CCA member highlight: Q&A with six LGBTQ+ chiropractors
Pride festivities are taking place in many Canadian cities in June and July and we wanted to find out how our LGBTQ+ chiropractors celebrate pride and what chiropractors can do to help create an inclusive environment for patients not just through a single month — but throughout the year.
1. What does Pride Month mean to you?
Pride month is all about celebration, acknowledgement, and fun! It is the perfect opportunity to unapologetically celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and all that we are, having conversations around our journey to date, as well as celebrating the history of Pride.
As a chiropractor, Pride Month is another opportunity to educate patients around the importance of Pride and what it means to the LGBTQIA+ community.
2. How can chiropractors honour and respect the LGBTQ+ community / patients, not just through a single month – but throughout their daily practice?
Chiropractors can continue to honour and respect the LBGTQIA+ community by being informed about issues that typically affect the community as well as creating safe spaces for people to be themselves and feel comfortable receiving treatments.
3. What are some of your suggested tips on how chiropractors can support the LGBTQ+ community in their practice?
Continue to educate yourself about the LGBTQIA+ community as well as what Pride means to patients that belong to the community. You could check out the Pride Canada website for more information and how to get involved: https://prideatwork.ca/. The Diversity Equity and Inclusion course offered by the CCA is also a great opportunity to get some good information! Also be a visible support of the LGBTQIA+ community with a flag or statement at your business.
Dr. Brett Lypchuk
Calgary, AB
Related Story: How a gay chiropractor is using his challenging journey to fuel change.
1. What does Pride Month mean to you?
Pride Month is a celebration of where we have come as a community and how far we still need to go. As we are seeing in the media, our rights that we have worked so hard to protect are in the process of being taken away again, especially in the United States. It’s so important to celebrate pride to help our community to progress forward. I love celebrating by being with my community and supporting LGBTQ+ initiatives.
2. How can chiropractors honour and respect the LGBTQ+ community / patients, not just through a single month – but throughout their daily practice?
Chiropractors can show their support through creating an inclusive space for their patients and patrons to feel welcome. They can take the diversity training offered nationally, work on neutral language with patients, update their signage and forms, put up gender-neutral bathroom signs, and include a LGBTQ+ sticker on their front window or door. These are just some of the smaller steps they can take to honouring and respecting the community.
3. What are some of your suggested tips on how chiropractors can support the LGBTQ+ community in their practice?
Please be open minded to the differences that the LGBTQ+ community may be faced with daily. Educate yourself on LGBTQ+ health, and conditions and/or medications that are more predominant in the LGBTQ+ community. Often much of the history is missed by not understanding the full picture. Additionally, many of us treat at various events that are predominantly non-LGTBQ+-focused, but often forget that the LGBTQ+ community has large sports events, markets, health events, and much more that would love to have chiropractic support. Reach out to these organizations and offer your services and show your support!
1. What does Pride Month mean to you?
Pride month is more than just a celebration. It’s a time to reflect on how far we’ve come as a community, but also how much work still needs to be done. Being able to create a safe space in my clinic, not only during pride week, but everyday, was made possible by the early trailblazers who set a path that I am proud to follow.
2. How can chiropractors honour and respect the LGBTQ+ community / patients, not just through a single month – but throughout their daily practice?
Chiropractors can honour and respect the community/patients by being open, willing to learn, and listening. Becoming an ally can play a critical role in stopping discrimination towards LGBTQ+ folks. Learn how you can visibly and authentically support the community not just during pride week but year-round.
3. What are some of your suggested tips on how chiropractors can support the LGBTQ+ community in their practice?
Chiropractors can support the LGBTQ+ community by continuing their education, and ensuring policies and procedures are inclusive and conducive to the needs of the community. This is a simple way to ensure your space is safe. Representation also matters. Show pride by hanging the flag and hiring staff who reflect and resonate with the needs of the community.
