Inclusive. Adapted. Welcoming.
At Treat it Queer, we believe that queer people around the world deserve safe, comprehensive, and high-quality health care adapted to their unique needs.
Treat it Queer’s global vision is a world where queer communities experience equitable, affirming, competent and informed healthcare across systems and cultures. Our organizational vision is to utilize evidence-informed data and our lived experiences as queer users of healthcare to improve LGBTQIA+ healthcare experiences worldwide.
— Our VISIONTo advance queer health* literacy, influence policy and practice, and strengthen cross-regional and/or international collaboration through research, education, and advocacy. TiQ aims to bridge the gaps in LGBTQIA+ healthcare by bringing the perspective of queer communities to healthcare settings and clinical training curricula.
— Our MISSION*Queer health: All the aspects that contribute to the wellbeing of queer individuals, in and outside of healthcare settings. This includes not only physical, emotional and social wellbeing, but also the capacity to cope with challenging circumstances arising from navigating queer identities within cisheteronormative societies. Queer health includes a non-judgmental community of care for queer individuals, protecting their relationship with others and the environment.
This definition of Queer Health has been put together in a brainstorm session with the Board and the Advisory Board of Treat it Queer.
Our CORE VALUES
Queer-led
Community
Interdisciplinary
Global reach
Awareness
We are a queer-led, interdisciplinary community with a global reach, creating and maintaining awareness.
Our humble origins.
As co-founders of Treat it Queer, we ourselves are an internationally based group of queer individuals, with backgrounds in clinical medicine, global health, policy, research, and education. Our experience with queer healthcare both from a healthcare professional and patient perspective, combined with our activist hearts, brought us together to plan a small online workshop, the first “Treat it Queer” event. This workshop was so well received by its broad and diverse audience that we were encouraged to keep the momentum going, and develop Treat it Queer into the full-fledged foundation it is today.
Our work: our commitment.
Treat it Queer upholds its mandate of queer health justice advocacy via three branches:
Education
Treat it Queer’s main focus is on cultivating awareness and understanding of the lived reality of queer people through presentations and workshops. Covering a range of relevant topics, these often-interactive sessions are designed to challenge biases and preconceived notions about queerness, and to bring participants to critically reflect on the unique aspects of queer healthcare experiences and considerations.
Research
Providing quality educational material cannot be done in isolation, and so Treat it Queer is dedicated to its own continuing education via literature research and review. The members of Treat it Queer keep abreast of new developments in queer theory, medical practices, health policy, and other related fields in order to provide content that is up to date and reflect current state of affairs.
Consultation
In order to support communities in achieving greater levels of inclusivity and resilience, Treat it Queer offers consultation services. Through these services, interested parties can - for instance - submit documents, presentations, or other types of material for review, to check such criteria as sufficiently inclusive language, appropriate definitions or terminology, needlessly intrusive questions, and more.