Trans Health SA

A fantastic resource!

The Genders, Bodies and Relationships Passport is a tool to support clear communication between inters*x, trans and gender diverse people, and health and social care services.

Developed by LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, the Passport is free to order and can be used by anyone. It includes information about the rights of inters*x, trans and gender diverse people, and has space for people to include information about themselves that may affect their care, including:
👉 language preferences
👉 preferences for gendered facilities
👉 health and medication requirements
👉 intimate care and privacy concerns
👉 emergency contact information
👉 end of life care.

The Passport can be used in any setting, and can help foster open dialogue, reduce awkwardness, and ensure the quality of care received is consistent across all services.

To find out more and to order your own copy, visit www.lgbtiqhealth.org.au/passport

This looks fantastic and is being co-facilitated by one of our admin, Zac!

Advanced Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy This live facilitated two-part course provides clinicians the knowledge and confidence to prescribe gender affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) based on the needs of their patient population utilising an informed consent model. Additionally, supporting clinicians to create a gender affirming practice an...

The outstanding Toni Slotnes-O'Brien has been quoted in a new publication by The University of South Australia.
https://www.unisa.edu.au/media-centre/Releases/2024/lack-of-healthcare-screening-puts-gender-diverse-people-at-greater-cancer-risk/

To learn more about Toni, check out her directory listing:
https://new.transhealthsa.com/directory/toni-slotnes-obrien/

Stay healthy out there everyone! ❤️

- Skye

Lack of healthcare screening puts gender diverse people at greater cancer risk Nursing practitioners are calling for improved access to cancer prevention and screening services for transgender and gender diverse people.

May be of interest for our trans masc community :)

Join Natasha, a Speech Pathologist from The Gender Voice Centre, for a free online trans masc voice workshop on Saturday the 22nd of June, 1-2pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).

This is for people of all ages inside and outside of Australia.
This practical, skill building workshop aims to help people who can’t afford or attend regular speech pathology sessions, or who might be curious about it before starting.

This is the Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/92797928857?pwd=VUZ2R0tmcVp2MEZaS3pvcERScDJqdz09
If the link doesn't work please email: [email protected]

Hi everyone!

I would love to raise your attention to Parkestone Foundation!
They provide grant funding to community groups and projects.

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN

The Parkestone Foundation is seeking submissions for the 2024 funding round.
The Foundation was established in 1980 to assist LGBTIQA+ community projects.
The grant has been increased to $1500 and projects must be completed by June 30 2025.
Applications need to be submitted by Sunday June 30 2024.

You can apply at https://www.parkestonefoundation.org/apply-1 😊😊😊

~ Skye

Apply | Parkestone Foundation Grant Application Form

Did you see this article from The Advertiser Facebook yesterday about Zac, one of the admins and founders of TransMascSA and Trans Health SA. And a two page spread in the paper today 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/J79Y3qoyVtVHGGxP/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Article text:
From confused looks at the gynaecologist to political scrutiny, Zac Cannell says there’s much about life as a trans man in Adelaide that’s still “disheartening and scary”.

When Zac Cannell turns up for an appointment with his gynaecologist, he’s often met with a confused look.

“They’ll say ‘hi sir, who are you here to pick up?’ and I’ll be ‘no, I have got an appointment’ and they’ll say ‘are you sure?’,” says Mr Cannell, who came out as a trans man in his early 20s and started using testosterone at the age of 24.

“Or I’ll say ‘I’m due for a cervical screen’ and they’re ‘are you sure?’ and I’ll be, ‘yes, I know my own body’.

“You don’t need to understand what it’s like to be trans, you just need to have empathy.”

Mr Cannell is at the heart of South Australia’s trans community. He runs the Trans Health SA website, which provides medical information, support services and the latest research for the state’s trans gender and gender diverse community.

The 35-year-old also founded TransMasc SA, a groundbreaking support group for trans men and gender diverse people “assigned or presumed female at birth but who don’t identify as such”, which now boasts 900 members and hosts information nights with doctors and other experts and provides peer support.