1. What does Pride mean to you? How do you celebrate Pride?
For me, Pride is two things: a protest and a celebration. LGBTQ+ people had to fight for a long time to earn the same basic human rights as their heterosexual counterparts, and while on the surface it may look like it is over, it isn’t. We are still fighting for rights all around the world, and closer to home, we fight for our safety daily. It is important to me to not take my freedom for granted.
Celebrating Pride is individual for each person, but for me, it is about spending time with my community and celebrating what we have gone through. It is about being unapologetically me and getting to enjoy the company of my nearest and dearest.
2. How can chiropractors honour and respect the LGBTQ+ community/patients, not just in June, but through daily practice?
One of the biggest ways to respect the LGBTQ+ community or individuals is by making a conscious effort to use people’s pronouns. It may seem simple (and it is!) but using the correct pronouns shows that you understand that there are people out there who don’t fit into the binary that the world has created for them.
Another great way to honour and respect the LGBTQ+ community is through your own education. Researching and reading the stories of the Stonewall Riot, Marsha P. Johnson, Matthew Shepherd, Harvey Milk, and ballroom culture are all great resources to understand what LGBTQ+ people go through and can help bring to light some of the struggles we face.
3. That are some suggested tips on how chiropractors can support the LGBTQ+ community in their practice?
A way to support the community is by being non-judgmental. Creating a space where anyone can come in to talk about any sort of healthcare issue is an important part of making sure the LGBTQ+ community is seen & heard in a safe way.
1. What does Pride Month mean to you?
As a member of the community, and as a chiropractor, Pride month, for me, represents a celebration of how far we have come with respect to our rights, freedoms, and representation in government, in media, in healthcare, etc. However, it is also a reminder, every year, of how far we have to go considering the immense backlash that our community faces, simply to acknowledge Pride and host Pride related activities.
2. How can chiropractors honour and respect the LGBTQ+ community / patients, not just through a single month – but throughout their daily practice?
Doctors must understand the language. I cannot stress how critical and crucial this is. We need to prioritize education of not just the acceptance and inclusion of queer patients, but education regarding language, pronouns, hormones, surgical procedures, etc. We must be versed and comfortable in discussing issues and conditions that are prevalent within the queer community. It is essential to the health and wellness of queer people that their healthcare providers understand their history with more than just basic knowledge and a nervous attempt at inclusivity. We owe more to this community.
3. What are some of your suggested tips on how chiropractors can support the LGBTQ+ community in their practice?
Immerse chiropractic offices in inclusive signage and intake forms. Ensure that our staff are not only aware of their language, but educated regarding the use of correct pronouns, the avoidance of deadnaming and misgendering, etc. Make it a priority to have queer people feeling comfortable and validated in chiropractic offices across this country. 20% of generation Z identifies as queer; this is the reality of our future as chiropractors. Let’s not leave them behind.
1. What does Pride Month mean to you?
Pride month to me is a time to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. It is a time to recognize the progress that has been made over the years towards awareness and equality, but to also acknowledge how much more work needs to be done in the world. I celebrate Pride month more so through personal reflection. I am grateful to live in a place where I can fully embrace and be who I am, but I know that for so many in the LGBTQ+ community this is not their reality. There is still so much to learn that I try to focus on educating myself during Pride month so that I can continue grow as a person and as part of the community.
2. How can chiropractors honour and respect the LGBTQ+ community / patients, not just through a single month – but throughout their daily practice?
To honour something is to respect its past, present and future. A key factor in that I believe is education. By simply making an effort to grow and learn is a step in the right direction.
3. What are some of your suggested tips on how chiropractors can support the LGBTQ+ community in their practice?
Small changes make big impacts. In my office I have the progressive pride flag decals on my entrance doors as a small symbol that all are welcome in this space. To me, when I see that on a business or public space, it puts me at ease that this is a welcoming space and I want to provide that to anyone who walks through my doors. I ask for pronouns when I meet a new patient and include them on intake forms. Heteronormacy and gender binary is often the default in society, so the more that a person can move away from that and approach things with more inclusivity is a great place to start. As always, meet every individual with respect, dignity and an open mind.
The CCA celebrates, supports, and recognizes all our LGBTQ2S+ members.