Hospital staff in Toronto learn the dos and don'ts of LGBTQ lingo

In the basement atToronto East General hospital,a lesson in language is underway.

Nurses, occupational therapists, social workers and kitchen staff are in the room. One of the trainers, Jack Hixson-Vulpe,faces them and asks, "Is anyone comfortable giving a definition of the term queer?" Many shaketheir headno.

Some say they mayhave Googled the word once. Hixson-Vulpe continues:"Queer can be understood as an umbrella term for people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual."

'Creating safer workplaces'

Hixson-Vulpe is a transgender man with the LGBTQorganization The519. He has beenenlisted by the hospital to train health-care workers on how to work with transgender patients.

"I think creating safer workplaces and inclusion for everyone is a really important thing for us to take into consideration," he told CBC News.

The extensive training program at the renamed Michael GarronHospitalis said to be a first for a Canadian hospital.

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"We serve an incredibly diverse population and our staff is reflective of that diverse population," says Emily Ambos, who'swith human resources andone of the hospital's trainers. "So in order to create an environment that is inclusive for both it is important for us to learn the different types of languages, to understand the experience of others and to share our own.

"The fact that we are having this dialogue is so important, because it makes you more mindful," Ambos tells the class. "It makes you more self-aware."

That self-awareness is tested whenhospitalstaff members break out in groups andare given various scenarios. They're then asked tocome up with solutions. One scenario involvesa woman who is startledwhen a transgenderwoman enters apublicwashroom. The consensus on the table is to try to calm both of them down. There's agreement by somethat the transgender woman also has a right to use the bathroom.

Hospital's gender awareness lesson

8 years ago

Duration 1:56

A member of the LGBTQ community fosters respect and awareness among Canadian healthcare staff

Thattolerance and understanding is not always there.

Transgenderpeople are subjected to intense discrimination, says Hixson-Vulpe.At a recent global summit in Amsterdam, health experts said many transgender people are routinely denied basic health care. Accessing health care is also a challenge.

There are stories of doctors examininga transgender patient's body with no connection to why the patient came to the hospital in the first place.Some transgender patients are referred to by the wrong name, or the wrong pronoun. Boxes on hospital admission forms don't reflect transgenderindividuals. Access tohormone treatment for transgender people is often delayed or prevented.

• Transgenderpatients face health-care discrimination, inadequate treatment

"I think it'snecessary recognizing that everyone needs to be able to access a hospital safely, and currently for a lot of trans and gendernon-conforming individuals, thataccessing hospitals is not something that a lot of people feel comfortable doing," Hixson-Vulpetold CBC News.

The training is mandatory for all hospital staff.

'Awesome to start conversation'

Nevertheless, social worker KaileyRigelhof was excited to attend.

"I think it'sawesome in health care we are starting to havethis conversation."

She says she knows some of her colleagues were reluctant about attendingthe course, but that they're trying to be open-minded.

"The fact they're here and they showed up, that's huge," she says.

Nurse TanyaYakosays it was a valuable session.

"Now I have a better understanding of how to use those terms and how to approach people of different genders or their orientation.

"We need to be talking about this stuff, and especially in a hospital,"says Rigelhof. Afterall,"it's 2016."