Woman Accuses Hospital of Denying Cancer Treatment Over Transphobic Comment
newsweek.comrecord number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in state legislatures this year. Attacks against members of the LGBTQ+ community are also on the rise.
There were over 350 cases of vandalism, assault and harassment against members of the LGBTQ+ community from June 2022 to April 2023, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).Now, a hospital in Portland, Oregon, has allegedly denied a cancer patient medical care after she expressed discomfort about the clinic's prominent transgender flag display.Marlene Barbera was undergoing treatment for breast cancer at Richmond Family Medicine Clinic, which is part of the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU).
Last year, she wrote a message to inform her doctor that she didn't feel comfortable entering the clinic, which prominently displayed a transgender flag, according to a report by Reduxx, a feminist news and opinion website."I do not feel comfortable coming into Richmond with that enormous transgenderism banner hanging like a Nazi flag behind the reception desk," Barbera wrote. "Where is the flag for women?
For children?"She added, "Male violence toward women is undimmed by any level of transition."In her letter, Barbera requested a telephone appointment to "discuss how I may access your medical care without walking under a banner that seeks to negate all I am".However, the situation intensified this year after Barbera tried to leave a message for her doctor about blood test results.
