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A recent story in the Bangkok Post shows Thailand is expanding support for LGBT teens.
This is a good development for Thailand. I've heard stories of young lbs as early as 11 years old starting to take hormones. My lb girlfriend agrees this is too soon. A better option would be the use of testosterone blockers or estrogen blockers until the child is old enough to understand their decision. Hopefully this clinic will be able to offer better treatment for these young patients.
A space for all
The recent opening of the Gender Variation Clinic aims at providing help, as well as hormones, to non-heterosexual Thai teens
Published: 9/09/2014 at 06:00 AM
Newspaper section: Life
In a bid to provide help, advice and medical treatment to Thailand's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens, the Faculty of Medicine at Ramathibodi Hospital has recently opened the Gender Variation Clinic at the hospital's Child and Adolescent Health Center.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]74668[/ATTACH]
The Gender Variation Clinic (or Gen-V Clinic) is run by specialists on endocrine systems (the collection of glands of an organism that secrete hormones) and hormones, as well as child and adolescent psychologists. The specialists are on hand every Wednesday and every other Friday to give advice to both the teenager and parent and also prescribe necessary hormone treatment should it be needed.
Dr Jiraporn Arunakul is the programme's initiator and an adolescent medicine specialist at Ramathibodi Hospital. Here, Dr Jiraporn shows Life around the clinic and gives insights into the problems surrounding non-heterosexual adolescents in Thailand.
Why should there be a separate clinic catering especially for non-heterosexual adolescents?
We want to make it clear that these teenagers have a place to come to should they need any services or advice. From my research [surveyed from students from secondary schools in Bangkok] conducted last year, I have found that non-heterosexuals make up approximately 11% of Thailand's teen population. Despite this, there is no place that can specifically take care of them, so we have set up a clinic that can cater to this group. By taking care, I don't mean curing or converting them back to their physical gender. We only offer a particular service. It doesn't mean that these children are abnormal.
Most teenagers face similar issues €” whether it's about sex, depression or family relationships. Non-heterosexuals are no different from any other teen in terms of their abilities, but they do face additional risks such as identity confusion and a potential lack of acceptance from society. Many are still unsure as to where they actually fit in society, or what to call their own gender. We want them to understand and know their own sexuality.
Are there any particular risks facing homosexual and transgender adolescents?
Homosexuals [gays or lesbians] do not have that many risks surrounding them [health or otherwise]. They only have different sexual orientations from the norm. Those with higher risks are transgenders, both kateoy and transman, who take hormone pills to try to alter and develop their physical gender into another. Some of them take a larger dose than the prescribed amount and there is no one to help them regulate their intake or tell them how to use the pills safely. At our clinic, we have a specialist on the endocrine system to advise as to the safe intake of hormone pills.
Since the clinic is in a hospital, is there a danger that non-heterosexual adolescents think that they can only go there when they are sick?
I don't think so. In a hospital, pregnant women also come in for prenatal checkups. They are not sick and this is just another service we are offering. Also, if we were to open up a separate centre [outside the hospital], it may be more problematic or embarrassing for children to go there, but hospitals are always a safe and open-plan space.
What can parents do if they discover that their children are gay, lesbian or bisexual?
I suggest they try and understand that gender is not only about the male and female, or the penis and vagina. It goes deeper than that. Parents should choose to focus on the children's ability and potential rather than viewing their sexuality alone.
Parents should not expect their children to only be as society dictates, like the stereotypical view that women have to get married and have kids and men need to have children to continue their family line. They should view success and happiness different from others' point of view. This can be done by putting the children's happiness as a priority and allow them to be who they really are.
I have seen how some parents threatened to cut the children out of the family. That is one reaction we don't recommend. For one thing, it can't really change the situation and it even worsens the relationship among family members.
From my research last year, it was clear that non-heterosexual children who are accepted by their parents do better at school, compared to those who are rejected. The results also show that these teens are less depressed and have fewer suicidal thoughts.
Since our society is still quite a conservative one, has there been any repercussion in setting up the Gender Variation Clinic?
Our medical team wants to do our part to help adolescents who are affected by society's misconceptions that non-heterosexuality is wrong. It should be one of the roles of a medical practitioner to stand up and tell society what is or isn't wrong, what is not abnormal, or which group of people need specific care or help. We do realise though that there are those who are against us or disagree with us.
