Celebrating Pride Month: Will Hill

Through­out Pride Month we want­ed to hear from mem­bers of our QMG Fam­i­ly. We had the oppor­tu­ni­ty to chat with Patience Excel­lence Coor­di­na­tor Will Hill and learn more about what Pride Month means to him and why inclu­sive health­care is impor­tant for the LGBTQ+ community.

“Pride Month to me is a time of cel­e­bra­tion and recog­ni­tion. There are so many peo­ple who are a part of the LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty, and many more who have friends or fam­i­ly who are in that com­mu­ni­ty. We all come in many dif­fer­ent col­ors, shapes, and sizes and we can cel­e­brate the beau­ty in each and every per­son,” Hill said. ​“Those who may have felt afraid or ashamed for who they are can feel hap­py and proud, and be sur­round­ed by oth­ers like them. We can also cel­e­brate just how far we’ve come. How­ev­er, it’s also an impor­tant time to rec­og­nize the progress we still need to make and rec­og­nize the peo­ple who helped us get here. Peo­ple from the most mar­gin­al­ized and mis­treat­ed com­mu­ni­ties have tru­ly made such a large impact and they deserve recognition.

“I think the biggest thing is to remem­ber how much we take for grant­ed. My hus­band and I would not have been able to legal­ly mar­ry even 10 years ago. We are sur­round­ed by lov­ing fam­i­ly and friends, but even we still feel ner­vous and hes­i­tant when in pub­lic — ready for judg­ment or insults at any turn. It still hap­pens! Some peo­ple don’t know what it’s like to watch TV/​movies and hard­ly ever see some­one who is just like you, much less heroes or impor­tant char­ac­ters just like you. It’s not about who is spe­cial and who is not. Every­one indi­vid­ual is spe­cial. How­ev­er, Pride Month is a time of cel­e­bra­tion for so many peo­ple who have not always been loved, appre­ci­at­ed, or respect­ed for who they are — for their own spe­cial­ness. Even if you’re not in the LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty, rec­og­nize that at LEAST one per­son you love absolute­ly is.”

Will shared that inclu­sive health­care is impor­tant for the LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty and needs to be a giv­en for any med­ical facil­i­ty or provider. Being in the LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty affects your phys­i­cal, emo­tion­al, and men­tal health in unique ways, and hav­ing providers capa­ble of rec­og­niz­ing and treat­ing that is essential.

“Respect­ful and benev­o­lent health­care needs to be acces­si­ble to every­body, and every­body has dif­fer­ent needs. Again, I think peo­ple take for grant­ed the fact that their doc­tor has quite pos­si­bly seen plen­ty of patients with sim­i­lar­i­ties to them,” Will shared. ​“There are a lot of trans peo­ple, for exam­ple, who still strug­gle to find a doc­tor who is able to help them and will treat them with dig­ni­ty and respect. Plen­ty of providers, nurs­es, and oth­er health­care staff are also part of the LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty too!”

There are impor­tant health and well­ness ini­tia­tives to bring to atten­tion to this month for the LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty. One health ini­tia­tive is know­ing your HIV Sta­tus and get­ting test­ed reg­u­lar­ly. HIV and AIDS have dev­as­tat­ed lives around the world, but there is treat­ment avail­able so peo­ple can improve their health, pro­long their lives, and sig­nif­i­cant­ly low­er the risk of trans­fer­ring HIV to oth­ers. If you are pos­i­tive, catch­ing it ear­ly is key. There is even med­ica­tion now that can be used for prevention.

“Anoth­er impor­tant thing I stress to every­one at this time is remem­ber to love and pay atten­tion to your­self — includ­ing your body and men­tal well-being. Our bod­ies can­not func­tion well if we are men­tal­ly unwell, and vice ver­sa,” Will not­ed. ​“Don’t be ashamed or scared if you rec­og­nize these things need tend­ing to — seek help and seek treat­ment. Rec­og­nize that the health­i­er we are for our­selves, the bet­ter we can be there for our loved ones.”

Thank you, Will, for shar­ing your sto­ry and what Pride Month means to you, for you, and for the LGBTQ+ community.