The interior of the LGBT (Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender) Community Center is extremely vibrant, despite the building's plain exterior. Not only is the facility clean, colorful and full of friendly folks, but it houses some of the city's most productive and important LGBT organizations, including the new Planned Parenthood clinic, OutCare.
Located at 170 S. 2nd St., in Walker's Point, OutCare offers confidential, high-quality services including annual health exams, cancer screening, pregnancy testing, STD testing, all methods of birth control, HIV testing and free condoms/dental dams. The clinic's main target audience is LGBT youth, but anyone, regardless of age or orientation, is welcome.
The drop-in clinic is open Tuesday and Thursday evenings, from 5:30-9:30 p.m, and is staffed by Planned Parenthood nurse practitioners. Teens receive completely free care, and services for adults are based on a sliding-fee scale. The clinic's phone number is (414) 277-9370.
The idea for the clinic was born in the mind of Rose Mary Oliviera, a Grants Administrator for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. Concerned about a lack of health care options for gay and lesbians, as well as the insensitivity and homophobia of some medical providers, she began to do research and later secured funding for OutCare from Region V, Title X, Family Planning.
According to Neil Albrecht, executive director of the LGBT Community Center, there is great need for such a clinic.
"There are two primary factors that will prevent an LGBT person -- especially a youth -- from accessing necessary medical care: fear and money. If a person doesn't feel safe disclosing their sexual identity to their medical provider, they won't do it. If they don't disclose, it is doubtful they will receive appropriate medical care," he says.
"The money factor relates to a person's ability -- or inability -- to pay for services. Again, if the individual is concerned about incurring more debt, they will not access preventative medical care. The OutCare clinic eliminates both of these barriers."
Miguel, a 16-year-old patient of the clinic, is proof that OutCare is living out its mission. He says he visited the clinic because he felt secure, respected, and most importantly, because it's confidential.
"I'd never tell my doctor I was gay. I would be afraid he would tell my mother," he says. "And the people who work there are really cool."
Through her research, Oliviera found surprising information about gay and lesbian teens. She discovered through several surveys that sexual minority youth were more likely to get pregnant, or get someone pregnant, than heterosexual teens. According to Beth Braun, OutCare nurse practitioner, this makes sense.
"Often times gay and lesbian youth are trying to prove to themselves, or to their families, that they are heterosexual by having heterosexual intercourse," says Braun. "And because they are new to sex, or not accustomed to using the birth control needed for heterosexual sex, they end up having unprotected experiences."
OutCare is a six-month pilot program, but it may become a permanent Planned Parenthood branch depending on the outcome of the next few months. "At first, a Planned Parenthood for gays and lesbians sounds like an oxymoron," says Braun. "But if you think about it, it's really not."
Visit the Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin website.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