When Mr Cannell transitioned from a woman to a man in his early 20s, it was a “sort of rebirthing” for him and his supportive, loving parents.

Together, they chose a new name, settling on one that had been picked by his parents if Mr Cannell had been born a biological boy.

“It was creating an authentic version to express me and to do it with Mum’s support, who birthed me the first time around … was very validating and very exciting,” he says.
“It’s the story I would love for so many other individuals but sadly that’s not the case. I know people who no longer have a relationship with their biological family.”

As a teenager growing up in Elizabeth North, Mr Cannell “never quite fit gender norms” but he didn’t know that being a trans man was even an option – he had never heard of people born in the wrong body becoming male.

He says being a “masculine lesbian”, with a short haircut and wardrobe of jeans, button-down shirts and tees, left him feeling empty. But his “lightning-bulb” moment struck in his early 20s, when he met a young trans woman whose partner was a trans man.
“My response was ‘you can do that?’,” he says.

“There was this instant feeling that this is what I need to do to get on my journey to feel happy ... an overwhelming feeling of how do I make this happen.”

With the support of his parents – who told him “we might not understand it, but we’ll support you” – the then-24-year-old began his transition.

He wore a chest binder, changed his haircut and tried “as many techniques as I possibly could”.
“But there’s only so much I could do without medical intervention when that’s your goal,” he says.

“I had acceptance with my family and most of my friends but now I felt that there was something big missing. It was incredibly distressing.”

Mr Cannell found a sympathetic GP who was prescribing testosterone – with the approval of a psychiatrist – and two weeks later received his first treatment.

“That first injection of testosterone, you know it’s done absolutely nothing but you feel like ‘it’s in my body, the journey is starting’,” he says.

The initial signs of change were a deeper voice, stronger body odour and feeling hungry as muscle growth increased. It took a few years for a full beard to grow.
“It’s not an overnight journey, it takes time,” says Mr Cannell.

He was able to pay for his $10,000 chest operation – or top surgery – with the support of family.

Trans issues are once again in the spotlight after a failed attempt by SA Best MP Frank Pangallo to set up an inquiry into how children are managed.

The political move has stirred emotions for Mr Cannell, who fears a backlash for his community.

“It feels as though there’s someone just trying to live my life, that my life’s constantly political and not because I choose it to be so,” he says.

“It frustrates me the misinformation that has been perpetuated, misreporting of health professionals out of context to try and create fear that the media, unfortunately, grabs hold of.

“It further creates more stigma, more fear and it stops people accessing services. When you are in a community or group that’s already under a spotlight, it only takes one thing to go wrong and then you’re treated like this, one piece of anecdotal evidence and then it’s universal.
“It’s disheartening and it’s scary.

“Our message is ‘don’t speak for us without us’.”

We are super happy to see one of our listed practitioners be published on the SA Health list for Excellence in Practice!
Congratulations Toni!

South Australian Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards | SA Health The SA Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards recognise and acknowledge the significant contribution that nurses and midwives make to their professions.

This is very relieving news! Check out the posts on the SA Rainbow Advocacy Alliance page for more details of what was occurring and for their (and many amazing individuals) advocacy work in protecting trans people, especially trans kids! 🏳️‍⚧️❤️

We’ve just received news that Independent MLC Frank Pangallo has officially withdrawn his motion proposing a Parliamentary inquiry into gender affirming care!

Thanks to the South Australian Labor (SA Labor Party), The Greens SA (the SA Greens) and Hon Michelle Lensink MLC who publicly committed to voting down the inquiry, the motion lacks the numbers to pass the Legislative Council.

Thank you to everyone in this amazing community who helped us get here, especially the trans and gender diverse folks who have shared their stories with us.

Barrie Shannon (he/they), a q***r researcher at UniSA, is exploring the ways that gender diverse young people use social media sites and apps to supplement their school-based s*xuality education and their education on topics like politics, history, belonging and community diversity (civics education).

