SPFPP 225: Destigmatizing Sexual Health Communication with Planned Parenthood

Something Positive for Positive People

Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette in Portland, Oregon joins us for a conversation that taught me a few things I hadn't known before. For instance, I was completely unaware that after you receive treatment from a healthcare facility, you can make an appointment to ask questions. I don't know why but I absolutely thought appointments were exclusively for treatment, not education. Lena and Olivia were great to learn from and give us further insight to how Planned Parenthood services can be utilized by patients. The more we're able to exchange dialogue about stigmatized topics, the less stigmatized they become. With education and the expectation of communication (wow what a sentence), we can inspire allyship in our surrounding communities. This includes our sexual partners, our peers, friends, families, health care providers, media personalities/influencers. This sense of allyship can serve as a catalyst for folks to feel supported in their own dissolution of internalized stigma not just with their own sexual health, but even communicating ABOUT sexual health altogether.