Navigating the healthcare system as a queer woman can be daunting. In France, one group has found a neat solution to help queer people feel safe.

The author. Courtesy of Anna Malzy As a queer woman, I used to avoid going to see a doctor in case I had to come out to them.   A charity in France has created a network of LGBTQ-approved doctors, lawyers, and notaries.

  I use this network all the time to make sure I get sensitive, experienced care to meet my needs. When I first came out, ever so tentatively to some friends, I thought that was it. I’m out, done.

Turns out I was very wrong. What I didn’t understand then is that coming out is not a single, one-time event. Years later, I still find myself coming out repeatedly — every time a colleague assumes my partner must be a man or talks about my husband, or I start to talk about my family life with new people, I find myself coming out again and again and again.

The mental-health burden of this can feel like a lot at times, and I was particularly stressed out by doctors. For ages, I avoided getting checkups where anything about my sexuality might come up. Anyone with a vagina going for their annual check-up knows that conversation with the gynecologist, the one where you’re asked about why you’re not taking birth control if you’re also sexually active.

I dreaded that conversation, and even though I know that doctors are expected under the Hippocratic Oath to treat me equally and without prejudice, running the gamut of STI tests and smear tests was a daunting experience.  France has a network to help queer people find doctorsIn France, a group has emerged to try and make life easier for queer people needing medical attention. A charity called “Reseau Medecins Gay Friendly,” or the gay-friendly doctors’ network, launched in 2013, comprises of over 400 medical professionals, from art therapists to urologists.

Each provider has either asked to join the list or has been recommended by a patient. The physician is then contacted by the network and assessed as to whether their experience in treating LGBTQ people is sufficient, and whether they can provide an open and welcoming environment for patients. Once on the list, patients looking for a nurse, a dermatologist, or a psychotherapist can do a search on the website and will be emailed a list of potential medical providers who’ve been vetted by the network.

My discovery of this network was a complete revelation. If I need to see a doctor, I use this network to book appointments, and voilà, no more awkward conversations about birth control. The network has expanded beyond healthcareThe network is a neat solution to the problem of finding sympathetic and experienced healthcare providers and has recently expanded to include further networks of LGBTQ-friendly lawyers and notaries.

My wife and I were particularly grateful for the latter when we became parents earlier this year. France’s famous maxim “liberté, egalité, fraternité” seems, on the face of it, to put equality right at the heart of the state’s dealings with the public. In reality, I find that there is a denial of difference throughout the country’s policies and systems that negates the extra complications faced by anyone who isn’t straight, white, and middle class.

Hopefully one day I won’t need to use a network like this in order to find a good, kind, experienced lawyer or doctor. For now, though, such directories are necessary, and thankfully, according to the network, new professionals are being added every day. Read the original article on Insider.