They are looking to interview gender diverse people between 16 and 25 to discuss this topic, and optionally, give a ‘guided tour’ of the websites or apps they use.

Participants receive a $30 gift card for their time.

For more information, or if you’re interested in participating, please read the Participant Information Statement here: https://unisasurveys.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0qP4yoV8y1obOgm

Trans Health SA is proud to support and promote this research that has been put forward by one of our closest friends, Prof. Damien Riggs.

Salem Skelton and Damien Riggs from Flinders University are conducting research focused on people’s experiences with the Trans Health SA website. You are invited to participate in this project if you are:

A trans, non-binary or gender questioning person aged 18+
Living in Australia
Available for a 60-minute online interview, at a time that is convenient for you
Have previously accessed or are willing to access the Trans Health SA website

Participants will be compensated for their time with a $50 gift card to a retailer of their choice. All interviews are confidential, and any publications reporting on interviews will maintain anonymity.

For further information about this project or to participate please email [email protected]

EXCITING NEWS - New Endocrinologist to SA Taking New Patients!

We are very excited to have been informed that Endocrinologist Dr Lachlan Angus has moved to Adelaide this year and is now taking new patients.
He offers Telehealth, quarterly in-person appointments in Renmark, and in-person via Endocrine Consultants SA in Keswick.
He sees patients 16 years and over.

You can find his details on the Trans Health SA Directory here:

Endocrinologist Archives » Trans Health South Australia Search 9 Items Found View As Grid List Map Sort By A to Z (title) Z to A (title) Latest listings Oldest listings Popular listings Price (low to high) Price (high to low) Random listings Reset Filters Dr Lachlan Angus New Telehealth-Only 08 8471 2735 [email protected] https://flourishmedicalspeciali...

Do you run or attend a community group/sporting club/regular in person event that is open for new people to join?

We are wanting to update our groups pages to help people find supports and connect to their communities!

Please list any groups that we can follow up on that are trans and gender diverse specific, parent/carer/family, broader rainbow community etc. If you know about and think it might help others, please let us know, thank you 😊🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

Social and Support Groups » Trans Health South Australia Menu page for various social and support groups

Hey everyone!

Hoping everyone is getting back into the swing of things.
We actually still have a boatload of pins left!

Please consider picking one up on our store page to help support our work! 💕

https://buy.stripe.com/14k9Bw2gk0asbvy289?locale=en&__embed_source=buy_btn_1OFFlREtEiDcmojkez3O0Ewv

Thanks! 💕💕💕

Skye & Zac

We know Christmas and New Years can be a difficult time for many, especially in our community.
While acknowledging this, we also really hope that everyone reading this has been able to enjoy the holiday season.

Things are swinging back into gear already!
Getting back into routine is never easy 😰!

Blahaj needs to feed his shark family and his only means of doing so is selling pins, because his teeth don't work 😔

Help out my Blahaj (but actually help out THSA) and grab a pin from our Stripe page!

They are $15 and the shipping is freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! 😁

https://buy.stripe.com/14k9Bw2gk0asbvy289

Content note for distressing and very harmful political motion in SA targeting trans kids. Please sign the petition and share to your networks!

Gender Affirming Care is Life-Saving Healthcare Trans and gender diverse South Australians are continuing to face discrimination in parliament, in clinical settings, and in the community. Sadly this is a common phenomena across the globe despite the great weight of medical authority supporting gender affirming care. Withholding treatment for tran...

Hey everyone!
The pins are now available online!

I have added a link to our homepage.
Alternatively, you can buy one here:
https://bit.ly/3sHuqi3

Please be patient with shipping times, Skye is shipping them all by hand in her spare time 😅

Trans Health SA Hard Enamel Pin The Trans Health SA Limited Edition Hard Enamel Pin is limited to 100 units. All proceeds from the pins go toward running Trans Health SA's running expenses.

