‘Incredibly euphoric’: RACGP preps for Mardi Gras Parade

Helping patients become their true, full selves is the most uplifting part of Dr Catherine Lyons’ job.
 
It can be a tough world for members of Australia’s LGBTQIA+ community, and despite recent steps forward in equality and acceptance, there is still a long way to go.
 
But this Saturday is a day of celebration, a day of dancing, pride, connection, and glitter.
 
For the 46th time, Sydney will be taken over by the iconic Mardi Gras Parade, and this year more than 12,000 people will walk alongside 200 floats – including RACGP members donning their rainbow scrubs.
 
‘It’s important that we be out there and be seen, particularly for young people thinking about coming into the profession, to be able to say you have colleagues, you have mentors,’ Dr Lyons told newsGP.
 
‘If we’re not being ourselves at work and being out loud and proud, we’re doing everyone a disservice.
 
‘It’s really important for everyone to know that they’re safe coming to see us, that it’s safe to be themselves, and they can see us and feel really comfortable in their own skin.’
 
Dr Lyons will be taking part this year and has marched previously with her son Mireaux – she described the feeling as ‘incredibly euphoric’.
 
‘Very often these kids have spent their lives trying to be invisible, they just don’t want to be noticed and they want to try and blend in,’ she said.
 
‘But here, you step down onto Oxford Street and suddenly, there’s this wave of sound and it’s people screaming and cheering, and these kids just come alive.
 
‘By the end of the march, they’re running along, slapping hands with people, having hugs, and for the first time in their lives, they feel celebrated for being themselves.’
 
Dr Lyons said she hopes patients, healthcare professionals, and medical students will look up and see the RACGP represented in the parade, and know they are accepted.  
 
‘We need to lead the way and be the example that other people can follow,’ she said.
 
‘Particularly in the workplace there are a lot of challenges, from the simplest of things such as respecting people’s pronouns or choice of name, to losing their job.
 
‘It’s horrible to think of this but being queer, and being out, and being proud means very often feeling unsafe in public spaces.’
 
This year’s Mardi Gras celebrations come as many LGBTQIA+ community members still feel that lack of safety in their everyday lives.
 
Almost half of gay and lesbian people say they have experienced workplace harassment in the past five years, while 60% of young people feel unsafe at secondary school, and members of the community are far more likely to experience homelessness.
 
At the same time, LGBTQIA+ people are less likely to report having a regular GP, with 65.5% compared to 80% of the general Australian population, and only 43% feel accepted within a healthcare setting.
 
Canberra-based GP Dr Clara Tuck Meng Soo often sees patients experiencing this pain in her clinic.
 
She has been a longtime advocate for LGBTQIA+ medicine and trans health, and said there is much more doctors can do to make their patients feel safe in their practice.
 
‘More and more people are coming out, identifying as being transgender or gender diverse, especially the young population, so it’s really likely that GPs are going to have people coming up to them saying that they are transgender and gender diverse,’ Dr Soo told newsGP.
 
‘Negative experiences discourage people from seeking healthcare that may actually be really important to them.
 
‘Have a welcoming waiting room, have staff who are trained to be able to recognise and welcome trans and gender diverse people.’
 
This Saturday, Dr Soo will be marching in the Mardi Gras Parade for the first time, labelling it a ‘once-in-a-lifetime experience’.
 
‘I want doctors to know that we support diversity and inclusion among healthcare professionals, and to say that it’s okay to be trans, or non-binary, or whatever you like in medicine and healthcare,’ she said.
 
‘The people who come to seek care have often been sitting at home for years thinking about this thing, fighting about who they can speak to, about approaching someone in authority.
 
‘So, when they actually get the care they need, there’s that sense of accomplishment and happiness.
 
‘That’s why we’re doctors – it’s a good feeling to be able to help somebody to achieve what they want to achieve.’
 
The parade is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of spectators as it winds its way through Sydney, kicking off at 6 pm on 2 March.
 
Log in below to join the conversation.

gender-diverse health LGBTQIA+ Mardi Gras transgender health