Newswire.ca
Toronto – As Toronto’s Pride Week marks a series of events across the province to celebrate diverse sexual and gender identities, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) is calling on nurses and health-care organizations to eliminate discriminatory attitudes and practices which create barriers to inclusive and appropriate health care.
Today, RNAO released a position statement entitled ‘Respecting Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity’ to address homophobia and heterosexism in the health-care system which can limit access to health-care services and compromise health. Up to 1.25 million people in Ontario identify themselves as members of gender or sexual minority communities. A Health Canada survey found that the rates of unmet health-care needs among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people were nearly double those of heterosexuals.