We've been a bit quiet... because we've been working on something🤯

Going up soon on our site will be a limited run (100) of our hard enamel pins! They are a premium pin that have specifically been developed to help support Trans Health SA.

Keep an eye out for them, and get in touch via messenger/email if you'd like to buy a bunch of them!

(Blahaj has got his already 😜)

~ Skye

Just a reminder about these dedicated clinics everyone, there is still spaces for each date available that we really want to encourage people to please take up 🙂

SHINE SA is offering FREE Cervical Screening Clinics for trans and gender diverse people with a cervix.

➡️ We have appointments on Mon 16 & Sat 21 October at SHINE SA Hyde Street Practice.

➡️ These appointments will give you the option of self-collection, so you can do the swab yourself rather than a health worker. There will also be a peer support worker available.

❗ To book, visit the SHINE SA Hyde Street Practice booking page and select ‘Cervical Screening’, then

‘Trans and Gender Diverse Cervical Screening Clinic’.

➡️ Book Now: [https://www.hotdoc.com.au/request/appointment/patient?clinic=1410](https://www.hotdoc.com.au/request/appointment/patient?clinic=1410)

All people over 25 years of age with a cervix who have had any type of s*xual contact should have cervical screening every five years even if they have had the HPV vaccine. Sexual contact includes any skin-to-skin contact such as direct ge***al contact, finger pe*******on, oral s*x and sharing s*x toys.

This project is funded by Wellbeing SA.

FREE online voice workshop run by Natasha Schellander of the Gender Voice Centre!

When? Nov 1st 6pm AEDT.

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/8698731471?pwd=QlZJUHVWWnhzY3FlaGtjSUw5WFNpZz09

To know a bit more about the centre, check their website here: www.gendervoicecentre.com.au/

RE GENDER MODEL OF CARE

As you may have seen SA Health have released the Gender Diversity Statewide Model of Care. Part of this is a surgical component that will be developed and established in the very near future.

There is a number of things that are yet to be determined including procedures offered, which hospital/location they will be offered from, and by whom. Because gender affirming surgeries have been in the private sector so long there limited information about what is needed by the community.

To help establish what the need from the community looks like, SA Health need GP referrals from people to prove what should to be established and funded.

To do this:
- please contact your GP (or any doctor you feel comfortable with) and ask for a referral.
- Specify on the referral that it is for Gender Affirming Surgery and also include the type of procedure being sought.
- Send the referral to: Dept of Plastic Surgery, faxed to 8204 6105 at Flinders Hospital.
- The name of the Dept does not mean you should assume any procedures offered will only be “plastic surgery”. Send ALL referrals regardless of type to this fax number.

Note:
- a referral does not guarantee that any appointment or surgical consult will be offered. It is hoped that when services commence, possible eligible referrals will be contacted and options explored.
- there is no information yet about which procedures will be offered so please do not get your hopes up that all gender affirming surgery options will be offered. SA Health first have to establish community need and go from there.

This is very early days folks, but is hopefully a step in the right direction that life saving gender affirming care will soon be accessible to those who need it in public health.

For those interested in what the Model of Care looks like, click this link.
https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/clinical+resources/clinical+resources+a+-+z/statewide+gender+diversity+model+of+care

This is lovely! Go check it out :D

To celebrate Wear It Purple Day next Friday 25th we are offering a few free after hours one on one appointments for youth in need of gender affirming haircuts, that may be generally too shy to do so.
Send us or .pigmented_ a message to enquire 💜💜💜💜

***rsafespace

We are so proud of our new directory page!
Head over to https://transhealthsa.com/directory to check it out 😎

Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy can be hard to find!

At Trans Health SA, we have been working with practitioners and other contacts to try and make it easier for everyone to find the care they need.

Find our ever-growing curated list here:
https://transhealthsa.com/GAHT

Zac & Skye
Trans Health SA

This FREE RACGP and ACRRM approved PD is a live facilitated two-part course that provides clinicians the knowledge and confidence to prescribe gender affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) based on the needs of their patient population utilising an informed consent model. Additionally, supporting clinicians to create a gender affirming practice and establishing a business model for ongoing financial sustainability.

