An advocate for transgender rights in Sudbury and Northern Ontario is now the face of a new Canadian Cancer Society campaign to encourage LGBTQ persons to get screened for breast cancer.
Rita OLink, a member of the transgender support group TG Innerselves, has volunteered with the Canadian Cancer Society for years, and said she has noticed lesbian, gay, bisexual trans and queer (LGBTQ) persons are more hesitant to access health care services than the general population.
“We're so afraid, as LGBTQ persons, to approach any health practitioner,” she said.
As a trans woman, OLink said she could serve as an example to others and encourage other trans persons to overcome their fears and get screened regularly for common forms of cancer.
“The earlier you find it the more treatable it is,” she said. “There's one thing that's worse than having cancer, and that is putting your family through it.”
OLink said she doesn't like seeing herself on video, but decided it was worth facing that discomfort if it could encourage others to see their health-care practitioner.
“I've heard from the (Canadian) Cancer Society that it has had a big impact nationally,” she said.
One of her friends, also a trans woman, said the video encouraged her to get a breast exam, and she was pleasantly surprised by the positive experience she had at her doctor's office.
