providers like me when I entered this field. I rarely saw openly queer clinicians in pelvic health or mainstream medicine at all. Representation matters—not just for clients seeking care, but for students and future clinicians who need to know they don’t have to shrink, straighten, or sanitize themselves to succeed.

I’m committed to building a clinical space where all of someone’s identities are seen, respected, and centered – not just tolerated. That requires actively dismantling the systems that have historically harmed us: white supremacy, cis-heteronormativity, ableism, and settler colonialism. The current system doesn’t do that, so I’m building a different one, one day at a time, in community with the people it’s meant to serve.

If you’re here for that too – welcome.

If you’re ready to work with a provider who sees you, affirms you, and isn’t afraid to take up space authentically, you can reach out to me here.