Our Focus Areas
Health & Wellness
Removing barriers to accessing healthcare and eliminating stigma about LGBTQ+ healthcare issues is of vital importance to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ Missourians. Disparities in healthcare stem from a range of factors, such as socioeconomic status, access to transportation, and local availability of care. Each of these factors are magnified for LGBTQ+ people who are already more likely to deal with anxiety, depression, and suicide.
PROMO actively advocates for improved health and wellness for the community by pushing for the removal of barriers and increased access to PreP and PEP to fight the HIV epidemic, defending bodily autonomy in gender-affirming healthcare as well as reproductive and sexual health, and our consistent introduction of the Missouri Non-Discrimination Act (MONA) to provide needed protections for LGBTQ+ Missourians in housing, employment, and public accommodations.
FAQs
How can I access PrEP and PEP in Missouri? And can I get help paying for PrEP?
One of the best resources in Missouri is the Vivent Health network, who solely focuses on getting people in Missouri access to PrEP and PEP. We encourage you to visit their website to begin your research on how best to access and start taking whichever you need. You can find more information here about the organization, the assistance it provides including financial, and more details around the medication: viventhealth.org/prevention-testing/prep/
For those looking for resources on how to pay for PEP, we also recommend reviewing the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s website. Here you’ll find information around how to pay for the medication after an exposure at work, after experiencing SA, or another reason. Please visit: www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/pep/paying-for-pep.html
What mental health resources are available for LGBTQ+ people in Missouri?
There are a variety of resources available for LGBTQ+ Missourians and you can see various organizations below who can assist. However, there are a couple we’d like to call out for you. The Human Rights Campaign created a mental health and well-being resource specifically for queer and trans BIPOC individuals and Folx, the largest health and wellness platform for the LGBTQIA+ community, offers multiple services for the Missouri community. We also encourage you to review the list of service providers by the St. Louis Queer Support Helpline that is pre=dominantely St. Louis but also includes those in Kansas City and mid-Missouri.
Is abortion legal in the State of Missouri?
Missouri was the first state to implement its trigger law after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. It currently has the cruelest abortion ban in the country. Missourians for Constitutional Freedom is a coalition of groups fighting to put abortion back on the ballot in 2024 and allow the people of Missouri to reinstate reproductive freedom within the state. You can find more about the ballot initiative here: moconstitutionalfreedom.org
What options are there for my child to receive gender-affirming health care?
Children’s Hospital in St. Louis still does consultations and education and the Planned Parenthood network across Missouri still sees patients 16 and up for those who already started gender-affirming care. Some localized providers may still give trans health care to patients who already started gender-affirming care prior to Senate Bill 49’s implementation.
With Senate Bill 49 in place, it has become harder to find care for youth who have not started treatment yet; however, there are options. PROMO has partnered with the Campaign for Southern Equality to give Missouri families access to resources. Those resources include patient navigation and emergency grants to get care outside of the state of Missouri. You can learn more about those options here.