This free national training is developed by members of the gender diverse community and health professionals! Developed in partnership with ASHM and ACON and supported in funding from the Australian Government Department of Health.

Advanced Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy | ASHM This live facilitated two-part course provides clinicians the knowledge and confidence to prescribe gender affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) based on the needs of their patient population utilising an informed consent model. Additionally, supporting clinicians to create a gender affirming practice an...

SHINE SA’s Gender Connect Country SA is a FREE service that provides confidential support from peer workers with lived experience of gender diversity.

Our peer support service is open, Monday – Thursday, 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm, you can call 08 7099 5390 or chat online at www.shinesa.org.au/gender-connect.

Note: This service is for people living or working in regional and rural South Australia only.

Funded by Country SA PHN

✨✨✨A huge thank you to VocaLab !!!✨✨✨

Vocalab have raised $400 for Trans Health SA over the month of June by donating proceeds of their amazing digital posters.
https://vocalab.com.au/product-category/shop/

100% of Trans Health SA's revenue is via donation, so every bit we get is of massive value to us in helping provide services to the community.

It's extremely heartwarming to see our listed practitioners providing this kind of support where they can.
Without this support we would not be able to invest the time and resources into improving our site experiences that we currently do.

A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PURCHASED A VOCALAB POSTER IN THE MONTH OF JUNE! Together we have raised $400 that will be donated to Trans Health SA which will help to support this wonderful, volunteer-run community service!

Trans Health South Australia (SA) is a volunteer group that exists to provide information and support for the health needs of trans and gender diverse people in South Australia.

It is a community resource that is operated, and influenced, BY the community and runs entirely off of the generosity and support of the community!

They provide community approved information on:
- Practitioners: Doctors, specialists and other practitioners that we believe are helpful and respectful to members of our community.
- Medical and Legal information: That may help with changing your name, or accessing Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy, or other medical help.
- Agencies and Organizations: A list of agencies or organizations helpful to the community
- Research Publications: Publications that are worth having a read
- Social and Support Groups: Community groups that support gender diversity, LGBTIQA+ more broadly, and groups for parents of gender diverse children
- Trans Community-Created Resources: Resources created by the amazing transgender community to help promote positive outcomes for other transgender people.

Trans Health SA proudly hosts the TransHealthSA Directory as well as resources for the community to seek support and social engagement. Input and guidance from the community is always welcomed and encouraged.

If you would still like to support this wonderful community run organisation, you can donate directly to them on their website here: https://new.transhealthsa.com

Some time ago, Trans Health SA moved practitioner listings to use a directory instead of tables and lists.
Since this change was made some time ago, yesterday we removed the old content from the site.

To help people that are still finding their way to old content, we have a wonderful 404 page that includes... a cute dog! 🐕

We're always open to feedback for our site, so if you have suggestions please let us know and we'll do our best to work them into future site updates!

All the best,

Zac & Skye
Trans Health SA

SHINE SA is offering FREE Cervical Screening Clinics for trans and gender diverse people with a cervix.
➡️ Specific appointments will be held during June and July 2023 at SHINE SA Hyde Street Practice.
➡️ These appointments will give you the option of self-collection, so you can do the swab yourself rather than a health worker. There will also be a peer support worker available.
❗ To book, visit the SHINE SA Hyde Street Practice booking page and select ‘Cervical Screening’, then
‘Trans and Gender Diverse Cervical Screening Clinic’.
➡️ Book Now: https://www.hotdoc.com.au/request/appointment/patient?clinic=1410

All people with a cervix who have had any type of s*xual contact should have cervical screening every five years even if they have had the HPV vaccine. Sexual contact includes any skin-to-skin contact such as direct ge***al contact, finger pe*******on, oral s*x and sharing s*x toys.
This project is funded by Wellbeing SA.

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