However, I want them to realise that it is not our intention to create more children with gender diversity. We only want to help adolescents who need answers. Looking at the reality, we already have these children in our society. They are not a mystery or an invisible crowd that we can't find. It would be better if they have a place that they can rely on to find answers about how to take care of themselves and understand who they are.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]74669[/ATTACH]
Dr Jiraporn Arunakul, adolescent medicine specialist, at the Child and Adolescent Health Center, Ramathibodi Hospital.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]74670[/ATTACH]
The recent opening of the Gender Variation Clinic aims at providing help, as well as hormones, to non-heterosexual Thai teens
Published: 9/09/2014 at 06:00 AM
Newspaper section: Life
In a bid to provide help, advice and medical treatment to Thailand's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens, the Faculty of Medicine at Ramathibodi Hospital has recently opened the Gender Variation Clinic at the hospital's Child and Adolescent Health Center.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]74668[/ATTACH]
The Gender Variation Clinic (or Gen-V Clinic) is run by specialists on endocrine systems (the collection of glands of an organism that secrete hormones) and hormones, as well as child and adolescent psychologists. The specialists are on hand every Wednesday and every other Friday to give advice to both the teenager and parent and also prescribe necessary hormone treatment should it be needed.
Dr Jiraporn Arunakul is the programme's initiator and an adolescent medicine specialist at Ramathibodi Hospital. Here, Dr Jiraporn shows Life around the clinic and gives insights into the problems surrounding non-heterosexual adolescents in Thailand.
Why should there be a separate clinic catering especially for non-heterosexual adolescents?
We want to make it clear that these teenagers have a place to come to should they need any services or advice. From my research [surveyed from students from secondary schools in Bangkok] conducted last year, I have found that non-heterosexuals make up approximately 11% of Thailand's teen population. Despite this, there is no place that can specifically take care of them, so we have set up a clinic that can cater to this group. By taking care, I don't mean curing or converting them back to their physical gender. We only offer a particular service. It doesn't mean that these children are abnormal.
Most teenagers face similar issues €” whether it's about sex, depression or family relationships. Non-heterosexuals are no different from any other teen in terms of their abilities, but they do face additional risks such as identity confusion and a potential lack of acceptance from society. Many are still unsure as to where they actually fit in society, or what to call their own gender. We want them to understand and know their own sexuality.
Are there any particular risks facing homosexual and transgender adolescents?
Homosexuals [gays or lesbians] do not have that many risks surrounding them [health or otherwise]. They only have different sexual orientations from the norm. Those with higher risks are transgenders, both kateoy and transman, who take hormone pills to try to alter and develop their physical gender into another. Some of them take a larger dose than the prescribed amount and there is no one to help them regulate their intake or tell them how to use the pills safely. At our clinic, we have a specialist on the endocrine system to advise as to the safe intake of hormone pills.
Since the clinic is in a hospital, is there a danger that non-heterosexual adolescents think that they can only go there when they are sick?
I don't think so. In a hospital, pregnant women also come in for prenatal checkups. They are not sick and this is just another service we are offering. Also, if we were to open up a separate centre [outside the hospital], it may be more problematic or embarrassing for children to go there, but hospitals are always a safe and open-plan space.
What can parents do if they discover that their children are gay, lesbian or bisexual?
I suggest they try and understand that gender is not only about the male and female, or the penis and vagina. It goes deeper than that. Parents should choose to focus on the children's ability and potential rather than viewing their sexuality alone.
Parents should not expect their children to only be as society dictates, like the stereotypical view that women have to get married and have kids and men need to have children to continue their family line. They should view success and happiness different from others' point of view. This can be done by putting the children's happiness as a priority and allow them to be who they really are.
I have seen how some parents threatened to cut the children out of the family. That is one reaction we don't recommend. For one thing, it can't really change the situation and it even worsens the relationship among family members.
From my research last year, it was clear that non-heterosexual children who are accepted by their parents do better at school, compared to those who are rejected. The results also show that these teens are less depressed and have fewer suicidal thoughts.
Since our society is still quite a conservative one, has there been any repercussion in setting up the Gender Variation Clinic?
Our medical team wants to do our part to help adolescents who are affected by society's misconceptions that non-heterosexuality is wrong. It should be one of the roles of a medical practitioner to stand up and tell society what is or isn't wrong, what is not abnormal, or which group of people need specific care or help. We do realise though that there are those who are against us or disagree with us.
However, I want them to realise that it is not our intention to create more children with gender diversity. We only want to help adolescents who need answers. Looking at the reality, we already have these children in our society. They are not a mystery or an invisible crowd that we can't find. It would be better if they have a place that they can rely on to find answers about how to take care of themselves and understand who they are.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]74669[/ATTACH]
Dr Jiraporn Arunakul, adolescent medicine specialist, at the Child and Adolescent Health Center, Ramathibodi Hospital.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]74670[/ATTACH]
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