It hasn’t been easy to be an LGBTQ+ health facility in 2025. From gender-affirming care restrictions for youth to the Chevron ruling to recent HIV prevention funding cuts, LGBTQ+ healthcare has been going through a tumultuous time.
KFF reported in a 2022 study of 6,442 adults, including 958 LGBTQ+ people, that 50% of queer respondents had an “ongoing health condition” but were more likely to report a “range of negative provider experiences” and less likely to have a regular doctor compared to non-LGBTQ+ patients.
This Pride Month, we asked health experts working with the LGBTQ+ community about what challenges they’ve faced in the last six months, how they’ve changed strategies to adapt, and their goals for the rest of the year.
These interviews have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Liana Douillet Guzmán, CEO of Boston-based LGBTQ+ provider Folx Health
Over the past six months, we’ve continued to navigate a wave of anti-trans legislation, executive orders, and harmful rhetoric—much of it intentionally misleading and meant to cause confusion around care options. Our goal is to provide resources and remind people that Folx is still here providing gender-affirming care. We’ve shifted our strategy to focus more on rapid response communications, community events and partnerships, and education efforts to help people understand their rights and access to care.
Our top priority is making sure LGBTQIA+ people can access the care they need, especially as threats to trans healthcare continue. That means expanding services that treat the whole person and offering as many options as possible for affirming, accessible care. We’re growing our partnerships with insurance providers so more members can use their plans to cover clinical visits, lab work, and hormone treatments. We’ve also expanded our therapy offerings to 17 states, with more to come.
Gaurang Choksi, founder and CEO of New York-based LGBTQ+ provider Violet
Our mission has always been clear: to make healthcare more equitable, effective, and human so that people can find providers who really see them, whether that means understanding their gender, race, background, or any other facet of their lived experience. That part hasn’t changed.
Navigate the healthcare industry
Healthcare Brew covers pharmaceutical developments, health startups, the latest tech, and how it impacts hospitals and providers to keep administrators and providers informed.
What has changed is how we speak about the work we’re doing. Over the last six months, we’ve had to navigate an increasingly politicized landscape—where words like “equity” and “inclusion” have started to create unnecessary roadblocks, especially for our partners working in Medicaid and other government-funded programs.
So we’ve evolved. Instead of focusing on labels, we’re doubling down on what matters most: whether providers have the skills to deliver care that is personalized, effective, and compassionate.
Our main goal is to ensure all Americans can access the personalized healthcare we deserve; we are reaching this goal by enabling health plans to identify and increase the amount of providers that are best equipped to serve key patient populations with better, more effective care. And in markets where gaps in access to person-centered care exist, we help health plans close access gaps with targeted clinical education.
Chris Viveiros, director of communications at Boston-based community health center Fenway Health
In the last six months, we’ve faced dual pressures: increasing political threats to LGBTQ+ healthcare—particularly gender-affirming care—and financial constraints that challenge the sustainability of community health centers. In response, we’ve doubled down on coalition-building across sectors, expanded legal partnerships, and invested in rapid-response work to protect access and affirm our communities. We’re also reimagining how care is delivered, moving beyond traditional clinic walls to meet patients where they are and working to grow telehealth to stay nimble and ensure continued access to care.
We are building infrastructure that makes care more accessible, especially for trans and nonbinary patients, BIPOC communities, and young people. We’re also restructuring our medical leadership team to better support clinicians and streamline decision-making, with an emphasis on innovation and wellness. At the same time, we’re working to deepen community trust through local partnerships and culturally responsive care while protecting gender-affirming services at the policy level.