Currently, gender-affirming care is inaccessible to the Kingston community, especially to their trans/nonbinary & disabled youth. Those who are disabled and transgender are less likely to be prescribed HRT and offered other gender-affirming services due to the risks involved, even when the person is aware of the risks & still actively wants to pursue treatment. Trans/Nonbinary youth are also less likely to be prescribed HRT either due to the comfort levels of the nurse, or any risks of adverse effects that the youth may be exposed to, even when they are certain about pursuing treatment. Current estimated wait times for public gender-affirming care services at KCHC are between 8-12 months, which is far too long when this care is necessary to improve the lives of trans & nonbinary people. As well, a large portion of family doctors in the Kingston area are also uncomfortable with treating trans/nonbinary patients as they have not been trained & are less familiar with gender-affirming treatment options.

If things were to change for the better, meaning that gender-affirming care became more accessible and that more healthcare providers were knowledgeable and willing to provide this care to their patients, wait times would be reduced and more people would be able to access the treatments they need to live as their authentic selves. If, however, things were to remain the same, or change for the worst, the wait times are likely to keep increasing as more people may need access to gender-affirming care that are not able to get either due to not having a family doctor (which is a large portion of the Kingston community) or that their family doctor remains unknowledgeable about treatments & procedures.

As of right now, hundreds of people in the community are waiting for their appointments to get the gender-affirming care that they need, and the longer this remains unaddressed, the longer the system will remain the same & force patients to wait, which will have significant negative impacts on their mental & possibly physical health. It is also vital that current primary healthcare providers (ie family doctors) learn about including gender-affirming services as the general care they provide for their patients. And because more people are feeling safe to come out as trans/nonbinary & seek the care they need, communities need more funding in order to be able to provide more accessible gender-affirming services to their population.